Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 26, 1990 TAG: 9003262051
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RALEIGH, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
Negotiations between university officials and Valvano's representatives are scheduled to resume today.
There have been rumors that university officials might turn to litigation in order to invalidate Valvano's contract by claiming the coach did not ensure the academic progress of his players.
"If they want to rattle that saber, it is not in their best interests," said Woody Webb, the Raleigh attorney retained by Valvano's agent, Art Kaminsky. "If they want to fight, we'll fight. But most of the time, when you get involved in a courtroom battle, the only people that win are the lawyers."
This morning's meeting was scheduled to be held at the Raleigh office of Howard Manning, hired by the university to negotiate an end to Valvano's contract. Manning has refused comment.
Valvano's contract contains a clause stipulating one of his duties is to "encourage academic progress, in conjunction with the faculty and university, of student-athletes toward graduation."
A six-month study of the basketball program last year found repeated abuses of academic standards to maintain player eligibility. After hearing similar information presented in a 2 1/2-hour emergency session Tuesday, the N.C. State Board of Trustees voted 9-3 to seek Valvano's resignation.
Valvano's contract says that if he is fired for anything less than a felony conviction or an NCAA violation, the university must pay him $500,000. If he leaves for another Division I or NBA job, he must pay the university $500,000.
Valvano has been under pressure to resign since one of his former players, Charles Shackleford, admitted accepting $60,000 from two men while he was still a student at N.C. State. Such payments would have been in violation of NCAA rules.
Shackleford and three former teammates also have been implicated in an alleged point-shaving scheme. The State Bureau of Investigation in North Carolina and New Jersey officials are investigating allegations of a point-shaving operation involving N.C. State players.
Valvano has not been accused of any wrongdoing in either situation. Nor has he been implicated in the selling of complimentary tickets and sneakers that landed his program on two years' NCAA probation.
by CNB