THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, 1942
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN, LAWRENCE, KANSAS
PAGE FIVE
A Friendly Note
(Sports editor's note: The following is a duplicate of the letter which Dr. Forrest C. "Phog" Allen, basketball coach at the University of Kansas, wrote to M. F. "Mike" Ahearn, director of athletics at Kansas State College, Manhattan. The letter was written this afternoon and mailed special delivery to Ahearn.
January 8,1942
This letter was written to state Allen's stand in connection with the Gerald Tucker, University of Oklahoma star sophomore basketball player, controversy which has resulted during the past week. Complete facts on the Tucker situation will be found in the story in the two columns to the right of this letter.)
Mr. N. F. Ahearn,
Director of Athletics,
Kansas State College,
Manhattan, Kansas.
Dear Friend Mike:
There has been much ininstation and innuendo coming out of Norman, Okla., reflecting upon the actions of the basketball coach of the University of Kansas regarding some questionable procedure in his relationship with Gerald Tucker, the basketball player of Winfield, Kan. High School who matriculated at Kansas State and who later migrated from Kansas State to the University of Oklahoma.
I sincerely trust that before you give the green light of permission to Tucker to compete at Oklahoma that you will grant Mr. Lawrence "Jap" Haskell's request and call an open meeting at which are present Jack Gardner, the basketball coach at Kansas State, Bruce Drake, basketball coach at Oklahoma, Gerald Tucker, and myself, and any newspaper men who desire to attend.
All I ever promised Gerald Tucker was three tough years of competition from Kansas. He stated to me that he was going to attend the University of Oklahoma and this is the reply that I gave him.
The rules and regulations governing athletics and all participation of the M.V.I.A.A., the Big Six, are crystal clear. There certainly is no ambiguity regarding the resident rule and the migrant rule. Gerald Tucker is a migrant athlete because he migrated from Kansas State to Oklahoma, and according to the rule he violated the migrant athletic regulation. The fact that his first semester was spent at Kansas State (by enrolling and residing there for over four weeks) would make him unable to participate as a regularly enrolled one year man until the end of the present semester. Therefore, the five games that he played in against Southern Methodist, Bradley, DePaul and the two other eastern teams, show that he has participated in five games illegally. He played in five games before he was eligible by the Big Six regulations. Non-conference games count in participation records the same as conference games.
Neither Gerald Tucker nor the University of Oklahoma sought the permission that the Big Six regulations point out that a migrant athlete should seek. Personally I would not want to see Gerald Tucker barred from his participation. Neither would I want to see him take advantage of one semester of participation as he has done without having to meet the provisions of such a rule. Certainly he has played in five games with the University of Oklahoma when he was ineligible to play. It seems perfectly logical that Tucker has competed for Oklahoma in the semester in which he was ineligible. Therefore, I do not see how the Big Six can fail to count this one semester of participation even though illegally done.
I also desire to call officially to your attention as Director of Athletics in your school the fact that Lester Layton, a student formerly from North High School of Wichita, is enrolled at the University of Oklahoma and it is alleged that the Boston Red Sox professional baseball team is paying his way through the University of Oklahoma. There may not be any connection between the fact that Lawrence "Jap" Haskell, the Athletic Director of Oklahoma, is a scout for the Boston Red Sox, and Layton's presence at Oklahoma. So that the University of Oklahoma will not feel that we are waiting until the latest moment for fear that Layton might play on the varsity baseball team for Mr. Haskell, I am calling this to your attention now in order that the matter may be investigated. Mr. Layton is a crack baseball player and it is understood that he is to be a member of the Oklahoma varsity.
Perhaps a hearing which would air some of the conference situations might be a healthy experience. It might be well for an investigating committee to audit the expenditures of certain schools in the Big Six since sums of over $10,000 are listed as employment for student athletes. When it is realized that all of the competitive intercollegiate athletes in a university comprise less than 15 per cent of the male enrollment, then these figures seem rather high for money expended on student labor for athletes who compete in sports.
I am sending a carbon copy of this letter to Mr. Gwinn Henry, our Director of Athletics, Dr. W. W. Davis, our faculty representative, and to your faculty representative, Dr. H. H. King.
Very sincerely yours,
FORREST C. ALLEN,
Director of Physical Education and Recreation, Varsity Basketball and Baseball Coach.
All the Facts On 'Titanic Tuck'
★★★ ★★★
Allen Didn't Start It
By CHUCK ELLIOTT Kansan Sports Editor
The general belief among sports fans seems to be that Jayhawker coach "Phog" Allen was entirely responsible for bringing up the eligibility question concerning Gerald 'Titanic Tuck' Tucker. This isn't entirely correct. The truth of the matter is that first mention of this subject occurred Dec. 28 when a story appeared in the Kansas City Star.
At that time the story said that it had been called to the attention of the writer by Warren Gee Larson of Manhattan and John MacMitchell of Topeka wondering whether the Big Six was allowing freshmen to participate this year. Basis for this query rested on the fact that: ___
query tested on the fact that Tucker enrolled at Kansas State Sept. 6, 1940, and withdrew from the Kansas school Nov. 4, 1940.
Tucker enrolled immediately at Oklahoma and the authorities at that school seem to contend that the remaining weeks of that semester, spent in attendance by Tucker, should count as a full semester at Oklahoma.
Semester Rule
However, Rule 4, Page 9, of the Big Six athletic rules says in part, "A semester of residence shall be defined as any semester in which the student has registered in the school and has participated in athletics or has not withdrawn from school within four weeks from the date of his registration. No student shall be permitted to participate in intercollegiate athletics until one calendar year has elapsed since the time of his matriculation. He shall also have been in residence in his institution one full academic year."
Taking this interpretation literally, it bars Tucker from competition in the Big Six for this semester. He is just now completing his second semester in attendance at the University of Oklahoma. Thus, if the case had been handled cleanly from start to finish by the
Oklahoma school, Tucker would have been eligible to play this coming semester without any squabble having resulted.
This result is the same that has been effected by the Big Six athletic committee when they ruled Monday that Tucker would be eligible to play after Jan. 30. However, the case does not stop here, unfortunately for Tucker.
Migrant Rule
Under Rule 11, Page 13, referring to the "migrant athlete" situation, it is stated that a school must receive written permission from the affected school before a school is allowed to play an athlete that has formerly been enrolled at another conference school. This would mean, therefore, that Oklahoma should have written to Kansas State and requested permission of that school to play Tucker in athletic contests under the Red and White colors of the Sooners.
However, it now comes to light, 14 months later, that no such letter was ever written to Kansas State and that school has never officially okayed the playing of Tucker for Oklahoma or any other university other than Kansas State. This is a direct failure upon the part of the Oklahoma authorities. (continued to page eight)
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