Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 12, 1994 TAG: 9402120197
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Knight-Ridder/Tribune
DATELINE: CHICAGO LENGTH: Medium
Notre Dame and DePaul are being courted by the Big East Conference, and both schools are listening.
The Midwest programs have been targeted in plans for an expanded 16-team basketball conference, according to Big East sources. Irish football would remain independent.
Dick Rosenthal, Notre Dame's athletic director, acknowledged Friday the school is studying the feasibility of placing its basketball team in a conference. He hoped to have some definitive answers within two to four weeks.
The Blue Demons are one of the founders of its new conference, the Great Midwest. However, athletic director Bill Bradshaw said Friday that while the school has yet to be contacted officially by the Big East, preliminary conversations with Big East representatives had taken place.
The Big East has long coveted Notre Dame, and it has an obvious desire to crack the Chicago television market. If Notre Dame and DePaul were invited, it would be as part of a restructured Big East.
The conference is wrestling with whether to invite the four football-only schools (West Virginia, Temple, Rutgers and Virginia Tech) to join as basketball members. However, the six basketball-only schools (Georgetown, Connecticut, St. John's, Villanova, Seton Hall and Providence) are resisting change. Syracuse, Miami, Boston College and Pittsburgh play both sports.
Notre Dame and DePaul could provide a compromise. If they were included, there would be eight basketball-only programs, putting it on equal political footing with the other eight football-basketball schools.
by CNB