Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, August 16, 1993 TAG: 9308160100
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PAUL WHITE LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium
Basketball wasn't one of them.
More pressing concerns were on the agenda, such as inner-city crime and drugs, and what role colleges can play in alleviating these concerns.
To the coaches, that role, because of increasingly restrictive NCAA legislation, isn't nearly as big as it should be.
"It's a crisis," said Reggie Minton, head coach at the U.S. Air Force Academy and spokesman for the group. "Opportunities, and access to opportunities available through college education, are being taken away from our children.
"We want to be part of the solution."
The discussion, titled "Crisis: The Lockout of African-Americans in Intercollegiate Athletics," brought some of the nation's most respected male and female coaches to the Waterside Marrriott hotel, including Arkansas' Nolan Richardson, Georgetown's John Thompson, Temple's John Chaney and Iowa's Vivian Stringer.
"This is a historic meeting," Minton said. "It's a cause that reaches beyond the game of basketball and into our future."
A cynic might suggest that before the coaches take on the whole of society, they might try cleaning up college basketball. Such cynicism, the coaches respond, is in large part the product of an overaggressive media, one that, by focusing on negative issues, often presents a distorted image of the college game.
"The media is sending the wrong messages out," Chaney said. "You thrive and survive on bad news. That's got to change in order for us to make a difference."
Thompson added, "The negative perception people have of intercollegiate athletics is the reason for a lot of the legislation."
Such legislation, which includes staff and budget cuts and reductions in scholarships, closes the door to a college education for many minorities, the coaches said.
"The coaches here today represent some of the most prestigious institutions in this country," Thompson said. "But I'm willing to bet, with the present legislation, 50 percent of them wouldn't get into school today.
"An athletic scholarship is not a luxury to a poor person, it's a necessity. Closing that vehicle is just diverting the problem to another part of the city. It costs far more to put a man in prison than to educate him."
The group did not, however, call for the lowering of admission requirements.
"Academic standards are not being challenged here," Minton said.
The Black Coaches Association came up with the idea for the discussion and selected Norfolk as the site because several of the coaches already had planned to be in the area attending a clinic held by Old Dominion coach Oliver Purnell.
"This seemed like a natural place," said Purnell, the former Radford University coach.
But despite general agreement on what the problems were, the coaches don't have any answers. At least not yet.
"We're in the process of developing a plan of action," Minton said. "There will be a lot of discussion before it's finalized."
by CNB