THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, May 11, 1996 TAG: 9605110074
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 179 lines
Norfolk State's impressive wins in the Penn Relays last month brought the university national recognition. The kind of publicity money can't buy.
In front of a national television audience, the Spartans knocked off some of the big boys of college track in the 4x100-meter relay, the 4x200-meter relay and the 100-meter dash. In the 400-meter relay, they beat Texas Christian, the defending NCAA champion in that event.
Now, some coaches are questioning the eligibility of at least two runners the Spartans used to win at Penn. One high-ranking Relays official said he is looking into the charges.
At least half a dozen coaches familiar with Norfolk State sprinters Tim Montgomery and Brian Lewis say they believe the junior college transfers needed to sit out a year before becoming eligible. Some questioned whether Montgomery should be eligible at all because he used an agent to help get into some minor meets in Europe last summer.
Norfolk State coach Steve Riddick calls the complaints sour grapes.
``I'm getting kind of tired of it,'' Riddick said. ``These coaches should stop complaining and start coaching.''
Riddick cites an NCAA rule that allows transfers from two-year schools to become eligible immediately if they are transferring because their school dropped their sport. Blinn Junior College in Brenham, Texas, where Montgomery and Lewis ran last year, dropped track and field after the 1995 season.
However, the rule applies only if the transfers were academic qualifiers coming out of high school, according to Steve Mallonee, director of legislative services for the NCAA.
Montgomery and Lewis were not academic qualifiers, according to former Blinn Junior College coach Steve Silvey.
Norfolk State compliance officer Charles Pleasants said the athletes were recruited before he began work in January.
``I'll certainly get with coach Riddick and talk about it,'' he said.
Montgomery did use an agent to help get into meets in Europe, but he wasn't paid, according to Riddick and the agent, Vicente Modahl of Manchester, England. The same type of arrangement is used by many college track athletes, according to Riddick, Modahl and several coaches.
The eligibility question ultimately could be up to the NCAA to decide, if it gets that far. One prominent Division I coach who was beaten by Norfolk State said he won't complain to the NCAA because it would look like sour grapes.
The issue might fade way since Norfolk State isn't eligible to compete in the Division I or II national championships this year, because it's in a transition between the divisions.
Silvey, now an assistant coach at Arkansas, has been the most vocal of several coaches who raised concerns about Norfolk State's team.
``They're moving too fast too quick,'' Silvey said. ``I think you're going to see some more attention paid to this program.''
Even before the Penn Relays, coaches voiced doubts about the eligibility of some Norfolk State runners. The wins in Philadelphia only intensified the talk.
``That was the talk of the place,'' said East Carolina coach Bill Carson, who was at the Relays.
Wes Kittley, coach at Division II Abilene Christian, said after one of Norfolk State's wins at the Penn Relays, several coaches approached him, because they knew he also had recruited the Blinn athletes.
``I had everybody swarming me, trying to get information,'' Kittley said. ``Everybody was wanting to know if I had transcripts.''
Dave Johnson, interim director of the Penn Relays, said several coaches complained to him.
``We are aware that the concerns are out there,'' Johnson said.
Riddick says that hard work, his connections in the track world, and his reputation as a premier sprint coach brought three of the nation's top young sprinters to Norfolk State this year. Riddick was on the U.S. gold-medal-winning 4x100 relay team in the '76 Olympics.
``Those that are complaining haven't produced any sprinters,'' he said.
Backers of Riddick agree.
``No one says anything until somebody wins,'' said Tony Campbell, a sports agent based in Los Angeles. ``All of a sudden people are looking somewhere to get dirt. I think it's dirty pool.
``Steve Riddick knows everybody. He can just pick up the phone. He has an advantage over other guys. If we're gonna hold that against him, what can he do?''
At issue is the status of several athletes who transferred to Norfolk State from Blinn JC, a track powerhouse that routinely attracted some of the nation's top athletes. The Buccaneers won the last seven junior college national championships, and their relay teams routinely beat NCAA Division I teams.
For all its success, the track team was costing Blinn money. Track and field, a non-revenue sport, doesn't make money anywhere. Last year, Blinn's president decided to drop the sport.
Blinn athletes were suddenly in demand. Norfolk State signed six, including three of the nation's best young sprinters: Montgomery, Lewis and Ramon Clay.
