| | By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
Bob Knight likely would have been fired by Indiana University president Myles Brand and the school's board of trustees at their scheduled Friday meeting, regardless of last Thursday's confrontation with an IU student, a trustee told ESPN.com.
The Hall of Fame coach had run afoul of the trustees and the president in the four months since they instituted a set of strict guidelines on Knight after a seven-week investigation concluded May 15.
|  | | Bob Knight already was in trouble with the Board of Trustees before his latest incident. |
Brand outlined Knight's behavior during Sunday's news conference saying Knight had been defiant and hostile since May 15 when Brand issued sanctions against Knight. Brand cited examples of his behavior by making offensive remarks about the president and the board of trustees, failing to rekindle a relationship, or at the very least talk to, athletics director Clarence Doninger, refusing to attend IU tipoff alumni functions and a verbal outburst against a female IU administrator.
"It was coming to a head and it would have come to a head this week," IU board of trustee Stephen Backer told ESPN.com Sunday night after Brand fired Knight. "Everyone was starting to hear about how he was treating his employer and the university. You just don't do that."
The admitted contact with 19-year-old Indiana student Kent Harvey on Thursday sped up the process. Knight and Harvey both admitted that contact occurred but disagreed on the severity. Knight said when Harvey said, "what's up Knight?" as they passed by each other at the doorway to Assembly Hall, Knight grabbed his arm and told him that he should be addressed as Mr. Knight or coach Knight. Knight said he didn't grab him hard and didn't curse at him. He said anger never entered into the confrontation but rather it was a matter of civility and manners.
Harvey disputed Knight's story by saying that he was grabbed hard enough to where marks were visible on his arm. He said he was also berated with profanity. Indiana assistant Mike Davis witnessed the incident and supported Knight's version of the story.
"This incident precipitated the landslide," Backer said. "He was given so many benefits. It's tragic that it had to come down to this. He has a reputation for so much good here. It's sad. Coach Knight has been fuming and talking about the board of trustees and denigrated the president. He made it clear that he didn't like the university anymore. He was only here to coach. He made that clear."
But Brand and Backer wanted to make sure everyone understood that Knight broke the "zero-tolerance policy" before Thursday's incident. Brand referred back to the May 15 sanctions. In the handout, Knight was sentenced to a three-game suspension, forced to pay a $30,000 fine (which Backer said was the reason for Knight's outburst with a female administrator), as well as stay away from any inappropriate physical contact. Knight was also ordered to conduct himself with proper decorum and civility when representing Indiana at public presentations and other occasions.
The May 15 sanctions also said Knight, along with all Indiana head coaches, would adhere to a conduct policy that would be developed by a 15-member committee and led by Doninger. That policy is expected to be given to the board of trustees by Wednesday for Friday's meeting in New Albany, Ind. This policy isn't the zero-tolerance policy which applied to Knight. That policy was the May 15 sanctions.
"You can't put a finger on any one event," Backer said. "It's an accumulation. He had no regards for the guidelines that the university put on him. The irony is here is a guy who chastised a student for manners when he was uncivil and lacked loyalty."
Backer reiterated that Brand had the ability to hire and fire Knight. When Thursday's incident occurred, it set in motion a chain of events.
Brand immediately sent a memo to all of the trustees about the incident. Brand then spoke with the campus police about the incident. Brand said he spoke with Knight on Friday and was surprised to learn that he was going to hold a news conference. He said he didn't want Knight to do that. Brand also asked Knight to stay in Bloomington because of the severity of the situation. When Knight refused and went on a scheduled fishing trip to Canada, Brand had made his decision.
Backer said Brand met with a number of trustees at Indiana's football game Saturday against North Carolina State and told them that he had decided to fire or ask for the resignation of Knight. Backer said Brand had the basic results of the investigation by Saturday before he made up his mind.
On Sunday, Knight called Brand and said he still wanted to coach at Indiana. Brand said that Knight indicated he didn't do anything wrong and listed his accomplishments at the university. Knight offered to return from Canada, but Brand said Knight didn't need to because the university was going in a different direction. After Knight refused to resign, Brand said he was relieved on his job (he'll be paid the base salary of $170,000 per year for the final two years of his contract).
The president had initially planned announcing the decision to fire Knight on Tuesday, but once Knight refused to resign, Brand didn't think the news would stay quiet and abruptly called for the Sunday news conference.
Knight's defiance throughout the summer is in line with what close friends and colleagues said of Knight over the last two days. They said Knight felt under appreciated and was fed up with the university. He even told one of his former assistants that he didn't think he would wear his famed Indiana University sweater on the sidelines during the season. But Knight was also quick to point out that he may not be the coach. When a candidate for an open position on his staff didn't get the job, Knight told him that he didn't know if he would be coaching this season.
Sunday, he was right.
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.
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AUDIO/VIDEO
 Indiana University officials excuse Bob Knight of his coaching duties.
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Bob Knight denies a student's allegations against him during a news conference Friday.
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 IU officials were set to remove Bob Knight prior to the confrontation according to ESPN.com's Andy Katz.
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Mark Shaw discusses the incident between his stepson and Bob Knight with ESPN's Chris McKendry.
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Accuser Kent Harvey tell reporters he was immediately scared when confronted by Knight.
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