UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Fridav. April 25, 1997
5A
Agents, money to change women's game
Continued from Page 1A
Getting an Agent
when kansas women's basketball coach Marian Washington learned that Dixon had been approached by a sports agent, she addressed the problem immediately.
"It scares me that
I might have a player that might not be experienced enough to do what Tamecka did, and that was to bring it to me directly," Washington said. "I was very angry that he would put Tamecka in any jeopardy with the way the NCAA rules are, and with the limited amount
of experience these women's players have in this kind of situation. If anyone wants to talk to one of my players, they have to talk to me first."
The NCAA prohibits athletes from accepting money or gifts from agents while they attend school on scholarship. Any program whose player violates these rules can be placed on probation for several years by the NCAA.
"When you talk about Kansas basketball tradition, I'm sure they've seen the process before," Allen said. "People close to the players have a blueprint as to how all this works. The players just need to take a moment or two and slow down before making any decisions about their future."
Ron Allen, the agent who started the Las Vegas-based Ron Allen Sports, said coaches such as Washington ought to know how agents work.
Dixon began receiving mail from sports agents and agencies when the season began in mid-November. She gave every letter and card to Washington without a glimpse at what was inside.
Tamecka began interviewing various agents when the Jayhawks' season concluded. After the interviews, Dixon discussed the candidates with her father, Russell Bowers, and Washington, trying to decide which agent would represent her.
Dean Buchan, Kansas sports information director, said that Kansas men's basketball coach Roy Williams used a similar system when his players wished to sift through agents.
Williams allows no contact between players and agents during the regular season, and he helps the athletes during the process of choosing an agent. After the season has concluded, Williams and the player interview the agents that the athlete wants to talk to. Buchan said.
Then the player chooses the agent he wants to represent him.
Generational Differences
Getting through her senior season was not nearly as tough for former Jayhawk forward Lynette Woodard as it was for Dixon. Woodard, the most prolific scorer in Kansas women's basketball history, never had to ward off agents because there was no market for professional women's basketball in
America.
Woodard played in Italy after she graduated from Kansas in 1981. Later she played for the Harlem Globetrotters and in a Japanese league before settling in New York and working as a stock broker.
While Woodard said that European basketball contracts were not worth a lot of money, team packages — which provided players with a house, car and various other living expenses — usually allowed players to live comfortably overseas.
framecka Dion lounges on the floor of Allen Field House. She hopes to leave her homecourty of four years for one of eight cities with WNBA franchises: Charlotte, N.C.; Cleveland; Houston; Los Angeles; New York; Phoenix; Sacramento, Calif.; and Salt Lake City.
"I didn't have an agent because, going overseas, it was pretty basic," Woodard said. "You wanted your salary, and there were a few things you wanted — a couple of plane tickets and that your home was paid for. The contracts weren't that much."
Washington said that while sports agents for women's basketball players served no purpose 16 years ago, times had changed and so had the agents' role.
"It's a lot different today." Washington said. "Not only do you have two teams, but one of them is supported by an NBA that has mo'money, mo'money, mo'money.
Bruce Levy, a longtime friend of Washington, has represented women's basketball players for more than 19 years. His firm, Bruce Levy Associates International Ltd., represents female basketball players exclusively.
"Anyone in the business of representing athletes would have to raise an eyebrow at the opportunities that might exist for female athletes today," she said.
"For Tamecka, her coming out of school now is perfect timing," Bowers said. "She's coming out at a time when there's two new leagues and a lot of opportunities. And with the endorsement deals that are out there, that shows just how far the game has come."
Of the 32 players who have signed contracts with the WNBA,17 are represented by agents in his firm. He said that player contracts were important, but getting endorsement dollars for clients had become just as crucial.
The Work Has Just Begun
Bowers, who played two seasons in the NBA before a knee injury forced him to play overseas, said his daughter was graduating at the right time.
Washington and Bowers will negotiate her player contract after Tamecka is drafted by the WNBA. Meanwhile, Dixon continued to search for an agent who could land her the endorsement dollars that might surpass her salary.
