Sept. 24, 2004

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) - Indiana University agreed to pay $35,000 to former basketball assistant Ron Felling, who was fired by Bob Knight after a postgame confrontation in 1999.

Felling also sued Knight, who settled with him two years ago by paying him $25,000 and admitting he had shoved Felling after he overheard a telephone conversation in which Felling criticized his coaching and behavior.

Knight, now the coach at Texas Tech, was fired by Indiana's then-president Myles Brand in 2000 for violating the university's zero-tolerance behavior policy.

Felling will keep about $24,000 from the settlement for lost wages and compensatory damages, university spokesman Larry MacIntyre said Friday. The rest will be divided between two Indianapolis law firms that represented him.

In addition to the $35,000, the Felling case has cost the university $107,470 in attorney fees and costs, MacIntyre said. The parties signed a settlement agreement this month and a judge dismissed the suit Tuesday.

Knight sued the university last month, seeking to recover the $25,000 he paid Felling and legal costs and attorney fees. Knight lost an earlier suit against Indiana for wrongful firing and later dropped an appeal.