Ncaa Convention

The agenda called for basketball, but much of the talk was of the uncertain future of the East Coast Conference.The seven-member conference will be down to five by the end of the year, and continuation could be determined by legislation that will come before the National Collegiate Athletic Association convention in January.Discussions occurred during the conference's annual basketball preview yesterday, a chance for coaches to say that individually several of their players are great, while overall downgrading their team's chances and boosting those of the opposition.

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Tom McMillen, D-Md., today was to introduce legislation in the House calling for far-reaching reforms in college sports, including a requirement that the NCAA negotiate all football and basketball broadcast contracts.McMillen proposes giving university presidents unprecedented power over intercollegiate sports by creating a Board of Presidents to govern the NCAA. The group, containing no more than 33 elected members, would be able to unilaterally enact changes and reforms without taking the proposals to the NCAA convention.

The conference rivalry between Towson State and UMBC could be short-lived.Both are looking to leave the shrinking East Coast Conference, and they appear headed in opposite directions. Athletic director Bill Hunter said yesterday that Towson State has applied to join the Northeast Conference, while UMBC athletic director Charlie Brown speaks more positively about a future in the Big South Conference.The Northeast Conference presidents will be discussing expansion at a meeting Tuesday, so Towson State could know as early as next week if it will be rejoining a conference it left in 1982.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The University of Maryland will have to cut scholarships in at least six sports as a result of cost-saving legislation approved at the NCAA convention yesterday.Maryland voted in favor of what amounted to an across-the-board cut of approximately 10 percent on scholarships. With the Terps trying to combat a budget deficit of more than $2 million, athletic director Andy Geiger said he was all in favor of cutting costs. The Terps slashed scholarships in several non-revenue sports last year.

WASHINGTON -- After meeting for more than two hours yesterday at Georgetown University with the executive board of the Black Coaches Association, NCAA executive director Cedric Dempsey said that he hoped the continuing dialogue will help alleviate some of the group's concerns.Those concerns are over issues such as minority-hiring practices, freshman eligibility requirements and the access its members have to their respective communities."There are some strong emotions falling on both sides," said Dempsey.

SAN DIEGO -- The members of the Mid-Eastern AthleticConference could see it coming, but they still don't enjoy being bypassed on the NCAA's road to reform.The 89th annual NCAA convention heated up yesterday with Division I votes on freshman eligibility and other thorny issues related to academic progress.The MEAC, a conference of nine historically black colleges that includes Coppin State, Morgan State and UMES, protested with some counterproposals, which lost in landslides."This is definitely going to widen the gap," UMES athletic director Hallie Gregory said of the difficulties members of the MEAC already have recruiting and competing in Division I. "More importantly, I don't think we're looking out for kids' welfare."

THE National Collegiate Athletic Association vote to retain 13 scholarships in men's basketball has taken on symbolic and political importance far in excess of the obvious financial straits of American colleges and universities.The number was reduced from 15 to 13 in 1991 as part of a general effort to reduce costs. All men's sports were similarly reduced.Division I basketball coaches came back last year demanding restoration of a 14th scholarship. Their position was soundly defeated. This year, the Black Coaches Association and its threat of a boycott added more pressure.

Coppin State's Fang Mitchell and UMBC's Earl Hawkins said yesterday that they will join fellow members of the Black Coaches Association in a proposed boycott of next week's National Association of Basketball Coaches' Issues Forum in Charlotte, N.C."I think it's the first step in getting our message across," said Mitchell, who, along with Hawkins, was to be among an estimated 100 black Division I head coaches attending the first NABC forum, a three-day meeting scheduled to begin Monday.The message sent out this week by BCA executive director Rudy Washington and other members of his organization is clear: Recent and imminent NCAA legislation that cuts scholarship limitations, raises academic standards and sets a maximum salary for restrictive-earnings coaches at $16,000 a year reduces the opportunities black athletes have at getting a college education and prospective coaches have at pursuing their chosen careers.

During the University of Arkansas' drive to the national championship last spring, coach Nolan Richardson used the winners' podium as a pulpit. He extolled the virtues of opportunity, and condemned college presidents bent on passing regulations he felt would have a disastrous impact on some females, many minority group athletes and low-income whites.Eight months later, as college football enters its final weekend and college basketball shifts into high gear, the fierce tug-of-war over access to higher education by athletes has intensified.

The "March madness" surrounding the National Collegiate Athletic Association men's basketball tournament reminds us that college sport, whether we like it or not, is commercial entertainment.The NCAA recently signed a $1 billion contract with CBS for the rights to the men's basketball tournament through 1997. If a football team is selected for the Rose Bowl, it receives $6 million, which is shared with other league members. The most successful schools approach $20 million budgets for their sports programs.