Wednesday, September 11, 1996
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Salary-capped NBA shoots veterans to Europe
Foreign leagues propose new life to bench warmers
The Associated Press
PARIS — The NBA salary cap is squeezing second-line veterans out of the league and sending them to Europe in search of the life they are accustomed to leading.
J. R. Reid, Vern Fleming and Sedale Threatt — with more than 32 seasons and 2,400 NBA games among them — already are playing in France less than two months before NBA training camps open. Reid and Threatt are with PSG-Racing: Fleming is with Limoges.
The players had mixed earl
results. Choiet beat PSG-Racing 85-72 in their opener, with Threatt scoring 22 points and Reid finishing with seven points and eight rebounds.
Fleming helped Limoges, which won the European club title in 1983, to a 75-72 win over Strasbourg. He had eight points and four rebounds but fouled out in just 28 minutes. Limoges has won the French title eight times since 1983.
Threatt, 35, played the entire season for the Los Angeles Lakers last year but has been a substitute since Nick Van Exel became point guard in 1994.
gave And with the signing of Shaquille O'Neal to a $120 million contract, the Lakers were looking to cut salaries.
European clubs are more eager to pay large salaries for proven players, even if they are getting old, like 34-year-olds Threatt and Fleming.
"There are not many clubs that are ready to give them more than the NBA minimum, about $250,000," said PSG-Racing coach Chris Singleton. "But a lot continue to play
because they took a chance last year signing Dominique Wilkins to a reported $11 million, three-year contract. However, after leading Panathinaikos to the European club title, Wilkins left the squad
French basketball also has had high-profile players who failed to produce. Kelly Tripucka came to Limoges with much fanfare a few seasons ago and left quickly.
before the end of the season and is being sued by the Greek team.
"The Americans are not good all the time, but they are often operational on a given day," said Le Mans coach Alain Weisz.
Still, the consensus is that Threatt, Reid and Fleming still can produce — not as often as required in the NBA, but enough to help their new teams.
Wilkins, despite his unhappiness in Greece, was the most valuable player in the European Final Four last April in Paris.
Iseid, 28, said he was ready to leave the United States after bouncing from the Charlotte Hornets to the San Antonio Spurs and finally the New York Knicks. He reportedly signed to play in France for $800,000 this year, about a third of what he made in his final NBA season.
Last month, to make room under the salary cap for new players, the Knicks renounced their rights to Reid.
The 6-9 forward-center averaged close to 10 points in seven seasons, mostly as backup to Patrick Ewing and David Robinson, with whom he played on the 1988 Olympic team that won a bronze medal.
Fleming played in 11 seasons for the Indiana Pacers before being traded to the New Jersey Nets last year. He played on the 1984 goldmedal Olympic team in Los Angeles.
"There are not many clubs that are ready to give them more than the NBA
minimum,about $250,000."
Chris Singleton PSG-Racing coach
Sooners' showing disappoints fans looking for a win
Oklahoma's loss in season opener is a reminder of last season's struggles
The Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY - It only took one game for Oklahoma offensive coordinator Dick Winder to get a taste of the Sooners' fickle fans.
"It's a different
ent deal," he
said yesterday.
"Going out
there and boo-
ing a 19-year-
old kid who's
trying to play
quarterback."
James Allen and De'Mond Parker.
the 300s were aimed at Eric Moore, who struggled in a 20-7 season-opening loss to Texas Christian on Saturday. Moore, who also had a tough time a year ago, completed just six of 21 passes for 64 yards.
"We just didn't have anybody who really made any plays," said Winder, who came to Oklahoma this year after 12 years at Texas Tech. "The biggest reason is just we're playing with a bunch of kids; all they've done is practice. They've never played in any games. It's a totally different atmosphere.
He was replaced in the fourth quarter by redshirt freshman Justin Fuente, who directed the Sooners' only scoring drive and, who, according to Winder, will start against San Diego State on Sept. 21.
"He's a little down, which you would expect," Winder said of Moore. "But at the same time he's a good kid. He's got a strong faith, and he's relying on that. It's hard when you're 19 years old and going through what he went through and your family's sitting in the stands."
Moore missed a number of passes to open receivers. But Winder also pointed out that the Sooners had dropped seven passes during the game and that the new offensive line had had a tough time opening holes for running backs
"we're putting in a new system, and they're so busy trying to remember what they supposed to do instead of just going and playing."
There probably won't be a change at tailback, however. While Parker has been impressive and had a better day than Allen against TCU, Winder said Allen was a better blocker and receiver.
And as a senior, Allen is one of the few players with experience.
Oklahoma's fans, hungry for a turnaround from the 500 seasons of the past two years, were counting on TCU to provide an easy opener for the young Sooners. When that didn't happen, many resorted to booing.
Now Winder says he and his offensive coaches need to accentuate the positives. He noted that the receivers had been able to get open and that at times, the Sooners had been a block away from springing big runs.
"It was not a total negative deal," he said. "These kids need confidence. They've been beat down and been told for so long that they're not any good, and that's what we've got to change."
Razorbacks' academic coordinator resigns after violating NCAA policy
Kim Wood admits she typed papers for former player
The Associated Press
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Arkansas chancellor's daughter has resigned as academic coordinator for Razorbacks basketball after admitting she knowingly violated an NCAA rule and lied about it to investigators, a newspaper has reported.
