Student support leans toward Knight

A white paper plate was pinned to the back of sophomore Jim Wisco's red "Indiana Hoosiers" T-shirt as he cheered for the IU football team Saturday. Wisco scribbled black letters on the plate showing his distaste (to put it tactfully) for freshman Kent Harvey. The pin attaching the plate to his shirt read, "Friends and fans of RMK."\nA huge white sheet was draped on one of the apartment porches across from Memorial Stadium. It read, "We love Bob Knight." \nInside the stadium, the excitement of the IU football team's opening day against North Carolina State was tainted by an aura of student concern for basketball coach Bob Knight. There were cheers in favor of the coach and chants disrespecting the freshman who accused Knight of grabbing him by the arm and cursing at him in Assembly Hall Thursday. The football game was the first major campus-wide sporting event since the allegations were made early Friday, and it was used as a forum by many students to voice their support of the coach. \n"I think it's pretty low," Wisco said of Harvey's accusations against Knight. "I think it's awful. What does (Harvey) have to gain? Maybe he thought it was funny. Maybe he got quite a kick out of it. I don't know."\nBut Kyle Harvey, Kent's brother, insists there is nothing to gain but an apology.\n"I don't want attention, I just want to go to school," said Kyle, who went to Knight's basketball camp in the sixth grade with Kent. "There's no reason for anyone to be mad at us. We did nothing wrong. It's like a nightmare."\nAs of about 7 p.m. Saturday, 904 votes were cast in the IDS digital poll, an unscientific survey of readers, and 82 percent said Knight "will survive the allegations." Another 15 percent said he would not and four percent were undecided.\nSenior David Eaton said he's heard Knight address the student body before and that he respects the coach's philosophies, but Knight doesn't always practice what he preaches.\n"Sometimes I think he has a temper that he can't control," Eaton said. "If he can control his temper, I think everyone and their brother would flock to him and be at his every step. I can respect him for his fundamentals, but when you have to read about him once a month in the paper for beating on somebody, it's not the kind of guy you want to look up to."\nJeromie Jones, a freshman from Palmyra, Ind., waited more than an hour Friday afternoon with a pack of student fans for Knight to leave his 5:30 p.m. press conference. Once Knight left the media room, the roar of support drowned out the testimony of assistant coach Mike Davis, who was with Knight when the incident occurred.\n"He might have made mistakes in the past, but all people screw up now and then," Jones said Friday. "We're all here supporting Knight and his program because he's done a lot of positive things"