September 25, 1995
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The Faculty Voice Woman of the Year Soccer concern New monthly feature Ten finalists are Coaches seeking 4 to focus on issues 6 selected from 8 change in bylaw that of interest to faculty among the 52 prohibits playing for representatives state-level winners outside teams TheNCAA News 111task force addresses two key governance issues Group discusses committees, membership growth The Division III Task Force to met September 13 in Chicago. The n In addition, the group will rec- Review the NCAA Membership &UC- other was the task force’s conclusion ommend that where funding is avail- ture recently developed a preliminary that the tiersight Committee on the able, all championships be fully fund- list of committees that it believes NCAA Membership Structute should ed. should develop policy for the entire stipulate in its report that the signifi- Regarding championship and Association, rather than for a partic- cant growth of a division should be membership criteria for Division III, ular division. designated as an exceptional situation the group agreed that both are tran- The list is similar to a preliminary that would justify additional funding sitional issues that could be better list previously developed by the for that division. The NCAAAdminis addressed legislatively at the 1997 Division II task force. trative Committee recently placed a NG4A Convention. A subcommittee, moratorium on membership expan- chaired by Richard A. Rasmussen, Both task forces agree that major sion until restmcturing matters are set- executive secretary of the University NCAA committees such as the tlcd, but the Division III task force is Athletic Association, was appointed Committee on Competitive Safe- concerned that rapid expansion could to examine various suggestions for guards and Medical Aspects of Sports, occur in that division once the mora- championship and membership cri- the Committee on Women’s Athletics, to&m is lifted. teria. The subcommittee will report to the Minority Opportunities and Inte- The Division III meeting was atten- the Division III task force, which then rests Committee and the Kesearch dcd not only by the task force but also will create a report that will be dis- Committee should transcend all diti- hy the Division III Subcommittee of cussed at the Division III business se* sions. They also agree that several ad the NCAA Presidents Commission sion of the Convention. hoc committees, such as the Honors and the Division III Championships The Division II task force, which Committee and the National Youth Committee. The full group discussed met September 13 in Atlanta, spent Sports Program Committee, should championship bmrket and field sizes much of its meeting reviewing the involve al1 divisions. and will submit a report to the Pres- restructuring legislation that will be However, the lists also were signif- idents Commission for its September considered in January. icant because ofwhich committees 2627 meeting that will suggest the fol- In response to a request from the were not included by either group. lowing: Division II Steering Committee, the The Divisions II and III task forces W The group agreed to recommend task force discussed the proposed agree at this point that each division that brackets and field sizes for team composition of the Division II should be free to chart its orcn course and individual sports should he deter- Management Council, which would in fundamental areas such as acade- mined through ratios previously deter- include representatives from each mic requirements, eligibility, financial mined by the task force. Previously, Division II multisport playing con- Swan song - Shelley Swan (left) of Washington IJniver- aid and amateurism, and recruiting. the task force had determined that for ference. After discussing the plan, the sity (Mizsouri) haF&mped to a good stati in her senior season, The identification of Association- team sports, the field size should fall task force reaffirmed it5 beliefthat the ranking sixth in Division III in hitting penzntage and 1 lth in wide committees was one of two pri- between 8:l and 12: I sponsoring insti- proposed approach works best be- mary governance questions addressed tutions/participating teams and 16:l cause it provides broader access lo the kills. SeeDivtions I and III vo&yball stattitics, page 19. by the Division III task force, which and 24: 1 for individual sports. division’s governance structure. DeFleur joins Agents confirm problems run deep Commission BY STEPHEN R. HAGWELL unbounded access to student-athletes; of agents AND RONALD D. MOTT influencing elite, young student-athletes (as Lois B. DcFIeur, president of the State STAFF WRITERS early as seventh grade); and of agents stealing University of New York at