March 15, 2000 SportsLine.com wire reports

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana coach Bob Knight said Wednesday he might have grabbed former player Neil Reed around the neck, but didn't recall choking him.

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He also denied Reed's claim that he had ordered the university's president out of a basketball practice.

Reed accused Knight of choking him during practice three years ago. Reed transferred from Indiana at the end of that season, contending he was physically and mentally abused by Knight.

An interview with CNN/SI in which Reed repeated his charges was broadcast Tuesday night, and a longer version was part of a CNN program Wednesday night.

"Maybe I grabbed Neil Reed by the shoulder, maybe I took him by the back of the neck, I don't know. I don't remember everything I've done in practice," Knight told Indianapolis television station WTHR.

The university investigated and rejected Reed's claims three years ago.

"I have used a lot of different things for motivational purposes. I've always tried to act that part of my coaching is to move you where you're supposed to be," Knight said.

"We're not learning to play bridge. We're learning to play basketball."

Reed was an underachiever who was unanimously voted off the team by his teammates, Knight said. "Who's heard about Neil Reed in the past three years?"

Knight called Reed's claim that Indiana president Myles Brand had been dismissed from a practice by him "the most absurd comment of all. ... That absolutely, positively in totality never happened."

Several Indiana players also denied Reed's charges during a news conference Tuesday night. Also, basketball media relations director Todd Starowitz read a statement from former assistant coach Dan Dakich.

"Anyone who has seen coach at practice knows that he will physically move a player by the waist or shoulders from one spot on the floor to another to make a coaching point, but for Reed to say that I ever had to separate him from coach is false," Dakich said. "I did see coach take a kid by the shoulder or elbow and say `Get over here,' but choking a player? No. Never, ever."

A.J. Guyton, the team's scoring leader and first-team All-American, said he was disappointed to come to practice Tuesday and hear about comments he called "outrageous."

The Hoosiers (20-8), seeded sixth in the NCAA East, plan to leave on Thursday for Buffalo, N.Y., where they will face 11th-seeded Pepperdine (24-8) on Friday. It's the first appearance in the tournament for Pepperdine since 1994, while the Hoosiers are in for the 15th consecutive year.