Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 6, 1990 TAG: 9003062216
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RALEIGH, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
However, the issue of Valvano's contract took an angry turn when his lawyer said the school was misrepresenting negotiations over his possible departure.
A newspaper reported today that the university and Valvano may have agreed that the coach would stay through the 1990-91 basketball season and then leave.
A source told the Winston-Salem Journal that Valvano and his lawyer made the proposal and that it would absolve either side of any financial obligations.
"He's asking for one more year as coach, and then he'll leave," the source said in the copyright story. The newspaper said Valvano couldn't be reached for comment on its report.
But university counsel Becky French said the university wouldn't fire Valvano and wouldn't agree to a buyout of his contract.
"Jim has two options," French said. "...He resigns and he can do whatever he wants to do. . . . The other option is to treat Jim like any faculty member, and either party gives notice a year ahead of their departure."
All Valvano has said in public is that he has a contract and will honor his end if the school will stand by its commitment.
Interim chancellor Larry Monteith said that the university had agreed to accept Valvano's resignation if it were offered.
"We're trying . . . to come to some conclusion about him leaving the institution," Monteith said during a news conference at Greensboro, where he had come for a previously scheduled dinner with parents, alumni and university supporters.
Asked if that meant if he was prepared to fire Valvano if the coach did not resign, Monteith said, "I'm not going to draw anything from that."
Art Kaminsky, Valvano's lawyer, said talks were initiated when he and Valvano met with acting athletic director Harold Hopfenberg at College Park, Md., when the Wolfpack played the Terrapins Feb. 28, the night of an ABC News report alleging point-shaving at N.C. State.
"But we never told anybody Jim wanted to resign or offered to resign," Kaminsky said. "We simply said, `What do you want to do, keep me or work out something so I resign?' Under that, if you want to term that an overture, so be it. That's the spirit under which we undertook the discussions."
The university can terminate Valvano's contract without any financial penalty if he is found guilty of an NCAA violation or a felony. But if N.C. State terminates Valvano's contract without cause, he would receive $500,000. He is paid $106,000 a year and has three years left on his contract.
Meanwhile, a New Jersey prosecutor said Monday there is insufficient evidence to warrant criminal charges in that state in connection with the alleged point-shaving scheme involving former Wolfpack star Charles Shackleford and a Denville, N.J., businessman.
Morris County prosecutor Lee S. Trumbull said his office received details earlier in the day of an investigation by Denville police into East Orange contractor Robert Kramer.
French said the New Jersey prosecutor's decision would have no immediate effect on the university's discussions with Valvano. She told The News and Observer of Raleigh that she wanted to see what North Carolina investigators uncovered.
"Our [State Bureau of Investigation] has just started looking at this, and I think we should give them a chance to look and see what they find," she said.
In Italy, two sports dailies reported today that three teams were hoping to hire Valvano.
Gazzetta dello Sport of Milan, Italy's largest sports daily, said the clubs seeking Valvano were Arimo Bologna, Philips Milan and Fantoni Udine.
by CNB