Report: FBI Investigated Claims That Bob Knight Groped Women

[Tugg Speedman]

It seems a lot of old long-time coaches cannot "get out" with their reputations intact?  Joe Pa, Bobby Bowden, Jim Calhoun, Bo Ryan, Rick Pitino.

Jim Boeheim, you're on the clock.
John Calipari, you're after him.

--------------------------

Washington (AP) -- The FBI and the U.S. Army investigated complaints from four women that Hall of Fame basketball coach Bob Knight groped them or touched them inappropriately during a visit to a U.S. spy agency in 2015, an investigation that concluded a year later without charges, The Washington Post reported Friday.

One of the women, whose name The Post did not disclose, told the newspaper that Knight groped her on the buttocks shortly before he gave a speech to staffers at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency at its headquarters in Springfield, Virginia. The woman also filed a discrimination complaint against the NGA and the Defense Department in which she claimed she was pressured to drop the matter, The Post reported.

An attorney representing Knight, James Voyles, acknowledged to The Post that FBI agents interviewed Knight at his home in Montana last year and said the investigation was dropped shortly thereafter.

"There is absolutely no credible evidence to support this in our opinion, these allegations," Voyles said, adding that the FBI agents "reported to their superiors that there was no basis for any further action, period."

[GB Warrior]

It seems a lot of old long-time coaches cannot "get out" with their reputations intact?  Joe Pa, Bobby Bowden, Jim Calhoun, Bo Ryan, Rick Pitino.

Jim Boeheim, you're on the clock.
John Calipari, you're after him.

--------------------------

Washington (AP) -- The FBI and the U.S. Army investigated complaints from four women that Hall of Fame basketball coach Bob Knight groped them or touched them inappropriately during a visit to a U.S. spy agency in 2015, an investigation that concluded a year later without charges, The Washington Post reported Friday.

One of the women, whose name The Post did not disclose, told the newspaper that Knight groped her on the buttocks shortly before he gave a speech to staffers at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency at its headquarters in Springfield, Virginia. The woman also filed a discrimination complaint against the NGA and the Defense Department in which she claimed she was pressured to drop the matter, The Post reported.

An attorney representing Knight, James Voyles, acknowledged to The Post that FBI agents interviewed Knight at his home in Montana last year and said the investigation was dropped shortly thereafter.

"There is absolutely no credible evidence to support this in our opinion, these allegations," Voyles said, adding that the FBI agents "reported to their superiors that there was no basis for any further action, period."

Boeheim still has his reputation?

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Knight is also famous for saying something along the lines of "If you're going to get raped you might as well relax and enjoy it." Not one of my favorite human beings and if these allegations are true,  that only cements it.

[Tugg Speedman]

Boeheim still has his reputation?

said he was on the clock.

But Bernie Fine and vacating 2013 suggests he'll end of like the rest of them.

[MU82]

Bobby Knight still has a reputation?

He was always a pig, and a horrible human being. I mean, he was caught on film effen chokin' a kid! Among his many affronts to humanity.

If he couldn't coach, he'd have been in jail a long time ago. He coulda shared a cell with Latrell Sprewell, and they coulda choked each other all day and night.

[Anti-Dentite]

Bobby Knight still has a reputation?

He was always a pig, and a horrible human being. I mean, he was caught on film effen chokin' a kid! Among his many affronts to humanity.

If he couldn't coach, he'd have been in jail a long time ago. He coulda shared a cell with Latrell Sprewell, and they coulda choked each other all day and night.

Lay off Spree man, P.J. Had that coming.

[rocket surgeon]

Lay off Spree man, P.J. Had that coming.

right cuz spree had a family to feed, eyn'er?

[Anti-Dentite]

right cuz spree had a family to feed, eyn'er?

Damn straight.

[Blackhat]

Not a fan of Knight by any means but we should be fair here, especially when anyone is headlined with a serious matter/crime.   Being investigated is far different than being charged.   Apparently there was nothing there.    This has the appearance of a smear.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Not a fan of Knight by any means but we should be fair here, especially when anyone is headlined with a serious matter/crime.   Being investigated is far different than being charged.   Apparently there was nothing there.    This has the appearance of a smear.

I wouldn't say that.  To me,  it has the appearance of something inappropriate or boorish that isn't necessarily serious enough to prosecute.

[tower912]

Teal, right?

[Lennys Tap]

Well yeah, we don't know. Only people who were there do. But I don't see any evidence that this is a smear attempt as was suggested.

Evidently there wasn't a great deal in the way of evidence period.

[GGGG]

I think there are a couple things we can all agree on here:

1. Bobby Knight is one of the greatest coaches the game of basketball has ever seen.  For all you young'uns out there who never saw peak-Indiana, his teams moved the ball with the best of them and could defend.  Watching his teams dismantle the likes of the Fab 5 was a joy.  (And that 1993 IU team IMO would have won the national championship had not Alan Henderson blown out his knee.)

2. That is the only positive thing I can say about Bobby Knight.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Evidently there wasn't a great deal in the way of evidence period.

I don't think you can say that either. Look at the accusations made. What would you charge Knight with if they were true? None of them rise to the level of a criminal sexual assault anywhere in the country. You could maybe argue criminal assault but I don't think many DAs would take the time to prosecute a minor case like this. Most likely this would be a civil case if anything. I could have missed it, but I don't remember anyone saying that this was a criminal investigation, just that the FBI interviewed Knight about the incident.

