Shaw, Harvey have moved on

Mark Shaw received a special package in Thursday's mail.\nIt contained the first copy of the former radio personality's new book, "Miscarriage of Justice: The Jonathan Pollard Story."\nExactly one year after former men's basketball coach Bob Knight physically grabbed Shaw's stepson, Kent Harvey, Shaw thumbed through the volume's pages with a sense of irony. \n"For that book to arrive on that day -- it's a sign of new start, that everything was kind of meant to be," Shaw said.\nIt's been a year since The General's reign was ended, brought to an end by IU President Myles Brand. A complete cycle of seasons have passed since angry fans marched to Assembly Hall, burning effigies and posting "Wanted: Kent Harvey, Dead or Alive" fliers.\nBut a year has been exactly what Shaw and his sons have needed to move forward. He doesn't like to discuss what happened a year ago. It's in the past, he said, and it's over.\nAnd while Shaw doesn't completely understand why his son was singled out by Knight, he lauds his stepson's ability to forgive as paramount to his well-being this year at IU-Purdue University at Indianapolis, where he is a sophomore.\nShaw cited Harvey's interview with the IDS last September, immediately following the incident, in which he said he "forgave everyone," and claimed his stepson still adheres to this mantra.\n"For whatever reason, it happened," Shaw said. "Kent really feels like the Lord, for whatever reason, chose to put him in that situation. Only the good Lord knows why out of 40,000 kids, it ended up being Kent -- but he's really been an inspiration to me."\nShaw said he feels the overpowering devotion of many Knight fans clouded the actual chain of events surrounding his termination. Most fans, Shaw said, want to remember the positive aspects of Knight's tenure.\nShaw said Knight was on a "collision course" for quite some time before he was actually fired. He said he believes the best thing Knight could have done last year was agree to take a hiatus from coaching. Shaw said he thinks the entire spectacle surrounding his family could have been avoided if Knight had stepped down for a year.\n"I understood more than anyone how much people loved the coach," Shaw said. "I witnessed it from every side and understood that for many people, life was Bob Knight. But whatever happened to the truth?"\nShaw said many fans were "reluctant" to come to terms with Knight's firing. But the marks on his son's arm were enough to convince him of the reality of the incident.\n"There was never any question in my mind," Shaw said. "For some, it all got clouded up and became murky. But people really need to be careful to sort out facts and not let so many things enter in to cloud the issue."\nShaw recognized many fans' claim that he orchestrated the incident, inciting his son to provoke Knight.\nAnd he calls it "impossible."\n"I was and still am a chief critic of Coach's," Shaw said. "People think I had an agenda or set it up or something, but that's ridiculous. I'm just not that smart."\nKnight never returned Shaw's phone calls and denied his request for an apology. Shaw also said no administration officials, except an assistant dean for scheduling, directly contacted the Harvey boys or their parents.\nShaw "didn't feel it was his place" to contact Brand or the board of trustees directly, but realizes the officials likely "had an agenda and an idea of what to do."\nNor has Shaw heard from Christopher Simpson, IU's spokesman during the firing, who has since left. Shaw said he was "very disappointed" in the way Simpson handled the incident.\nMany IU faculty have offered considerable support to the Harvey boys and their family, Shaw said. IUPUI Chancellor Gerald Bepco, an old friend of Shaw's, personally helped the students get settled in Indianapolis at the beginning of last semester.\nKent and his two identical brothers are currently studying business at IUPUI. All three men earned above a 3.0 grade point average last semester, and "not a single incident" has occurred stemming from the Knight controversy, Shaw said.\nThe incident has matured his sons, Shaw said, and brought them closer together spiritually.\n"The old saying, 'The truth shall set you free,' is really appropriate here," Shaw said. "We know what happened, so the boys decided they weren't going to look back."\nThe family has moved forward as well.\n"We do feel good about how this was handled," Shaw said. "Coach has a brand new start, and no one more than me hopes he takes advantage of this opportunity. The University has fresh start. I feel this is meant to be."\nKent Harvey did not return phone calls by press time.