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

DATE: THURSDAY, June 29, 1995                   TAG: 9506290062
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

WOMEN MAY GET LEAGUE

On the day when the NBA was preparing to hold its annual draft and make multi-millionaires out of the best men's college basketball players in America, one of the country's top female players was saying that a professional women's league is on the horizon.

Jennifer Azzi, a former two-time All-American at Stanford and a current member of the women's National Team that will play in the 1996 Summer Olympics, said Wednesday that a California-based marketing group has unveiled plans to launch a women's league on these shores before the end of the century.

Azzi learned of the plans during a banquet honoring her induction into Stanford's sports hall of fame. It was there that she met marketing consultants Gary Cavalli and Ann Kribbs, who showed Azzi their proposal to start of league.

``Their's was the first proposal that, I would say, is within reason,'' said Azzi, who was in town to speak at a girls' basketball camp at Virginia Tech. ``They put together a proposal, a budget and a basic plan that could work.''

Azzi had few details, but said the plan is to have a league of 8-to-12 teams across the country, with teams featuring mostly local players.

``They're doing research to see where women's basketball is most popular and most marketable,'' said Azzi. ``They want to get players from those areas and start teams there.''

Azzi, who was the women's national player of the year after leading Stanford to the 1990 NCAA championship, has played five years of pro ball in Italy, France and Sweden.

Azzi, 26, said she has seen enough big changes during her basketball career to believe that a women's league could work. Growing up in Oak Ridge, Tenn., Azzi was almost middle-school-aged when Tennessee schools dropped 6-on-6 basketball - an antiquated game for girls in which only three players on a team could cross midcourt - in favor of a basic 5-on-5 game for girls.

``If I had been two years older, I would have played 6-on-6,'' said Azzi. ``There was a politician in Oak Ridge who said back then that girls shouldn't play 5-on-5, that it was bad for their bodies. That's amazing.''

Currently, the only professional women's leagues are overseas. Azzi has played five years of pro ball in Italy, France and Sweden.

``People tell me all the time that they feel sorry for me because I can't play in this country,'' said Azzi. ``I don't feel sorry for myself because I wouldn't exchange my experiences for money. ... To live in another country and try to fit in that culture have been great experiences.

``Women's basketball will probably never reach the level [of popularity] of men's basketball. That's okay. We've come a long way and we still have something to shoot for. My first year at Stanford [in 1986-87], we only pulled out one side of bleachers. By my senior year, we were selling out.''

If a women's league does get off the ground here, Azzi said she will probably be too old to play.

After her lecture and prior to an autograph session, Azzi was asked by a young player if she thought there will be a pro women's league in the United States.

``I really hope [so], by the time you're my age,'' she said. ``It's not going to be for me, but I hope it happens.''

by CNB