Berkovitch signs on for Newcastle

Newcastle Eagles have signed the former London Towers guard Tamir Berkovitch. The Israeli-born player represented England at Under-19 level and was a member of the team at last summer's World Student Games in Majorca.

Newcastle Eagles have signed the former London Towers guard Tamir Berkovitch. The Israeli-born player represented England at Under-19 level and was a member of the team at last summer's World Student Games in Majorca.

The 24-year-old joins the Eagles from the American College circuit for his second spell in the British League after two seasons as a squad player at the Towers in 1993-94 and 1997-98.

"We wanted to sign a quality English player and there aren't many of those left out there," said the Eagles' coach, Tony Garbelotto. "So we took the decision to strengthen our squad with the best player available."

Berkovitch is expected to make his debut for the Eagles when they tip-off their new British Basketball League campaign at Chester Jets on Saturday night.

In the United States, most NBA teams were beginning pre-season training yesterday but an old issue continued to rumble on, when a law suit was filed to overturn the recent firing of the Indiana University coach Bob Knight, contending that the University violated the state's "open meeting" law.

The lawsuit stems from meetings on 9 September between the university president, Myles Brand, and members of the board of trustees, during which Knight's job was discussed.

Brand fired Knight the following day saying he violated a "zero-tolerance" behaviour policy. According to Indiana law, notice must be given to the public at least 48 hours before a meeting takes place, which did not happen in this case, and the court is being asked to void the termination of Knight's contract.

The complaint was filed by lawyers Roy Graham and Gojko Kasich on behalf of 46 plaintiffs from Indiana and other states. "The issue is fairness," Graham said. "The issue is not what Bobby Knight did or didn't do."