There wasn't a dry eye when the Kansas women's basketball team lost to Vanderbilt in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Six seniors, including Dixon, mourned the end of their college careers.
"I was ready for it because Coach Washington didn't allow me to get caught up with all that," Dixon said. "She and my dad handled everything behind the scenes. Now I'm just beginning to see the finished product of all that work."
But before the tears had dried the next day, Dixon had received seven phone calls from sports agents. Two weeks later, Tamecka met just about every agent in the country when she attended the women's Final Four in Cincinnati.
"I've been a Nike woman all my life. But ifNike doesn't come with the money, I'm not going to be with Nike."
Tamecka Dixon WNBA prospect
ages to meet the players' elementary financial needs.
Woodard, 37, will leave Wall Street to play for the Cleveland Rockers of the WNBA this summer. She said that little had changed in the business of professional women's basketball since 1981. Similar to the European leagues Woodard played in 16 years ago, these new leagues will utilize team pack
"For an NBA player, it's not uncommon to have a seven-figure deal to endorse shoes or whatever," Levy said. "If one of our clients gets an endorsement worth $50,000, that is a big deal. Even though we might be happy about that, the women are still being paid much less than they should be."
When Is Payday?
The ABL has said that its players' contracts ranged from $40,000 to $125,000 a year. The average salary for an ABL player was $70,000 last season.
While the WNBA is reluctant to release player salaries, it is clear that they will utilize a tiered system and a salary cap. WNBA players will sign contracts with the league rather than with an individual team.
"There are no negotiations. You either accept the offer or you don't," Woodard said. "Some girls might choose to have an agent, but what for? For those who have agents, they're paying somebody for nothing as far as I'm concerned."
Levy disagrees. He said agents must find every way possible to circumvent fixed salaries and salary caps because not everyone would find the endorsement dollars.
"The player has to be reimbursed for what she gives to the league," Levy said. "You do that by including bonuses for a house, a car, setting up camps and getting more tickets for family and friends."
"You have to learn how to manipulate the system," he said. "If you're not experienced enough to do that, you're going to overlook some details that might not mean a lot for the men, but they still mean a lot for the women," he said.
Swooshing Passed Opponents
"You just got lucky," the man murmured. Dixon just smiled, paying no mind to the man's comments. Women who have played basketball and other sports have dealt with
Tamecka penetrated the lane, faked a pass and elevated past her defender for an easy layup, making her male opponents look just as helpless as any woman who had played against her this past season.
It was a sunny April evening, but Tamecka preferred to stay indoors and play basketball, testing herself against male students rather than taking advantage of the spring weather.
Dixon grabbed a rebound and accelerated the other way. She suddenly stopped at mid-court. Her defender continued to streak down the court at full speed.
that kind of envy, insecurity and disrespect for many years.
But attitudes toward women's sports and female athletes in general are steadily changing. Dixon attended the WNBA's pre-draft camp in Orlando, Fla., earlier this week, where she interviewed two agents. Both men wanted to become her marketing agent.
Dixon had said she would choose an agent during the pre-draft camp before she returned to Lawrence on Tuesday night. She is still looking.
"I met with two agents while I was in Orlando, but I'm going to meet with one more on draft day," Dixon said. "I just want to give this last agent a chance to meet with me so I can hear what he has to say. After that, it should take one, maybe two, days to decide."
Once she chooses a marketing agent, Tamecka expects to negotiate an endorsement deal with a major company willing to invest money in a female basketball player. Dixon left for Portland, Ore., on Wednesday afternoon to talk with Nike representatives about an endorsement deal, although Reebok and adidas also have kept in contact with her.
"I've been a Nike woman all my life," Dixon said. "But if Nike doesn't come with the money, I'm not going to be with Nike. Reebok has traditionally paid its players more, so I'll see how it goes. Right now, I'm keeping my options open."
Who knows what the future holds for Tamecka? A Disneyland commercial? A shoe contract? Maybe her face on a Wheaties box?
There's money to be made and basketball to be played.
