MSU knew about sex charge 

Spartans won't talk about Knott's status 

BY DAVID A. MARKIEWICZ, 
BILL L. ROOSE AND MICK McCABE
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITERS

Michigan State football coaches were aware of sexual-assault charges against a star Detroit high school player last fall, but have continued to recruit him while he awaits trial.

Former MSU coach Nick Saban said Wednesday that he and his successor, Bobby Williams, discussed the case involving Henry Ford tight end Eric Knott in the middle of last season. Knott, the subject of an intense national recruiting battle, confirmed Monday that he planned to accept an athletic scholarship from MSU next Wednesday, the first day players officially can accept scholarships.

But Michigan State officials aren't saying whether they still plan to offer a scholarship to Knott, who faces trial March 15 on charges that he raped a 13-year-old Detroit girl last July.

University president M. Peter McPherson would not comment about Knott, citing NCAA rules that prohibit discussion of recruits. Williams could not be reached for comment.

An NCAA spokeswoman said MSU could say what its policy was for such cases, but not make comments about the athlete.

Knott is charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct. If convicted of the felony, he would face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. He will be tried as an adult because of the severity of the case, prosecutors said, even though he was 17 at the time of the incident. Knott, who turned 18 this month, is pleading not guilty, his attorney said.

Knowledge of the charges caused some other top colleges -- including Michigan, UCLA and Tennessee -- to stop their recruitment of Knott.

Saban, now at Louisiana State, said he and Williams were aware of Knott's legal problems last fall. Saban said he didn't remember all the particulars of his conversation with Williams about Knott because they talked during the season and he was preoccupied.

"I wasn't sure what the kid was charged with," Saban said. "I knew it was some kind of sexual deal, but what I was told was very vague. It was in the middle of our season. Bobby Williams was the one that told me of the assault charge. I didn't think it was that serious of a deal, and I certainly wasn't aware that it was rape."

The charges involved oral sex and digital penetration.

Saban said he never talked to Knott or his high school coach, Mike Marshall, about the charges.

A football coach at one school that stopped recruiting Knott said: "We knew about Knott's troubles back in September. We stopped recruiting him at that point. I'm sure everybody knew about it, especially a player like that."

MSU wasn't the only school that maintained its interest in Knott. He told Marshall last week that he had narrowed his choices to Florida State, Miami (Fla.) and Ohio State as well as MSU.

Many recruiting analysts rate Knott, a 6-foot-4, 245-pound tight end, the best prospect at his position in the country.

"Michigan State is having the best year in the Big Ten, maybe the best ever in my 20 years of doing this, and Knott's one of their key guys," analyst Tom Lemming said.

The incident, which occurred July 25, threatens Knott's future as a college football player and has prompted an outcry from the mother of the girl who said he raped her daughter.

The name of the mother is being withheld to protect the identity of her daughter, in accordance with Free Press policy regarding rape victims.

"While my daughter's suffering he's able to go out and play football, walk the street and have the peace of mind she doesn't have," the mother said. "She's scared, terrified this will happen again. She feels guilty and ashamed. She won't talk to anybody. She used to be such a happy-go-lucky girl; now she has these terrible mood swings."

The girl's mother said she also was angry because Knott, after his arraignment in August, was freed on bond and allowed to return to school and continue to play football.

The girl's mother suggested that MSU shouldn't offer Knott a scholarship. 

But Marshall said: "I think Michigan State should wait this out. But they should also remember that he's innocent until proven guilty. I'd hate to see them take a scholarship away from a guy that's innocent."

The mother also criticized Henry Ford administrators, saying they shielded Knott.

"My thing is that if it's OK for him to come to school," Marshall said, "then why shouldn't he take part in everything else going on?"

No state or city high school athletic rules prohibit players accused of a crime from competing for their schools.

Marshall called the charges against Knott "allegations." "He didn't rape nobody," he said. "In March, the truth will come out. I hate that he has to go through the humiliation of this."

The school's athletic director, Maurice Menefee, said he was unaware of the case against Knott.

"It's the first I've heard of it," he said.

Ultimately, the girl's mother said, she wants Knott to serve time. "I want to see him convicted for what he has done," she said.

Neither Knott nor his mother would talk about the incident. But Knott's attorney, Gabi Silver, said: "He hasn't been convicted of anything. You're presumed innocent in this country until proven guilty. To start punishing him unless or before he is convicted is pretty unfair."

Silver wouldn't discuss specifics of the case, but downplayed Knott's admission in a police report that he had sex with the girl.

"It's a police report," Silver said. "They're not even entered into evidence. It's what somebody else says he said."

Silver said a plea bargain had not been discussed with prosecutors.

Knott was arrested after the girl's mother called police and said her daughter had been forced into a car by a group of men. Police also arrested two other juvenile males in connection with the incident, but they are not being prosecuted

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