The NCAA News - Briefly in the News

January 13, 1997

Florida State University football coach Bobby Bowden allows his players a lot of latitude on bowl trips, but this year he did declare one place off-limits.

The Flamingo Casino was a popular stop with the Seminoles in their trip to New Orleans a couple of seasons ago, but when they returned this year for the Nokia Sugar Bowl, Bowden prohibited the players from visiting it or other gambling facilities throughout the New Orleans area.

"I've never put any place off-limits before, but we felt it would be wise this time," Bowden said in a story that appeared in the Pensacola News Journal. "With all the emphasis on gambling nowadays from the NCAA, I feel it's best we don't go into casinos. Of course, not that I approved of them going in there last time. Heck, I've never been in a casino, so I don't know what's inside them."

A related note: In the wake of several episodes involving gambling by student-athletes, a number of newspaper articles have cited the NCAA's efforts to control sports gambling and then noted, incorrectly, that the NCAA has scheduled its annual Convention in Las Vegas. However, those writers have confused the NCAA with other athletics organizations that recently have conducted or planned events in Las Vegas. The NCAA never has conducted its Convention in Las Vegas, nor may it do so in the future.

A policy adopted by the NCAA Executive Committee in May 1992 states, "The Convention will not be held in an area that permits gambling, either casino or an open sports book."

Basketball pioneer

Ann Meyers, who recently was selected to serve on the NCAA Foundation Board of Directors, has made a career out of breaking new ground.

A recent profile in the Anchorage Daily News noted the following "firsts" accomplished by Meyers:

* In 1974, she was the first woman to receive a full-ride basketball scholarship from the University of California, Los Angeles.

* She was the first draft pick of the country's first professional women's basketball league, the Women's Basketball League.

* She was a member of the first U.S. Olympic women's basketball team.

* She was the first woman to do a national television broadcast of basketball.

As a pioneer, she has earned the right to speak out, and she believes that many current female student-athletes are not aware of how much progress has been made with women's athletics over the last 25 years.

"I think a young girl today isn't aware of Title IX until a controversy occurs," Meyers said. "They don't know the people who paved the way for them."

She also said that women's basketball is not remarkably different from when she was playing, at least among the elite players.

"I don't really see a lot of changes," she told Daily News executive sports editor Beth Bragg. "They use a smaller ball now and there's the three-point shot. As far as the players themselves, some are taller, and teams go deeper on their bench. In the '70s you could almost count the number of players who were standout players."

The quality players from that era would be able to hold their own with the stars of today, she said.

"I don't see any centers today better than Lusia Harris of Delta State," she said. "I've never seen a better shooter than Carol Blazejowski (Montclair State)."

Harris and Blazejowski were standout players in the 1970s.

Knight Foundation awards

Two college presidents with ties to the NCAA Presidents Commission recently received grants of $150,000 from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Michael F. Adams, president of Centre College, was provided with the grant for his efforts to promote reform in intercollegiate athletics. Adams served on the Commission from 1992 through 1996.

Michele Tolela Myers, president of Denison University, was presented with the grant for her stand on limiting the influence of fraternities so residential and academic life will improve. Myers is a current member of the Commission.

-- Compiled by David Pickle

News quiz

Answers to the following questions appeared in December issues of The NCAA News. How many can you answer? 1. Which school won the first NCAA menÍs ice hockey championship in 1948? (a) Colorado College; (b) University of Michigan; (c) Dartmouth College; (d) Boston College. 2. Which football team went winless in 1995 and then rebounded to earn a berth in the 1996 Division I-AA Football Championship? (a) Nicholls State University; (b) Colgate University; (c) State University of New York at Buffalo; (d) East Tennessee State University.
3. Theodore Roosevelt Award winner William Porter ñBillyî Payne, president and chief executive officer of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, was an all-American football player at which school? (a) University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa; (b) University of Florida; (c) Clemson University; (d) University of Georgia.
4. True or false: The NCAAÍs first longitudinal study of graduation-rates data indicates that freshman student-athletes who entered school between 1983 and 1989 graduated at a higher rate than nonathlete students at Division I institutions that offer athletically related aid.
5. What amount will be distributed during January to the Division I membership as a supplemental distribution of excess revenue from the 1995-96 budget? (a) $7.5 million; (b) $8.1 million; (c) $13.2 million; (d) $15 million.
6. True or false: The NCAA Transition Oversight Committee has recommended that the NCAA moratorium on new members „ currently scheduled to last at least through implementation of the new governance structure „ be continued until at least the conclusion of the 1998 NCAA Convention.
7. Host Communications, Inc., will pay the Association at least what amount under a contract granting exclusive rights to HCI for NCAA corporate marketing programs through 2002? (a) $25 million; (b) $50 million; (c) $75 million; (d) $100 million.
8. Which of the following is not a finalist for consideration as a future location of the AssociationÍs headquarters facility? (a) Dallas/Fort Worth; (b) Denver; (c) Indianapolis; (d) Orlando, Florida.