Kim Wood, daughter of Dan Ferritor, said Monday that she typed correspondence course papers for former Arkansas guard Jesse Pate. She said she never did Pate's lessons for him, though.
NCAA rules prohibit an employee or booster from providing a service or material good to an athlete that is not available to other students.
"Jesse had come to the university without a scholarship, without support, without help," Wood said in the article. "He didn't know how to type, and I was happy to help him, even knowing it was against the rules."
Her resignation was reported in a copyright story in yesterday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Typing the work violated the NCAA's rule on extra benefits.
The NCAA could consider Wood's action a secondary violation. But Wood compounded the problem when she lied, said Robin Green, administrator for the NCAA committee on infractions.
Discovering lying in an NCAA investigation usually means there are other major violations, Green said.
The NCAA uncovered Wood's violation during its continuing investigation of Arkansas' basketball pro
gram. The inquiry started after Pate and Sunday Adebayo, both transfers, were ruled ineligible in February. Arkansas allowed the two to practice before properly certifying their junior college grades.
The infractions committee could penalize the university for Wood's actions, Green said. The committee also could blacklist Wood from being hired at another NCAA member's athletic department.
Arkansas athletic director Frank Broyles said he didn't know why Wood resigned. He declined to comment on whether he was aware she had typed the work and whether she had been asked to resign.
Wood said she typed 20 of Pate's 25 lessons for two correspondence courses in her Walton Arena office last September and October. Pate would handwritten notes to Wood and return later to pick up the typed version.
typeVeronica
An NCAA investigator questioned Wood for an hour in June. The investigator accused Wood of typing Pate's papers, and she denied the allegation.
"I think they're concerned I did Jesse's work for him, and I simply didn't," Wood said. "So there's no way I can prove that."
Wood said she did not admit doing the work in June because she thought it would hurt Pate and because she had personal reasons. She did not elaborate.
Using computer analysis, the NCAA compared papers typed by Wood and Pate and concluded there was a 90 percent chance that Pate's papers came from Wood's office printer.
The NCAA contacted Arkansas representatives about the matter about 10 days ago, and Wood resigned shortly afterward.
Ferritor said he did not talk to Broyles about the violations and that he had no involvement in any athletic department meetings concerning the matter. NCAA officials would not comment specifically on Arkansas' case.
Team held false meet and made up times to qualify swimmers
Hungarian government admits fraud in Olympic swim team's qualifying
The Associated Press
BUDAPEST, Hungary — Half of Hungary's swimming team, which won six Olympic medals, qualified for the Atlanta Games based on fictitious times from a meet that was never held.
Government officials yesterday confirmed newspaper reports of the scam and blamed the Hungarian Swimming Federation for submitting the fraudulent records.
"Fraud is fraud, and this was fraud," said Rezoe Gallov, chairman of the Hungarian government's national gymnastics and sports "We and the Hungarian Olympic Committee oppose any such practice."
Gallov said 11 members of the 22-member Hungarian team had not met Olympic qualification times at national and regional meets, so a phantom meet was held and imaginary times were entered. Two swimmers were even disqualified for the sake of authenticity.
for sale in the auction.
"These swimmers were all capable of meeting the Olympic requirements," Gallov said. "The trouble was that the federation leaders were too lazy to keep proper records.
MTI, the state-owned news agency, said yesterday that federation chairman Tamas Gyarfas had resigned because of the scandal.
"This meet should've been held, or at least a training session should have been called a competition to meet the administrative requirements."
The Hungarian federation submitted the false records June 6-8 to FINA, swimming's international
"We don't have police around the world to check up on national committees."
Cornel Marculescu
Hungarian federation chairman
ruling body, which compiled the world ranking list on the basis of which Olympic competitors were selected.
Listed as participants at the phony meet were Attila Czeene, Tamas Deutsch and Attila Zubor, among the country's best swimmers. Czeene was part of the gold-winning
team that took the 200-meter medley.
The Hungarian federation's general secretary, Jozsféf Ruza, refused to resign. He told state television on Monday that the international swimming federation had been aware of the fraud.
But federation chairman Cornel Marculescu denied his organization knew or approved of the scam.
"We don't have police around the world to check up on national committees," he said by phone from Lausanne, Switzerland.
The Hungarian swim team was among the most successful in any discipline at Atlanta with its six medals, three of them gold.
Gallov, the Hungarian official, said that those involved had to be called to account but that no medals won at Atlanta were in jeopardy. But Marculescu said the IOC might be called on to decide what, if any, penalties apply.
Board of Class Officers
and Student Union Activities
Applications are now being accepted for the
EX.C.E.L. Award $500 Scholarship
EXcellence in Community, Education, and Leadership
One male and one female KU student will be chosen on the basis of their capacity for leadership, effective communication skills, involvement in the KU community, academics and their ability to work with a wide variety of students and student organizations. Each recipient of the F.X.C.E.L. Award will receive a $500 scholarship.
Application forms available at:
-Organizations and Activities Office, 4th Floor, Kansas Union
-SUA Office, 4th Floor, Kansas Union
Application forms are due by 5
5 pm Friday, September 20, 1996, to
SOCI Office, 4th Floor, Kansas Uni-
cation Friday, September 20, 1996, to
SUA Office.
For more information, call SUA at 864-3477
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