Lack of charges does not necessarily mean innocence, common misconception.

[Jockey]

Evidently there wasn't a great deal in the way of evidence period.

Hopefully, this isn't an attempt to defend Knight's view of women.

[Golden Avalanche]

Not a fan of Knight by any means but we should be fair here, especially when anyone is headlined with a serious matter/crime.   Being investigated is far different than being charged.   Apparently there was nothing there.    This has the appearance of a smear.

You need a reputation that is in good standing when accusing the principals of engineering a smear campaign. 

Unsure how people like you comb the follicles with the tin foil on top.

[Mutaman]

Evidently there wasn't a great deal in the way of evidence period.

Showing yet again that folks have no understanding of the meaning of the concept of "evidence".
A statement by a witness such as an eyewitness testimony,  based on personal knowledge or observation, is "evidence". Indeed it is is strong enough to be called "direct evidence".

[Babybluejeans]

His abilities as a coach are unimpeachable, but he's a bully down to his core.

Frank DeFord's profile of him in Sports Illustrated in '81 is a classic piece of sportswriting, and demonstrates both well: https://www.si.com/college-basketball/2015/01/14/rabbit-hunter-frank-deford-bobby-kight-si-60.

[Pakuni]

Interesting that Knight's attorney didn't deny it.

[Blackhat]

Alright I'll try to bring this back to Knight story.

[Blackhat]

nm

[B. McBannerson]

Interesting that Knight's attorney didn't deny it.

"There is absolutely no credible evidence to support this in our opinion, these allegations," said James Voyles, an Indianapolis lawyer who represents Knight. The FBI agents, he added, "reported to their superiors that there was no basis for any further action, period."

All we have is what the media reported and decided to publish.  Unless someone here has a full transcript of everything his attorney said.  We don't receive full access, only what the media publishes for us to view. 

Investigation dropped.  No evidence of wrongdoing

http://www.sfchronicle.com/news/politics/article/Report-FBI-investigated-claims-that-Bob-Knight-11273772.php

[rocket surgeon]

"There is absolutely no credible evidence to support this in our opinion, these allegations," said James Voyles, an Indianapolis lawyer who represents Knight. The FBI agents, he added, "reported to their superiors that there was no basis for any further action, period."

All we have is what the media reported and decided to publish.  Unless someone here has a full transcript of everything his attorney said.  We don't receive full access, only what the media publishes for us to view. 

Investigation dropped.  No evidence of wrongdoing

http://www.sfchronicle.com/news/politics/article/Report-FBI-investigated-claims-that-Bob-Knight-11273772.php

almost like a "reputable" news organization mistaking a parody tweet for real news...now that would never happen because, whoopsie...they did it again...

http://gizmodo.com/new-york-times-falls-for-that-fake-north-korea-twitter-1796634858

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

"There is absolutely no credible evidence to support this in our opinion, these allegations," said James Voyles, an Indianapolis lawyer who represents Knight. The FBI agents, he added, "reported to their superiors that there was no basis for any further action, period."

All we have is what the media reported and decided to publish.  Unless someone here has a full transcript of everything his attorney said.  We don't receive full access, only what the media publishes for us to view. 

Investigation dropped. No evidence of wrongdoing

http://www.sfchronicle.com/news/politics/article/Report-FBI-investigated-claims-that-Bob-Knight-11273772.php

Eh.....I don't think you can say this either. No evidence of wrongdoing implies that Knight was a complete angel and these women are making up wild stories (which could be true). Much more likely IMHO is 1. That there wasn't enough evidence of wrongdoing (no DA is going after Bobby Knight without video evidence and a signed confession). 2. There was evidence of wrongdoing but it didn't rise to the level of a criminal offense (based on the accusations it sounds a lot more like a civil case). 3. The FBI investigation was internal not criminal. There may have be no interest by anyone in pressing charges but the FBI still has follow up on any case of alleged sex discrimination in its workplace (sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination). They invited Coach Knight and thus could be held responsible for his actions while he was their guest.

There is also the less likely but still possible scenario of some big fish somewhere up the chain telling the investigators to drop it. I don't think that's the case here, but it is well within the realm of possibility.

The bottom line is that we have no idea what happened. Only the people who were present do. Given the enormous reputational, career, emotional, and even physical risk it takes to report someone for sexual harassment....and given Coach Knight's previous comments regarding sexual assault....I'm inclined to believe that something inappropriate happened between him and these women. Obviously, that's not nearly enough evidence for any sort of action to be taken against him in a criminal court. But it is enough evidence for this internet bum to have an opinion about it.

[dgies9156]

I think there are a couple things we can all agree on here:

1. Bobby Knight is one of the greatest coaches the game of basketball has ever seen.  For all you young'uns out there who never saw peak-Indiana, his teams moved the ball with the best of them and could defend.  Watching his teams dismantle the likes of the Fab 5 was a joy.  (And that 1993 IU team IMO would have won the national championship had not Alan Henderson blown out his knee.)

2. That is the only positive thing I can say about Bobby Knight.

2. Watching his 1976 team dismantle one of the best Marquette teams ever was very painful, but the 1976 Indiana University team was one of the best teams ever. They were incredible.

3. Watching a young Bobby Knight's team defeat Marquette in 1973 at Memorial Gym in Nashville was painful but also illustrative of the kind of coach he was -- VERY GOOD!!!