Knight reaches settlement with hunting partner

MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ Bob Knight has reached a settlement with a man who accused the Texas Tech basketball coach of pressuring him to lie about a 1999 hunting accident. <br><br>The Wisconsin State Journal

Friday, December 28th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ Bob Knight has reached a settlement with a man who accused the Texas Tech basketball coach of pressuring him to lie about a 1999 hunting accident.

The Wisconsin State Journal reported Friday that the lawsuit was dismissed Thursday. Details of the settlement were not included in court documents, the newspaper said.

Catherine Rottier, an attorney representing Knight, said the settlement was reached shortly before Christmas. She declined to reveal specifics.

Thomas Mikunda of Exeland filed suit Aug. 6, claiming Knight pressured him to falsify details about the Oct. 12, 1999, hunting accident in northwestern Wisconsin. He claimed Knight negligently shot at a grouse, even though Mikunda was in the line of fire, hitting him in the back and shoulder.

Mikunda claims Knight then coerced him into backing his version of the accident to avoid problems with his coaching job at Indiana University, where the Hall of Fame coach spent 29 years before being fired in 2000.

Mikunda, who was hit with 16 gunshot pellets, was seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages and legal costs.

Lawyers for Mikunda did not return phone calls left by the Wisconsin State Journal.