Fischer tried to walk back his comments Friday, saying that Knight’s health “has declined” but adding that he doesn’t believe Knight is gravely ill.
On Wednesday, Fischer said the 78-year-old Knight is dealing with “major issues” and speculated that a cognitive disorder was involved.
“(Y)ou want to keep thinking that that brain is never going to go away, and it appears that’s a real problem for him right now and what he’s dealing with,” Fischer said in an interview for a radio program based in East Lansing, Mich. (per the Indianapolis Star).
MORE: Knight wished death upon former IU administrators
Fischer was responding to a question about the broken relationship between Indiana and Knight. The university fired Knight in 2000 after he grabbed the arm of a student during an encounter on campus.
The Star contacted Fischer for an interview Friday. He later released a statement to the newspaper in which he tried to downplay any possible problems with Knight’s health:
Knight has not been reached for comment.
Indiana won three NCAA Tournament championships (1976, 1981, 1987) under Knight, who coached the Hoosiers from 1971 until his firing. Knight also coached at Army (1965-71) and Texas Tech (2001-08).
Knight was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1991. He is sixth on the NCAA’s all-time list with 902 career coaching victories.