Riddick said he got an early line on the Blinn athletes because he knew before other coaches that the school was planning to drop its program. A year before, Riddick had signed two athletes from another Texas juco that had dropped its program, Odessa College.
Riddick began recruiting Montgomery, and the others followed.
``Tim was the leader of that group,'' Riddick said. ``Once we got him, I knew Ramon would come and he would bring Brian.''
Montgomery, Clay and hurdler Wayne Whyte visited together. They knew they had found the right place and didn't need to make other recruiting visits, Clay said.
``We sort of fell into coach Riddick's arms,'' Clay said.
Other coaches said they didn't have a problem with Montgomery and Lewis coming to Norfolk State, but with them being eligible immediately. Two head coaches from nationally prominent Division II programs said they recruited the sprinters, but determined they would have to sit out a year before becoming eligible under NCAA regulations.
``We didn't want to sit out a year,'' Clay said. ``We're young guys. We wanted to compete.''
Under NCAA rules, junior college transfers who were not academic qualifiers coming out of high school are eligible immediately in Division II only if they have completed at least 24 hours of transferable credits and have a 2.0 grade-point average in those courses. Anyone who doesn't meet those requirements must sit out a year.
Rules for two-year transfers to Division I schools are more strict. To be eligible immediately in Division I, transfers who were non-qualifiers must have completed their two-year degree.
Norfolk State has applied to move from Division II to Division I, and as of July 1, 1995, the Spartans were required to recruit under Division I rules. Riddick said the athletes were signed before June 1, so Division II guidelines applied.
Still, Riddick said the 24-hour requirement for Division II transfers did not apply to the Blinn recruits, because of the exemption for athletes who transfer because their school is dropping their sport.
``The first thing I did when I got here was read the manual,'' he said.
He said the complaints of Silvey and other coaches are motivated by jealousy. Silvey had hoped to bring Montgomery, Lewis and Clay with him to Arkansas, Riddick said.
Silvey said he's just making sure every team follows the rules: ``It's not fair that everyone's playing with one deck, and somebody else gets to play with another deck.''
Silvey isn't the only one asking questions. Riddick said Texas coach Bubba Thornton called him Monday and asked him to explain how the Blinn sprinters were eligible.
Thornton declined comment.
``Any issue I have I will take up with the Penn Relays directorship,'' he said.
What's undeniable is that Riddick has assembled some world-class talent. Montgomery once ran a wind-aided time of 9.95 seconds in the 100 meters, beating Carl Lewis in the Texas Relays. Brian Lewis' best time in the 100 is 10.03. Both run consistently in the low 10.20s.
Clay, dubbed ``the next Michael Johnson'' by Track and Field News, has run a 20.36 in the 200 meters and 45.58 in the 400, better times than Johnson ran at the same age.
Montgomery, Lewis and Clay will run at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Atlanta. They made up three-fourths of the relay team that ran 39.27 seconds at the Penn Relays.
Montgomery, Lewis and Clay say they are happy with their choice of college. Clay and Lewis said Riddick has improved their sprinting, and has kept careful track of their academic progress.
``Coach Riddick has been on the road we're trying to get to,'' said Clay, who hopes to make the Olympic team someday.
``In the short time I've been here I've learned a lot,'' Lewis said. ``And we've been able to put Norfolk State on the map.''
Norfolk State is definitely on the map, and not without its supporters among track coaches.
``Why throw a stone at (Riddick)?'' said Carson, the track coach at East Carolina. ``He just jumped on it and got those kids. And if they're running there or somewhere else, who cares? Steve did a great thing for U.S. track and field, giving those guys a place to run.''
Tom Lester, also a former coach at Blinn, took an ends-justify-the-means approach. He said U.S. Olympic development will be better served by the sprinters running this year, rather than sitting out.
``This whole thing is a case of some of the big boys getting beat, and they don't like it,'' Lester said.
Riddick, a part-time coach who works as a case worker for the mentally retarded in Hampton, looked around his cramped, window-less office and asked what the sport's heavy hitters had to fear from Norfolk State.
``They didn't complain until we won the Penns,'' he said. ``This program is young, and it's building. I've got nothing to hide.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
Norfolk State coach Steve Riddick says charges by rival coaches are
"sour grapes."
KEYWORDS: ELIGIBILITY NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY TRACK by CNB