Page 8 University Daily Kansan, August 19, 1982
Lessig says support needed
By GINO STRIPPOLI Sports Editor
Jim Lessig was named athletic director at Kansas on Feb. 12 and he stressed in his first meeting with the press that his main goal was to get the KU student body back in touch with the athletic program and to rebuild support for Kansas athletics with the student support.
Six months later, nothing has changed, except now Lessig has some plans to back up what he was promising.
"We have all of things going for us," Lessig said. "KU athletics have a lot to offer the student bodies and we want to show the student these things."
"RIGHT NOW, football is our main concern since that is the first season we have to work with. We hope to bring the students back into the stadium and get them involved in what should be a great year for KU football."
Last year, because of high ticket prices, student attendance at football games decreased considerably. Games against rivals Kansas State and Missouri, the latter with a bowl game ridden up in the face, failed to fill Memorial Stadium.
"If a person were to come in here and tell me we could fill the stadium every game by just selling to alumni, I wouldn't want that." Lessig said. "My belief is that the student body is the backbone of any athletic program. Student support is infectious. If it gets student support, then it's on its way.
"What we have to impress to the students is that it is more than just the game. It is everyone getting together, it's the tailgating before the game, it's all the excitement combined that makes college football the spectacle it is."
LESSIG USED Wisconsin as an example. Although the Badgers consistently finish from the middle to the bottom of the Big 10, they pack their stadium, which holds more than 77,000 people, game after game. Wisconsin is usually in the top five in the nation in overall attendance.
Lessig said that some of the plans on tap for this season were a nilgate party before the season opener against Wichita State. The party will be by Potter Lake and, although the plans are less, Lessig said they would be soon.
Another item on the agenda for the season is a concert by Bob Hope in Allen Field House the night following the Parents' Day game against Tulsa.
"Right now, we want to make sure what we are planning works." Lessig said. "We don't want to run into anything that will ruin you if you fail, promotions tend to die out."
AS LESSIG keeps stressing the student support, he says the cheerleaders also play a role in this involvement. Lessig said the cheerleaders have to get involved with their team and sweep the country and get back to what their name stands for—leading cheers.
"When I was at Bowling Green, we were in an overtime basketball game and I went to the gym. It was beautiful."
said. "The fans were going crazy and the cheerleaders came out and built a pyramid and the fans stopped cheering.
"They have to be out there leading cheers and getting the fans fired up.
TO HELP him with his plans, Lessig appointed Mike Hamrick to be in charge of promotions for the athletic department. Hamrick graduated from Marshall University in Huntington, W.Va., in 1980 and received his master's degree from Ohio University in sports administration last year.
"Mike will be a real asset to KU's athletic department," Lessig said. "His experience in the field of promotion is very impressive."
"We have a job to do here at Kansas, but it isn't a job that can't be done." I thought it was hopeless to think that we had Memorial Stadium, I wouldn't be here."
LESSIG CAME to Kansas from Bowling Green, where he had served as athletic director since 1978. Prior to that, he had served seven years in Bowling Green. He was hired by the office. He served on the NCAA ice hockey committee while at the Ohio college.
Lessig's athletic background comes mostly from basketball. In 1969, Lessig joined former Bowling Green basketball coach Bill Fitch at Minnesota. When Fitch left Minnesota to coach the Washington and Cavaliers of the NBA, Lessig went along as an assistant coach, head scout and director of special promotions. Lessig was also involved in broadcasting some of the Cavaliers' games.
Possible investigation by NCAA looms
Bv GINO STRIPPOLI
Sports Editor
An NCAA investigation into alleged recruiting violations by Kansas and the question of whether Kerwin Bell was eligible to receive an NCAA scholarship continue to follow the Kansas football team.
In March of this year, Kansas State and Missouri accused Kansas of NCAA violations stemming from the recruitment of Richard Estell, a wide receiver from Kansas City. Estell, who many KU followers are comparing to ex-KU player Trey Baker, was killed Oklahoma, but at the last minute he changed his mind and signed with KU.
THE ALLEGATIONS continued this summer when two Big Eight players, one from Nebraska and one from Kansas, played against them in their clothes and placket cups.
A K-State running back told a Kansas
City newspaper that John Hadi, at the time the offensive coordinator for the Jayhawks, showed up at his house with a briefcase. The player said Hadi tapped the case when he thought that if he had the KU Tue $30,000 inside the briefcase would be his.
The case with the Nebraska running back, Jeff Smith of Wichita, was similar and also involved Hadi. KU has denied both charges.
A preliminary investigation took place in April and May but no word has been received from the NCAA on the investigation. The next step by the NCAA should be to investigate or conduct a formal investigation, should enough evidence be found.
IF THE NCAA does conduct a formal investigation, they would give KU the exact allegations the NCAA is presenting against them, and then KU would have an unspecified amount of time to answer the charges.
As of now, KU has not heard anything
from the NCAA about a formal investigation.
The other concern for the Jayhawks is Bell. In a copyrighted story by the Kansas City Times, it was revealed that Bell did not have a 2.0 GPA when he graduated from Edison High School in Huntington Beach, Calif.
Bell, however, did have a 2.0 grade point average, the NCAA's requirement, when he enrolled at KU. Bell got the 2.0 by making up some of his work on campus and out the NCAA that states that summer school can be used for eligibility.
Bell, who sat out most of last season with a knee injury, is back at full strength and is practicing with the 1982 Jayhawks. A decision by the NCAA on whether he is eligible to play is expected before the season.
If he is found to have been ineligible, the NCAA would then hand out its penalty, which could range from no penalty to making Bell sit out the year.
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