MONDAY, MAY 5, 2003
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 9A
Eustachy to choose today whether to appeal
The Associated Press
DES MOINES, Iowa — Larry Eustachy, recently suspended by Iowa State for his behavior at college parties and slapped with a one-game suspension by the NCAA for rules violations, is deciding what approach to take in the fight to keep his job.
Eustachy's attorney, Doug Gross, said the coach had until the close of today's business day to choose whether he would appeal the university's decision. Gross said Saturday he was meeting with Eustachy to "evaluate the issues the university has raised."
"He's indicated publicly, and told me privately as well, that he wants to fight for his job," said Gross, a former candidate for Iowa governor.
ISU athletic director Bruce Van De Velde recommended last week that Eustachy be fired following newspaper reports that he drank and partied with college students after games in Columbia. Mo., and Manhattan, Kan.
Photos from the Columbia party show Eustachy kissing young women and being kissed by them on the cheek. Eustachy disclosed this past week that he was an alcoholic and was seeking treatment.
On Friday, the university announced that the NCAA had found Iowa State guilty of secondary rules violations because Eustachy twice paid players for making free throws. The university was ordered to suspend Eustachy for one game. The payments to the players — the most anyone received was $20 — took place during the 2002-2003 season.
Van De Velde said those violations had nothing to do with his recommendation to fire Eustachy.
Iowa State had reported the violations to the NCAA and wouldn't appeal the ruling, said
Iowa State's image has taken a beating over Eustachy's conduct — but the university will recover, Van De Velde said Saturday.
"Worse things have happened to basketball programs or football programs before. We have a great core group of fans, we have a great administration, we have support from our alumni who know we're trying to do the right thing for this institution, for the entire situation," he said.
associate athletic director Bill Smith, the university's compliance coordinator.
The university reported the violations to the NCAA and
sent the organization a report of its own investigation on March 27. In that report, the university imposed its own penalties, including a letter of reprimand to Eustachy and a salary freeze.
Eustachy would lose about $8,000 because of the sanctions, Iowa State said. He is paid about $1.1 million a year.
Eustachy is 101-59 in five seasons at Iowa State,including 17-14 last season. He guided Iowa State to Big 12 Conference championships in 2000 and 2001 and was the AP national coach of the year in 2000.
Alabama coach fired after topless bar incident
The Associated Press
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Mike Price was fired by Alabama without coaching a single game because of his behavior, including a night at a topless bar another embarrassment for a once-proud football team.
University president Robert Witt said Saturday that Price failed to live his "personal and professional life in a manner consistent with university policies."
Price, hired away from Washington State in December, lost his job because of his conduct on a trip to Florida last month for a pro-am golf tournament. Witt disclosed for the first time that Price was warned before that trip about his public behavior.
"To the university and the
entire 'Bama Nation, I admit making mistakes and at times inappropriate behavior, but I also ask for your forgiveness," Price said.
Alabama has won six national football championships, but it can't seem to keep a coach lately and is under NCAA probation.
Reports emerged during the week that Price spent hundreds of dollars at a topless bar and, the next morning, a woman ordered about $1,000 of room service and charged it to his hotel bill.
The 57-year-old Price, his wife and the two sons he hired for the Alabama coaching staff sat with the media for a brief public session with university trustees Saturday.
After Witt announced the firing, a tearful Price was alternately
apologetic and defiant in speaking to an auditorium packed with reporters and fans. He said he asked Witt for a second chance, but the president declined.
"I don't think the punishment fits the crime," Price said. "I strongly feel that I was the man that could have put this behind us. I think President Witt is making a mistake. He's not breaking the law, but he's making an error in judgment."
Witt called Price "a great coach, a good man,"but the president added that Price failed to live up to responsibilities that come with the job of head coach at Alabama.
Before trustees went behind closed doors, pleas were made to retain Price.
"Everybody makes mistakes,"
quarterback Brodie Croyle said. "You can rest assured it won't happen again." He later hinted some players might transfer.