The Associated Press
Recovery continues; pilot still missing
EAGLE, Colo. — A special operations expert dangled by cable next to a snowy, 13,000-foot Rocky Mountain peak to retrieve pieces of an Air Force warplane that vanished three weeks ago.
There was no sign of missing pilot Capt. Craig Button.
"I don't know if Captain Button was with the aircraft or was not with the aircraft, so I cannot talk about remains," said Air Force Maj. Gen. Nels Running
Wednesdav night.
The pararescue team is trying to recover more of the jet's wreckage, discovered Sunday, before a spring storm dumps heavy snow. Bad weather had delayed recovery attempts until Wednesday.
After the wreckage was retrieved, two Army National Guard choppers dropped four climbers at the peak's 11.500-foot level to search overnight.
Once Tech. Sgt. Ishmael Antonio reached the snowy terrain in the Holy Cross Wilderness Area, about 15 miles
southwest of Vail, he tried to retrieve the biggest piece of wreckage. The piece seen in aerial photos turned out to be bigger than he was. The rescue specialist had to settle for two smaller pieces.
Running said maintenance records identified the two pieces as parts of the plane that disappeared from a routine training mission over Arizona on April 2. One piece was plastic-insulated tubing and wires, described as part of a device used to control flaps. The other was metal with the markings of turbine parts made by General Electric.
Golfer accepts apology for racial remarks
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Tiger Woods accepted Fuzzy Zoeller's apology yesterday for making racially insensitive remarks about him, saying he was shocked but believed Zoeller didn't mean to offend him.
"His attempt at humor was out-of-bounds, and I was disappointed by it," Woods said in a statement released by his management agency.
"But having played golf with Fuzzy, I know he is a jokester, and I have concluded that no personal animosity toward me was intended," Woods said.
Zoeller, 45, was fired by his sponsor, Kmart, and withdrew from the Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic on Wednesday. He said he
wanted to talk to Woods about the remarks before picking up another golf club.
Zoeller's remarks came in a CNN interview about an hour after Zoeller finished his fourth round in the Masters, which the 21-year-old Woods won, becoming the first African American to win a major title. The interview was broadcast a week after the Masters.
Zoeller called Woods "that little boy" and urged him not to request fried chicken and collard greens at next year's Champions Dinner. As the defending Masters champion, Woods will select the menu for the dinner.
"I know he feels badly about the remarks," Woods said. "We all make mistakes, and it is time to move on. I accept Fuzzy's apology and hope everyone can now put this behind us."
The University Theatre • The University of Kansas
Presents the winner of the first Great Plains Play Contest
WITH ME
KU theatre alumni and current student by Thomas Fox Averill (KU '71 & '74)
8:00 p.m. April 24, 25, 26 & May 1, 2*, 3, 1997 Crafton-Preyer Theatre
Directed by
Jack Wright
Scene and Lighting
Design by
Dennis Christilles
Costume Design by
Stephen Hudson-Marret
Reserved seat tickets are on sale in the KU box offices: Murphy Hall, 864-3982; Lied Center, 864-ARTS, SUA Office, 864-3477; public $12, KU students $6, other students and senior citizens $11\!; both VISA and MasterCard are accepted for phone orders. Abide With Me is the featured production for The University Theatre's Alums Come Home III celebration. For a complete schedule of ACH III activities, call the theatre office, 864-3831. The playwright will be on hand at 7 p.m., prior to each performance, to sign copies of his new book. William Jennings Bryan Oleander's Guide to Kansas.
Partially funded by the KU Student Senate Activity Fee The Friday, May 2, performance will be signed for the deaf and hard-of-hearing.
THE HAWK KJHX THE FINALS!! TONIGHT!
presents our annual Battle of the Bands
winner moves on to
STUDENT UNION ACTIVITIES
SUA
INSTITUTE OF KARAII
@The Bottleneck
Day on the Hill '97!
Chebella
Featuring:
- Sandoval
- Dav Sleeper
The 4 Best Local Talents!! Listen to Plow the Fields for more info! 4-7pm Friday
- Creature Comforts
Vote for your favorite!