Raveling

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The college basketball season that ends Monday night began in November under the cloud of a possible boycott by members of the Black Coaches Association.The BCA was able to make its point regarding minority opportunities to the NCAA in meetings that were mediated by the U.S. Justice Department. The executive secretary of the NCAA isn't making any promises, but the feeling within the BCA and the larger National Association of Basketball Coaches is that the il,7p,14l higher standards for freshman eligibility scheduled for adoption in 1995 will be revised.

RICHMOND, Va. -- In just his fifth season as Alabama head coach, Rick Moody has taken the Crimson Tide women's basketball team to its first Final Four.Yet Moody is working without a contract. That fact concerns but doesn't alarm him."When the season comes to a close, our administration will continue to support us in the manner that they have in the past," said Moody, who has taken Alabama to the NCAA tournament each of the past three seasons.Moody's situation is hardly unique. Unlike the men's game, where nearly any coach who gets to the Final Four works under a contract usually worded loosely enough to allow him to move at a moment's notice, three of the four coaches -- Moody, Purdue's Lin Dunn and North Carolina's Sylvia Hatchell -- in the women's Final Four don't have formal agreements, which can leave them with little, if any, security.

BaseballAtlanta Braves -- Optioned P Pete Smith and C Francisco Cabrera to Triple-A Richmond. Purchased the contract of C Jerry Willard from Richmond.Chicago White Sox -- Signed OF Shawn Abner to a contract with Triple-A Vancouver.Cincinnati Reds -- Released IF Al Newman. Sent C Troy Afenir and former Orioles OF Jeff Stone to minor-league camp for reassignment.Cleveland Indians -- Offered P Mike Thomas back to the Expos for $25,000 as part of the Rule V draft. Announced that P Jeff Shaw has cleared waivers and accepted assignment to Triple-A Colorado Springs.

Gary Williams knows what most college basketball fans must think of him. Especially when the University of Maryland coach launches into one of his glazed-eyes, foaming-at-the-mouth, four-letter-word-flying tirades to which he's been prone throughout his 17-year career.They've seen it many times: from the crowds at Cole Field House in College Park the past six seasons, to those on the road throughout the Atlantic Coast Conference. They might see it today at the Alamodome in San Antonio, where the seventh-ranked Terrapins play Cincinnati in the first game of this year's 7-Up Shootout doubleheader.

Just because Jim West won't be reporting sports on WBAL Radio's morning show every day doesn't mean he's taking a rest.To the contrary, West, who will go on "semi-retirement" after Friday, will be a pretty busy guy, doing occasional fill-ins for newcomer Pam Ward, reporting from the Preakness and Camden Yards and calling lacrosse for Home Team Sports.West, who will be 66 later this month, just won't be getting up at 2:30 a.m. as much, and he considers that a good thing."Gosh, now I'll be able to stay at the games without having to look at the clock and thinking, 'I've got to get to bed and get up in a few hours,' " said West.

For many Americans, the life and legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. can be summed up in four words. When King stepped to the podium on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on a sweltering August afternoon in 1963 as the final speaker of the March on Washington and thundered "I have a dream!" he articulated for the country a vision of what America was not, but could and should become. In the nearly four decades since he delivered it, King's speech about a utopia of justice and racial equality, where "little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers," has been elevated to a cultural touchstone.

WASHINGTON -- For nearly three hours yesterday, a panel of college administrators and legal scholars listened to every complaint under the chandelier about the inner workings of the infractions and enforcement arms of the NCAA.At the end, committee members stood up and said, "Thank you."Gripes not only were tolerated, but they also were welcomed at yesterday's open hearing of the Special Committee to Review the NCAA Enforcement and Infractions Process.The committee has a broad charge. It was formed to address a myriad of questions that have dogged the NCAA system of identifying and punishing rules offenders.

ACC! ACC! ACC!It's hard to picture the nine members of the NCAA tournament selection committee sitting in a Kansas City, Mo., hotel room chanting the initials of the Atlantic Coast Conference on Sunday when the 64-team draw was announced, but what else can you think?After all, the committee not only gave the ACC six bids to the tournament, but also awarded the conference far better seeds than most of its rivals."I think it's obvious that the committee felt that the ACC had the premier season.

By all reckoning, this year's NCAA men's tournament, which opens tomorrow and Friday in eight spots, including the Baltimore Arena, should be one of the best ever, with as many as 15 teams that have a realistic chance to accept the championship trophy in Seattle three weeks from now.But think for a moment about what could have been. For all the talk of the potency of defending champion Arkansas, or UCLA or Kansas or Wake Forest or a host of teams you could name, the overwhelming favorite in the draw should be Michigan.

CBS yesterday announced its announcer pairings and telecast schedule for the men's and women's NCAA basketball championships.The network will, for the fifth straight year, televise every second of all 63 men's games, from the first round on March 16 to the championship game on April 3, with slightly expanded coverage that starts with a one-hour selection show on March 12 and ends with a full evening of prime time coverage from Seattle on the night of...