Price led Washington State to consecutive 10-win seasons and a Rose Bowl berth last season. He was to have been Alabama's sixth head coach since Bear Bryant retired after the 1981 season.
The late Bryant set the standard for all future Alabama football coaches, winning five AP national championships and establishing a since-broken record for Division I victories. The only other Alabama coach to win a national title was Gene Stallings in 1992.
could be fired for any behavior "that brings (the) employee into public disrepute, contempt, scandal, or ridicule or that reflects unfavorably upon the reputation or the high moral or ethical standards of the University."
Price agreed to a seven-year contract worth $10 million with Alabama but never signed it. The deal had a clause that said he
When Price was hired by Alabama, he immediately showed deference to Bryant's legacy while emphasizing his own style.
"I want to be the second-best coach in the history of Alabama football," Price said. "If I could do that, I think that would be wonderful. It probably isn't going to be done the way Papa did it, the way coach Bryant did it. It's going to be the way I do it. To walk on the same sidelines that he walked is a huge honor."
Price never got the chance.
kansan.com
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Someone who treats all sports fairly.
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Most important is a person who has a good relationship with Mark Mangino and Bill Self.
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Kansas Athletics Calendar
Baseball vs. Washburn, 5 p.m.
Hoglund Ballpark
WEDNESDAY
Baseball at Wichita State, 7 p.m., Wichita
FRIDAY
Baseball at Texas A&M, 7 p.m.
College Station, Texas
SATURDAY
Track at ESU Twilight Qualifier, all day, Emporia Baseball at Texas A&M, 7 p.m., College Station, Texas
SUNDAY
Three 'true' predictions for the 2003-2004 sports season
Baseball at Texas A&M, 1 p.m. College Station, Texas
Summertime is almost upon us with three months of welldeserved rest for all of us nonseniors. And what a better way to start off this summer with predictions for the 2003-2004 Kansas sports season.
I feel I have built decent powers to predict the future and, I hope, not be a fraud like Miss Cleo. So here is my version, ripped off from the ESPN show Around the Horn, of "These three things I know are true."
Kansas football will tally five victories.
Coach Mark Mangino has a top-50 recruiting class coming
into Kansas to continue to rebuild a downtrodden program. The key is in a good start of the season.
The start is favorable with games at home against Northwestern, University of Nevada-Las Vegas and Jacksonville State, with a visit to Laramie, Wyo., to play Wyoming. Fortunately, Kansas football players won't have to see Wyoming's hideous mud brown road uniforms that resemble those of UPS workers. If Kansas can get at least one victory in the Big 12 Conference — which is possible with home games against Baylor and Iowa State — then this season should be considered a success.
Don't forget the magic of senior quarterback Bill Whittemore, who some have said was a good contender for the Heisman Trophy.
- The volleyball team will qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the first time.
Last year, the Jayhawks finished 19-10, one of their best seasons ever. In the past, the NCAA Tournament Committee took the top six of the Big 12. Kansas finished in sixth place, but was left out of the tournament.
These and the rest of the Jay
SPORTS COMMENTARY
Jason Hwang jhwang@kansan.com
Look for these Jayhawks to be extra motivated and play with a vengeance: first-team All Big 12 and Newcomer of the Year Josiane Lima, honorable mention Big 12 Ashley Michaels, super setter Andi Rozum.
hawks will finish in the top five of the Big 12 and make the NCAA Tournament Committee look stupid by proving they belonged last year and this year.
Former Kansas basketball coach Roy Williams will bow out in the second round of the NCAA Tournament this year and will never win a national title.
Williams has done an amazing job in the regular season at Kansas. But despite the amount of talent he had during his tenure, Williams failed to win a national title.
One of the reasons Williams
went to North Carolina was to escape Kansas, where he experienced heartbreaks in the month of March. Williams does not have the killer instinct or great ingame coaching to win the big one.
Plus, the increased pressure by his alma mater and its fans to win it all will show that Williams will be a failure in their eyes. That's why he will always be labeled as the Phil Mickelson, Marty Schottheimer and bridesmaid of college basketball.
Hwang is an Overland Park junior in journalism