Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt, president of the Black Coaches and Administrators, appeared with the panel on reforming youth basketball at the Final Four last month and will speak at next month's meeting of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics in Washington.
Noting that nobody takes "a holistic view of this problem," Hewitt said yesterday: "I would love to see ... if lawmakers will ever take it as seriously or get to the bottom of it as much as they do with the steroids issue."
Should Congress take it on, though? Hewitt paused. "You know, that's a great question," he said.
"I don't know if I want to get into `should,'" said University of Maryland chancellor William Kirwan, co-chair of the Knight Commission, "but do I think that there's a possibility they will get into intercollegiate athletics. I would say yes, for a whole variety of reasons."
Those reasons, he added, "are right in areas where Congress wants to increase certain sensitivities to."
So, can this happen? Unfortunately, one person who probably could make it happen, Rep. Elijah Cummings, was unable to return calls to The Sun, an aide said. Part of his district, West Baltimore, is directly and disproportionately affected by the dysfunction of the entire basketball landscape.
He also never hesitates to get engaged in dust-ups with big-time sports, as proved by his role on the House committee that witnessed the various steroid hearings, including the one with Roger Clemens.
No issue anywhere in sports needs his, and his colleagues', attention more than this one.
The war and the economy don't need to wait in line behind the cesspool basketball has become. But Clemens and NFL coach Bill Belichick absolutely should.
david.steele@baltsun.com
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