ONLINE ONLY: Court: IU trustees do not have to reveal details of Knight's firing

Two Indiana University trustees who investigated Bob Knight were acting as attorneys and do not have to reveal details that led to the firing of the former basketball coach, a judge ruled Tuesday.\nThe decision was a defeat for The Indianapolis Star's 5-year-old lawsuit, which contended that IU violated the state's open records law in its refusal to release the unfiltered information related to Knight's dismissal in May 2000.\nSpecial Judge Jane Craney of Morgan County ruled that the records were exempt from the state's Access to Public Records Act because they were "work product" protected by attorney-client privilege.\nThe ruling echoed the argument made in August 2005 in testimony by former IU President Myles Brand, now president of the NCAA.\nIf Carney had decided that Fred Eichhorn and John Walda were acting as trustees during the investigation, the information they gathered could have been made public.\nWalda and Eichhorn interviewed current and former players, managers, coaches and athletic staff and enlisted a private investigator and videotape expert to help. The trustees were not paid but were reimbursed for expenses.\nThe investigation looked into allegations against Knight by former player Neil Reed. Reed claimed in a television interview that Knight choked him in practice, ordered Brand out of Assembly Hall and waved soiled toilet paper at players.\nCraney first ruled in favor of IU, but the Indiana Court of Appeals said the Reed documents should be disclosed if Walda and Eichhorn acted as trustees when they investigated.\nKnight, now the coach at Texas Tech, was fired by Indiana in 2000 after he angrily grabbed the arm of a student who greeted him by his last name.