Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 30, 1990 TAG: 9006300099
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Bill Brill
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
"The conference commissioners deserve it," Hearn said while attending the Knight Commission meeting here.
Confused?
Like most college leaders, Hearn would prefer to spend less time dealing with athletics. But he's on the Presidents Commission, and the Knight Commission, "and I've spent the whole week on college sports."
Hearn realizes the presidents have gotten roasted in recent years. Most of their proposals have turned out like bread left too long in a toaster, burned.
The presidents know what they want to happen, only they are not sure how to go about getting their programs supported.
They have adopted a new stance. They are supporting, almost without exception, the reform and cost-cutting proposals of league commissioners.
In a meeting that ended Wednesday in Chicago, the presidents elected to co-sponsor the plans of the commissioners.
With everybody understanding costs are mushrooming, cuts are mandatory. Only the coaches do not agree. They want them made everywhere except in their back yard.
Enter the conference bosses. They are doing the arm-twisting, the persuading.
What will be proposed at the 1991 NCAA convention in Nashville, Tenn., will be across-the-board cuts in almost all sports, including football and basketball.
By 1994, Division I football schools may be permitted just 85 scholarships, a reduction of 10. They will be allowed 25 grants in a given year, but a limit of 44 in two.
By 1993, basketball scholarships will be reduced from 15 to 13.
This all depends on getting the votes in the Music City, which is why the presidents have adopted their present attitude.
"They want broad-based support, as many sponsors as possible," said Dick Schultz, the NCAA's executive director.
Schultz realizes the coaches will groan and moan that their sport cannot stand reductions.
"I attended the commissioners meeting the other night, and [ACC Commissioner] Gene Corrigan reminded me that when football scholarships were reduced from 120 to 95 years ago, [Southern Cal coach] John McKay stood up and said, `The game is ruined.' Football is better than ever."
Schultz knows scholarship reduction not only will save money, it might help the little guys.
"If we go to 85," Hearn said, "that means we have a chance to sign some of the 10 players who won't go to Clemson. But my coach [Bill Dooley] says they'll have 40 walk-ons, and we won't have a chance."
Wake may not have a chance against Clemson, but not because of any scholarship reductions. It will not be the first time Dooley was wrong.
As for the other happenings in college sports, Schultz said he feels good about the distribution of the basketball billion, but a little uneasy about restructuring.
The TV money from CBS, nearly $150 million annually over seven years, is likely to be divided "equitably, but not equally," Schultz said.
Everybody will get more. "The schools that historically have gotten the least will get the greatest percentage increase," Schultz said.
But those leagues that have had the best six-year record in NCAA competition will get the most bucks, along with schools that have broad-based athletic programs.
That proposal, still unofficial, bothers some Knight Commission people. They feel that, in a cost-containment mode, some schools may feel a need to add more grants and sports to get a larger piece of the pie.
Of course, everybody isn't going to be satisfied.
Restructuring is simple but sure to be fiercely fought on the convention floor. Division I basketball is too large with 293 schools, some of which sponsor roundball and not much else.
Any effort to establish new criteria that will force such schools - many in the East - into Division II will be met with enormous criticism.
That's when the commissioners will have to keep the peace. Isn't that what Nobel awards are all about?
by CNB