
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 18, 1995                   TAG: 9501190035
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

HOKIES, VCU SUE METRO

A SUIT FILED TUESDAY in Richmond seeks to keep the conference from expeling the two schools until financial issues are resolved.

Four days after learning of a plan to expel their athletic programs from the Metro Conference, Virginia Tech and Virginia Commonwealth are fighting back - in court.

Named as defendants in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Richmond Circuit Court are the conference, its commissioner - Ralph McFillen - and 12 universities that are working to form a new league under the Metro name.

Also named are the presidents or chancellors of five Metro universities and the athletic directors and faculty representatives of those schools.

The Metro schools are Louisville, Tulane, North Carolina-Charlotte, South Florida and Southern Mississippi. The schools who would join the Metro, prompting the other schools to drop Tech and VCU, are Houston, Cincinnati, Memphis, DePaul, Marquette, St.Louis and Alabama-Birmingham.

The Metro schools informed VCU and Virginia Tech on Friday that they planned to expel the two from the league, then add the other seven.

The suit alleges:

Breach of contract by the Metro members.

Interference with a contract by the non-Metro members.

Conspiracy among the defendants to bring about the Metro members' withdrawal from the conference without paying fees Tech and VCU say are required.

The suit asks the court to determine what the two schools are owed by the league. It also asks for an injunction to maintain the current conference alignment until the suit is resolved.

A hearing on a temporary injunction was set for Jan.26.

Tech and VCU officials see the expulsion plan as an attempt by the other Metro schools to avoid paying a $500,000 departure fee and shares of other conference revenue, such as TV fees and NCAA Tournament receipts. The other schools see their plan as a way to evade the legal questions.

``For example, no one could enjoin formation of a new conference because no new conference will be formed,'' UNCC chancellor J.H. Woodward wrote to VCU's president, Eugene P. Trani.

McFillen said, ``I regret that this situation has evolved into litigation.''

Ian McCaw, an associate athletic director at Tulane, said Tuesday presidents of the 12 schools ``have reviewed the legal ramifications of the new conference and are comfortable with their position.''

by CNB