Binghamton, clients from one another. has been appointed to the NCAA Presi- Nearly a decade has passed since the world “After two years in the trenches, (I can tell dents Commission as a Division III rep- of intercollegiate athletics was shaken by rev- AGENTSyou) it is a prol~lem,” said Lynn Lashbrook, fbr- resentative. elations about sports agents Norby Walters and mer athletics director at Southern Illinois She replaces Lloyd Bloom. University, Edwardstillc, and the University of Carol C. Harter, Walters and Bloom recruited 58 student-ath- Alaska Fairhanks and now senior vice-prcsi- who resigned as letes at 32 institutions and made payments to A five-part series dent of Sports Management Group, a St Louis president at State them reportedly in excess of $SOO,OOO.Mem- I based sports-representation firm “The biggest University College ories of the Walters-Bloom scandal have fad- This week: The agents’ issue I see is there doesn’t seem to be the deter-= al Genesco to ed, but recent events again have turned the m tent of penalty that can impact the srudrnt-ath perspective. become president spotlight on sports agents. lete or agent in the risk that might be taken for of the University of None of the recent events alone is as visible improprieties.” Nevada, I-as Vegas. as the Walters-Bloom case. But taken together, Next w’eek: The student- Problems are serious DeFleur became the incidents - including an infractions case 0 Binghamton’s fifth at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, athletes’ view. No one is certain how deep the problcrns run. Cfinservative estimates place at 59 percent president in 1990. DeFleur involving a sports agent; the conviction ofJoe She previously was Segal for violating a Florida law regulating the number of agents who offer and provide inducements to student-athletes with remain- provost at the Uni- sports agents; and statements of payouts to stu- turbing. But agents themselves say it is just versity of Missouri, Columbia. dent-athletes by Jesse Martinez, a former “run- more business as usual. ing collegiate eligibility. Some place the figure as high as 90 percent. She also served as a professor of soci- ner” for several sports agents - point to a Talk to agents anc’d insiders, and you will hear Some agents say inducements are SC)corn- ology at Missouri and at Washington State trend that could crack the foundation of inter- stories of substantial cash transactions involv- man, so ingrained in the practice of doing University, where she held the position collegiate athletics. ing student-athletes ad their parents; of coach- See DeFleur, page I I ) To those working in intercollegiate athletics, es and athletics directors “on the take” to help the latest string of agent-related trouble is dis steer new clients into an agent’s hands; of See Agens, page 13 & I \ Page 2 The NCAA News September 25, 1995 Schedule of key dates for September and October A weekly summary of major activities within the Association GRASS-ROOTS MOVEMENT SEPTEMBER The already active movement faces are Arkansas (both at Ka- RECRUITING toward natural playing surfaces in zorback Stadium in Fayetteville and Men’s DMion I bake&all Division I-A football became even at War Memorial Stadium in Little I-8 .. .. .. .. .. Quiet period. more active this year. Rock), California, Georgia Tech, 9-26 . .. .. .. .. .Conraa period. A total of seven Division I-A Missouri, Southern Methodist, Utah 27-30 __..._.._._.._.._........................................Quiet period. members switched to grass fields for and urginia. Southern Methodist Women’s Division I bake&all* the 1996 season, which means that moved its home games from Owen- I-16 . ...___.._..___........................................ Quiet period. 66 of the 108 I-A members play I 7-30. .. .. .. .contact period. their home games on natural sur- by Stadium, which had an artificial Men’s Division II bask&ml1 faces. That is 61.1 percent, which is surface, to the Cotton Bowl, which I-6 _________________.__...........................................Quiet period. the highest percentage of grass sur- has grass. 7-30 . .. .. .._.._....................................Contact period. faces since Division I-A was creat- North Texas, the new member of Women’s Dlvlslon II bad&ball* ed in 1978. Division I-A, plays on an artificial l-6 .. .. .. .. .. Quiet period. Teams playing on new grass sur- surface. 7-30 ________________________________________................Contact Period. Division I foohdl I-30 ________________________________________....................Quiet period. Current Division I-A teams using grass surfaces Division II hotball Air Force Clemson Kentucky Pacific (California) Stanford June I through the beginning of the prospect’s Nw Alabama* Colorado State LSU Nevada Penn State Tennessee high-school or two-year