The NCAA News - Briefly in the News

February 16, 1998

Earl Yestingsmeier, now in his 36th season as the head men's golf coach at Ball State University, is retiring from coaching, but he still plans to see at least one of his pals from the sports information office on a regular basis.

Yestingsmeier, who spent 31 years serving as both sports information director and golf coach, met a lot of people he liked at Ball State. One of them was Mona Fahl, the longtime secretary in the sports information office. She, too, had begun her career at Ball State in 1959, and she shared his love of the university and sports information.

Last year they were married, and this year they'll retire together -- he in June and she in February.

In his 35 seasons, Earl Yestingsmeier has coached the Cardinals to 107 tournament titles, six conference championships and 11 NCAA tournament appearances.

Yestingsmeier was inducted into the Indiana Golf Hall of Fame in 1997, the Golf Coaches Association of America Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Ball State Hall of Fame in 1981.

More than 90 percent of the 185 golfers who have lettered in Yestingsmeier's tenure have graduated, and 11 have been named scholars by the Golf Coaches Association of America.

Several of Yestingsmeier's former golfers have gone on to play professionally, while many more have continued their careers in golf with teaching or management positions.

The other Yestingsmeier will be missed as well. Mona Yestingsmeier has worked for the Ball State sports information department (now called athletics communications) for 32 years. In 1988, she received a meritorious-service award for her dedicated service to the university.

Between them, the Yestingsmeiers have a total of 78 years of service to Ball State. Not bad for a couple of newlyweds.

Spanning the decades

When Dave Calloway took over as interim head men's basketball coach at Monmouth University, it gave the Northeast Conference both the oldest and the youngest coaches in Division I men's basketball.

Calloway, born October 7, 1968, is 29. Jim Phelan, the head men's basketball coach at Mount St. Mary's College (Maryland), was born March 19, 1929. He is 69 -- four decades older.

The year Phelan was born, people were talking about the stock market crash and the St. Valentine's Day massacre in Chicago. The year Calloway was born, people were talking about the Vietnam War and the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy.

Phelan already had compiled a 281-97 record at Mount St. Mary's by the time Calloway was born.

Phelan's current record with the Mountaineers is 780-424. Calloway's record with the Hawks is 2-3.

Triple threat

While balanced scoring is a goal many teams aim for, few hit the mark like the Rockhurst College men's basketball team has this season.

After the first 20 games of the season, three players on the team each had scored 308 points. Junior guard John Howard, senior forward Logan Wagler and freshman forward Davin Winkley each have a 15.4 average at the Jesuit school, which is a member of NAIA Division I and a provisional member of NCAA Division II.

"I've heard and talked about balanced scoring," coach Bill O'Connor said. "But I've never run into a statistical situation like this."

Women's pro soccer

The National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) is investigating the viability of a women's professional soccer league in the United States.

The NSCAA Women's Committee recently announced the creation of an ad hoc committee to gather information about forming a women's professional league. The ad hoc committee will report twice a year to the NSCAA Women's Committee.

"It is not our intention to organize such a league. Rather it is to encourage progress toward the league's development," said Louise Waxler, chair of the NSCAA Women's Committee.

Marcia McDermott, head women's soccer coach at Northwestern University, will be the chair of the ad hoc committee.

The remaining members of the committee will be announced by April 1.

-- Compiled by Kay Hawes