Knight Appeals Big Ten Ruling

Indiana Coach Bob Knight has appealed a ruling by the Big Ten, which reportedly gave him a choice between a one-game suspension or a $10,000 fine for his actions during a game against Illinois two weeks ago.

Knight was censured for his scathing comments about officials. Before the conference tournament in Chicago last week it was reported that Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany gave Knight the option of accepting one of the two penalties or appealing to the league.

The conference said the decision would not be made public until Indiana had a chance to respond. But the school said Monday it was up to the Big Ten to announce details of precisely what was being appealed.

“You’d have to talk to them at the Big Ten. What we sent out, that’s us,” said Gregg Elkin, Indiana’s basketball sports information director.

No one at the Big Ten office in Chicago could be reached for comment.

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For the last six weeks of the season the same four teams held the top four spots in the AP poll, and it’s no coincidence they are also the top four seeded teams in the NCAA tournament.

No. 1 North Carolina, ranked fourth last week, received 55 first-place votes and 1,734 points from the national media panel. Kansas (34-3), which won the Big 12 tournament, moved up one spot to second with 13 No. 1 votes and 1,652 points.

Duke (29-3) dropped two spots to third with 1,601 points and was followed by Arizona (27-4).

UCLA is ranked 19th.

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Mike Krzyzewski criticized the NCAA selection committee’s seeding process.

The Duke coach believes his top-seeded team should have been put in the lower portion of the South bracket and should be playing in Atlanta, not on the homecourt of Kentucky, the second-seeded team in the South, which will play in the Georgia Dome.

“I don’t know why you do that unless you’re not thinking about the No. 1 seeds,” Krzyzewski said of the selection committee. “If you start out thinking about ‘How am I supposed to place the No. 2 seeds?’ that happens.

“I don’t think you should put our team in that situation. We’ve already told our team, ‘OK, it’s a road game.’ ”

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A potential NBA work stoppage this summer will affect whether Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year Antawn Jamison turns pro early, the North Carolina junior said.

“If I do decide to leave, I want to play,” Jamison said. “I don’t want to sit out while the college season is going on, I could be playing college basketball. That’s definitely going to work into my decision-making process.”

Jamison, who is 6 feet 9, said he would like to make a quick decision about his future once the NCAA tournament concludes. He’ll discuss his options with Coach Bill Guthridge and former coach Dean Smith.

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Pete Boone, who oversaw the transformation of the University of Mississippi from NCAA troubles to having Top 25 football and basketball teams, is resigning as athletic director. His resignation becomes effective in mid-April.

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Chamique Holdsclaw, who helped make Tennessee a unanimous No. 1 in the poll, was a unanimous selection to The Associated Press women’s All-American team.

She was joined by Connecticut’s injured star, Nykesha Sales; Old Dominion’s Ticha Penicheiro, Texas Tech’s Alicia Thompson and North Carolina’s Tracy Reid.

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Tennessee remained a unanimous choice for No. 1 in the final AP women’s poll, making the Volunteers the first team in 13 years to go wire-to-wire at the top.

UCLA was ranked 25th.