The NCAA News - Briefly in the News

July 1, 1996

• Player happy he's hitting again
• Following mom's advice
• Looking back

Player happy he's hitting again

To appreciate how happy Soltes was just to be on the field again, you have to know what he went through in August 1995 -- when doctors found the spot on his brain.

Soltes' roommate and teammate, Brian Cook, discovered Soltes sleeping one morning but noticed irregular breathing and knew something was wrong. Soltes was having a seizure.

To this day, all that Soltes remembers of that morning is waking up in bed and finding emergency personnel in his room asking him questions.

"I said, 'What the heck are you guys doing in my room?' I had no idea what was going on," Soltes said.

Just like that, Soltes' life began unraveling. As soon as he arrived as the hospital, doctors began trying to determine the cause of the seizure. A CAT scan turned up a spot within hours, but it took longer to determine what the spot meant.

Among possibilities considered were Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Lyme disease and a head injury sustained during football. One doctor told Soltes he never would play football again.

Soltes estimates he saw 50 doctors. The bills still are piling up. But after eight hours of tests at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City, doctors concluded a small blood vessel abnormality on the surface of the brain had clotted, causing the seizure.

After surgery to correct the problem, doctors told Soltes that he would recover and could play football again.

The irony of the situation was that after working out all last summer, Soltes probably was in the best shape of his life. The seizure came out of the blue, he said.

In the 13 years that Soltes has played organized football, he doesn't remember missing a single game. But even after doctors cleared him to start working out again last September, he still faced problems.

Doctors told him to sit out the season to allow the muscles in his face -- which had to be cut during the surgery -- time to heal. He also lost 30 pounds from his 6-foot-4, 275-pound frame.

His mother has asked him if he is afraid of playing again at a position where players get hit in the head almost every play. But with doctors' assurances, Soltes said he hasn't had a moment of fear about coming back.

In fact, he's more enthusiastic than most. Before Delaware opened spring camp in April, he tried on his pads a week early. He was the first player on the field on the first day of practice.

Following mom's advice

So for more than 22 years, the former Purdue University basketball player (1974 through 1978) has devoted himself to improving life's quality for others -- specifically children who come from poor or troubled backgrounds.

When Jordan completed his eligibility at Purdue, he was drafted by the New Jersey Nets and eventually landed on the roster of the Cleveland Cavaliers, playing in the NBA from 1980 to 1982. Jordan then played in Spain for five years.

In 1987, Jordan took up the torch his mother had given him. He founded a Fort Wayne-based promotion company and assembled the NBA's first sanctioned charity all-star game -- the Parade of Stars -- which has been staged in Fort Wayne Coliseum for 10 years.

Jordan also is in his fourth year of overseeing Future Stars, a Fort Wayne-based summer program for children. More than 350 kids, including 125 girls, meet with Jordan and his staff June 17 through August 17.

For $100 each, Future Stars participants receive a basketball uniform, basketball shoes and insurance coverage. Youth from Indiana, Michigan and Ohio take part in the program.

"We break even at best, but you can't put a price on the value of just trying to develop these kids," Jordan told the Journal and Courier. "It's amazing the number of kids we see go away to college and develop -- maybe not as athletes -- but just as people. That's what it's all about."

Future Stars is a developmental program. Athletics is the attraction, but the real message is this: "In order to be successful, you have to have a passion for whatever it is you want to do."

When not involved with Future Stars, Jordan works with Stop the Madness, a program in which he helps gang-related kids by providing activities.

"I'm very busy, but I think it's always a new challenge for me to be able to give back to kids," Jordan said. "I figure if I'm financially independent than I can give more."

The downside to all of Jordan's charity work, he said, is that he doesn't have much time to visit Purdue.

-- Compiled by Sally Huggins

Looking back

10 years ago: A six-member special committee is appointed by the NCAA Administrative Committee to handle negotiations for the rights to televise future Division I Men's Basketball Championships and possibly other NCAA championships. The Association's contract with CBS-TV ends in 1987 and any new agreement would go into effect for the 1988 men's basketball championship. Richard D. Schultz, director of athletics at the University of Virginia and chair of the Division I Men's Basketball Committee, will chair the negotiations committee. Negotiations will begin in fall 1986. (The NCAA News, July 16, 1986)

15 years ago: A four-year football television agreement is reached July 30, 1981, with two national networks. The combined rights fees from the agreement with ABC and CBS for the 1982 through 1985 seasons total $263.5 million. A limit on TV appearances by NCAA schools is increased from four (with a fifth on special dates) to six in two years. Soon after the agreement is announced, the College Football Association announces a four-year agreement with NBC for rights to games involving CFA members. (NCAA News, August 15, 1981)

25 years ago: The NCAA Financial Aid Committee recommends during a July 1-2, 1971, meeting that the NCAA Council sponsor legislation to implement limits in all sports on the number of financial aid awards that an institution can award and to base all financial aid for athletes on need. (NCAA News, July 15, 1971)