Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 15, 1993 TAG: 9301150396
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL BRILL STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DALLAS LENGTH: Medium
COACH K, BASKETBALL HIT LOSING STREAK
In an unfamiliar arena, Mike Krzyzewski learned Thursday what it's like to be an underdog.Duke's basketball coach arrived at the NCAA Convention in the middle of the night, having flown in a private jet from Durham, N.C., after a victorious game against Wake Forest.
The National Association of Basketball Coaches turned to its cleanup hitter in an effort to preserve one scholarship and one full-time coach.
Because the proposals were opposed by the Presidents Commission and the NCAA Council, Coach K had no chance.
The vote to put off the reduction in grants from 14 to 13 until 1994 was defeated, 178-134. The proposal to retain a third full-time assistant coach instead of restricting his salary to $16,000 was crunched 257-61.
What distressed Krzyzewski, the first basketball coach in memory to address this convention, was the attitude more than the outcome. When one speaker rose to suggest that men's basketball didn't need more than two assistant coaches, he was greeted with applause and laughter.
"That's really sad," Krzyzewski said. "I'm concerned about the clapping and laughing. It's a distressing mood. We are teachers. We're the closest link to why we are here - the student-athletes.
"If you don't listen, that's wrong. This is not about power. What this should be about is doing what's right.
"I'm much more disheartened today than I was losing at Georgia Tech. That was just a game. What we're trying to do is create an environment for the student-athlete."
Having made his first trip to a convention, Krzyzewski came away concerned about the differences between coaches and presidents.
"I see how big the gap is," he said. "We're teachers. All we want is what's good for the game and the kids who play the game."
Even in his own conference, Krzyzewski was barely a winner. The ACC schools supported both proposals, 5-4. Maryland, Wake Forest, Florida State and Clemson voted against.
One reason the basketball coaches lost was because they came late to the show. They have just recently strengthened their organization, hiring Jim Haney as executive director and moving their office to Kansas City.
NABC plans to continue the fight. "We need to be part of the loop," Krzyzewski said. "What this shows is the need for sports-specific legislation. We need more timely and pertinent information that deals with our sport."
While what happened to men's basketball was predictable, so were the votes on female issues. Women's basketball was given back a scholarship, and thus next year will have 15 grants while the men have 13. All other scholarship cuts in women's sports were restored.
What impacted men's basketball more than anything were the two overriding issues of the '90s: money and gender equity.
These days, almost all presidents are reluctant to add costs.
"In a time when academic budgets have been slashed in 42 of 50 states, when 70 percent of our members are losing money in athletics, coaches have to understand," said New Orleans' Gregory O'Brien, chairman of the Presidents Commission. "They are just one of 60 or 70 departments on our campuses."
It also is a time when administrators are sensitive to the issue of gender equity, although it has not been defined for the delegates. That comes next year.
The initial solution for past sins - inattention to women's sports - is to give the women more than men, at least on paper.
"We have not achieved equity," O'Brien said.
He also said he supported sports-specific legislation, where issues applying to football and basketball, the revenue sports, could be addressed individually. "I think that's the ultimate solution."
But it will be 1994 before the NCAA can address that issue, or eliminate the horrific "restricted-earnings coach" from its vocabulary. Almost everybody concedes it's wrong to say a coach can make only $12,000 during the school year and only $4,000 in the summer.
Even when that occurs, men's basketball will still be caught in the middle. Yes, the revenue produced by the NCAA Tournament funds the organization. But it is only one sport, and CEOs feel it cannot be accorded special privileges.
Meanwhile, schools struggle with the legal and moral issue of fairness toward women. Nobody wants cuts for men's sports in order to more equitably fund women's. Many see that as the only alternative, however.
For Krzyzewski and the NABC, a far more difficult task lies ahead than anything the coaches face on a daily basis in the arena.