Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 24, 1995 TAG: 9506260058
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: OVERLAND PARK, KAN. LENGTH: Medium
Some believe he was the best director in NCAA history, a man of farsighted leadership who tried to return sanity to college sports.
Others claim he was shifty and opportunistic, and took credit for reforms that other people worked hard to achieve.
One thing everybody agrees on: From 1987, when he replaced Walter Byers as the NCAA's leader, until 1993, when he reluctantly and bitterly stepped down, the former basketball coach traveled hundreds of thousands of miles and did much to widen the NCAA's circle of friends.
Columnists who would never hear back from Byers suddenly had calls to the head of the NCAA put through. Personally piloting the airplane he obtained for the NCAA through a corporate partnership, Schultz visited a different campus almost every weekend.
Always out front and engaging, in sharp contrast to his reclusive predecessor, Schultz - who was chosen executive director of the U.S. Olympic Committee on Friday - was available for media interviews at every stop.
``There is no doubt the NCAA needed something like that, and Dick did it very, very well,'' said one observer who counts himself among the critics. ``Dick put a human face on the NCAA.''
How meaningful Schultz' role was in the reform movement that swept through college sports during his watch is subject to debate. Just about the same time Schultz quit as Virginia athletic director to become the NCAA's chief, reform-minded college presidents took control of the NCAA's legislative process.
The Presidents Commission, created during Byers' time, pushed far-reaching reforms through the annual rule-making conventions on a carefully plotted schedule. Frequently sparking controversy and always with Schultz' public support, they tightened academic requirements, reduced time and work loads on athletes and trimmed staff, coaching and scholarship limits.
However, not long after the NCAA made a billion-dollar television deal with CBS, reports began circulating that Schultz was implicated in an improper loan scheme at Virginia.
Schultz steadfastly denied having knowledge of the loans while serving as Virginia athletic director from 1981-87.
Deciding not to attempt an investigation of its own boss, the NCAA hired James Park Jr. to conduct an independent probe.
More than a year later, Park's report quoted former Virginia staff members and athletes as saying that Schultz did have knowledge of the loans, and Park himself suggested that he did not believe Schultz had been entirely forthcoming.
On the day the report became public, Schultz arrived at his office determined to fight it out. He changed his mind by early afternoon.
``If you think this is an admission of guilt, you're dead wrong,'' he said.
Ironically, the Virginia case resulted in only minor penalties for the school.
by CNB