ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, June 27, 1996 TAG: 9606270018
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: COLLEGE NOTEBOOK
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY
Although he coaches one of the few high-profile college basketball programs that hasn't lost a star underclassman to the NBA, Mike Krzyzewski does not lack for opinions on the subject.
``In the history of mankind, when people have put their minds together and have wanted a favorable solution, somehow they've been able to do that - and on tougher issues than this,'' Krzyzewski said. ``It depends on motivation.''
This year's group of underclassmen turning pro is the largest and the youngest on record. It includes high school seniors Kobe Bryant and Jermaine O'Neal, considered the top two college basketball prospects in the country by some analysts.
``The two parties should talk,'' said Krzyzewski, referring to the NBA and the NCAA, ``because, what they've done is make independent decisions that, together, have created an environment that favors kids going.''
Krzyzewski made mention of the NBA's decision to allow a player to become a free agent after three years. He also doesn't like the way the NCAA allows players to make themselves available for the draft, and then change their mind if they haven't signed with an agent.
``If they haven't signed with an agent, you can be damned sure they've talked to one,'' Krzyzewski said. ``You contaminate the system by introducing people who have no regard, maybe, for college. Hey, if you don't want any impure water, don't drink it straight out of a lake.''
There was no more successful college program than Duke over the period, 1986-94, when the Blue Devils won two national championships and made the Final Four seven times. They had seven first-round draft picks during that time, all of them seniors.
``There are some top juniors we are recruiting - players in the top 10 in the country - who I would predict would stay four years,'' Krzyzewski said. ``That doesn't mean we wouldn't recruit a youngster who might leave.
``What you don't do is get into any deals or agreements. Rather, you try to sell a kid on college. We believe, once a youngster gets here, Duke sells itself. One thing money can't buy is the college experience. Somehow, in our rules, we've got to give kids the opportunity to taste that.''
Krzyzewski points out major-league baseball teams draft players out of high school, but collegiate baseball players have to wait until they are 21 or have completed three years before signing. Otherwise, the NCAA does not differentiate between sports.
``We don't have a mechanism to change things quickly,'' Krzyzewski said. ``That's the problem with the NCAA. We're not federated. You can't go to the basketball council and say, `Hey, you've got to change this rule.' They've got to go to a convention and see how it affects every sport.
``So many decisions are made so that you don't have to make decisions in other areas. That's how our whole organization is run. It's called managing instead of leading.''
TURNER IN DEMAND: Todd Turner, the athletic director at North Carolina State since 1990, was in Nashville, Tenn., for the second time this week and is expected to be offered the AD's job at Vanderbilt for what sources are calling a substantial raise.
Turner, previously the athletic director at Connecticut, is a University of North Carolina graduate who will never do enough to please some Wolfpack supporters. There was even a hot rumor in the spring that he might return to Virginia, where he was once an assistant AD, as head fundraiser.
IN THE PROS: One-time Virginia Tech All-American Eugene Chung has signed as a free agent with the San Francisco 49ers. It is the third NFL team for Chung, a first-round draft pick of the New England Patriots who was selected by Jacksonville in the 1995 expansion draft.
nPhiladelphia is looking at one-time Virginia Tech linebacker Mike Johnson, who spent the 1995 season in Detroit. Johnson, 33, spent eight years with Cleveland and was the Browns' defensive captain before he became a victim of the NFL's salary cap.
RECRUITING: Delaware has received an oral commitment from Darryl Presley, a once-promising Virginia recruit who played sparingly this year as a freshman and eventually dropped off the team following his arrest on shoplifting charges.
Presley, a 6-foot-6 forward with limited perimeter skills, played at DeMatha High School in Hyattsville, Md. - the same program that produced Blue Hens coach Mike Brey. Scott Johnson, who was involved in the shoplifting incident with Presley, has transferred from UVa to South Florida.
SUCCESSFUL DEBUT: Virginia Tech, in its first season of Division I women's lacrosse play, ranked 11th in the nation in scoring with 162 goals in 13 games. Suzy Funston was 14th in the nation in points and fellow freshman Catherine Augustino was ninth in assists for the Hokies (7-6).
W&L RECRUITS: Washington and Lee has high hopes for Chris Batcheller, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound quarterback from Patrick County High School. Second-year Generals football coach Frank Miriello also likes the size of linebacker Mike Moore (6-1, 220) from Houston and linemen J.D. Koch (6-2, 240) from Baton Rouge, La., and John Sensing (6-3, 220) from Wilmington, Del.
LOCAL UPDATE: Bridgewater College, undefeated this spring in Old Dominion Athletic Conference baseball play, has oral commitments from catcher Brian Simmons from Northside High School and catcher Brian Webb from Carroll County. Bridgewater football recruits include Alleghany High School offensive lineman Brandon Campbell and linebacker Ryan Underwood.
LENGTH: Medium: 95 linesby CNB