Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 9, 1990 TAG: 9003091878
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-14 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHARLOTTE, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
After watching his 12th-ranked Blue Devils practice at the Charlotte Coliseum, Krzyzewski said the time has come for some major changes in college basketball.
"We need a new model. I'm not talking about model programs. ... I'm talking about the rules governing the game and with the spotlight back on the student," said Krzyzewski, whose team faces Maryland at 7 p.m. today in the first round of the ACC tournament. "We're dealing with an old model. We just keep trying to fix it."
Krzyzewski doesn't want to do away with the NCAA. He just wants those in charge to show some vision instead of reacting after the fact.
"If you check legislation for the last 20 years, it's usually stopgap legislation. In other words, we have a problem here, now let's put legislation in there," he said. "There hasn't been the vision to say, `Look what's happened to our sport. We've gone to being a multimillion sport. The rules of the game governing us have not changed as swiftly as the environment.' "
Krzyzewski even has a plan to implement his ideas. He would like to form a committee of five Division I basketball coaches, five school presidents, five athletic directors, conference commissioners and three NCAA officials, including executive director Dick Schultz.
"The number's arbitrary, but not too many," Krzyzewski said. "We'd get them together for a week, 10 days and lock them up and say, `Let's come up with something better.' And you know what, we would, and it would be timely.
"Why don't we have some vision as to what might happen, and again the focus of all that would be the student and how we could make his experience better."
Krzyzewski also had some ideas about what should be changed, among them the athletic grant-in-aid.
"The scholarship's not appropriate any more," he said. "The best scholarship at Duke covers some travel expenses and incidental expenses. It's worth about $1,500 more than an athletic scholarship. I think if you would go to any school throughout the country you would find that."
Krzyzewski said a stipend might not be the answer, but he offered one suggestion: giving players a loan.
"No interest accrues until the end of their four years. They can get up to $1,000 - that's arbitrary - a year. At the end of their years, they would owe $4,000 that could be paid back at some timetable," he said.
"However, if they graduate within five years they don't have to pay it back. Something like that. I'd like people to say, well that's stupid or that's good. Why not come up with ideas. If you're really looking out for that kid then you would come up with some crazy ideas."
While Krzyzewski spent much of his time talking to reporters about his ideas on changing the rules, he did talk about his club's game with the seventh-seeded Terrapins (18-12, 6-8).
The second-seeded Blue Devils (23-7, 9-5) have lost three of their last four coming into the tournament. But Krzyzewski said he believes the games - losses to North Carolina State, Clemson and North Carolina and a victory over Arizona - helped prepare Duke for not only the ACC tournament but the NCAA tournament.
"I don't think we can measure everything by just losing," Krzyzewski said. "Our team has done a marvelous job this year. I think the worst thing you can do is get down about it.
"You do start over this week and you start over again next week as far as records go. If you bring any excess baggage as far as being down about stuff, I think you really make a mistake."
Duke has not made a habit of that recently. The Blue Devils have advanced to the NCAA Final Four three of the last four years.
"March has always been fun for us," Krzyzewski said. "That's why we've achieved so greatly in March. Win or lose - one, two or three games here - I want to come away with that feeling."
by CNB