Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 30, 1993 TAG: 9305300053
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Bill Brill
DATELINE: WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
And, in collegiate circles, he is every bit as well-known as boxer Thomas Hearns, who was champion at several weight classes.
Wake Forest president Thomas Hearn isn't leaving. Not his school, anyway. But he does go off the Presidents Commission in December.
And it was as an outspoken member of that NCAA group that Hearn enhanced his reputation as the Hit Man.
If he wasn't the leader of the reform movement, he certainly was its spokesman. Like him or not - Hearn knows he has critics - few have been more involved as college sports sought to pull out of a morass that included athletic and academic scandals.
Where once almost no presidents got involved in NCAA activities, now they control the association and determine its future. Hearn has been part of that evolution.
"I think it's time to get off," Hearn said during an interview at his campus office. "It's been a very time-consuming business. Most of my non-Wake time has gone to athletics."
Because Hearn has been so connected to sports in recent years - he also served on the Knight Commission - he was asked to discuss the immediate future of the NCAA.
On the departure of Dick Schultz: "I can't imagine a worse time because of the impending collision of gender equity and financial reality."
About the next NCAA director: "He should swear an oath on the reform bible. His relations with the athletic community must be secure. I couldn't do that. I wouldn't be a good director. I'm not what that position needs. I've been a spokesman for the controversial issues of reform."
On the reform movement: "We now have the best information about student athletes. There has been good reason to make these changes. We haven't damaged athletics. None of the catastrophic predictions has been borne out."
On enhanced academic standards: "The athletes have met them and we're better off. These are competitive people. If we make tougher standards, they'll meet them, too."
On the NCAA rules manual, accused of being too large and not specific: "Coaches are in the poorest position to complain. It's the rule book they gave us. They honor the letter and violate the spirit, so we have to make more rules. Coaches don't trust each other."
Where were the presidents before?: "It was no look, no see. They didn't grow up in the athletic world and they ignored it for a variety of reasons. Something is wrong when the president is too great a fan. That's a huge opportunity for abuse. I think that's largely changed now."
Gender equity: "What are we doing to nurture women in sports, dating back to grade school? This is a debate partly about money. It's a complex cultural issue. The NCAA could break up over it. There's no goose out there big enough to solve the financial problems. I've warned some Division III presidents, if they get too greedy at the table, they'll lose their seats."
Coaches: "It's most important that they see themselves as participants in the academic process. Sports was too long about money and competition but not about education. We need them to be part of the dialogue."
On firing coaches who don't win: "We need changes on the part of the university. Ultimately it is about competing successfully, but we need to review our goals."
On resolving the athletic proportionality issue: "Women's leadership would be well served to make important accommodations. The stage is set for controversy. But the NCAA has a way of absorbing that and coming out with something everybody will be unhappy with. It may be a lose-lose situation. Everybody will be a little bit mad."
Why things are tougher now: "The recession affected higher education like nothing in our lifetime. Schools have incredibly difficult money problems. I don't see future money going to sports. It just won't. It will go to libraries and science buildings."
by CNB