The NCAA News - Briefly in the News

January 4, 1999

UConn benefits from coachesGeno Auriemma and Jim Calhoun, the two head basketball coaches at the University of Connecticut, are making gifts to the university that together total more than a quarter million dollars.

Auriemma, the women's basketball coach, will contribute $125,000 to the Homer Babbidge Library at the university's main campus in Storrs, while Calhoun, the men's basketball coach, will donate more than $125,000 to the cardiology program at the UConn Health Center.

The Auriemma gift, also from his wife, Kathy, enhances the scope and quality of the programs of the university's main library and will be matched with $1 for every $2 through the state's endowment matching-grant program.

Funds will be used to purchase books as well as new technology and related library resources for the benefit of all university students, faculty and staff.

It seemed like a fitting gift for Auriemma, who had a job in his college library.

"Some of my best moments in college were spent in the library -- working, reading, studying, listening to music and just thinking," he said.

Auriemma also recognized the university for its role in developing and educating the young people who have played for him over the years.

"My players have benefited more from this academic institution than from just playing basketball," he said. "It's a pleasure to be able to contribute to strengthening the University of Connecticut at its academic core."

The Calhoun gift, also from his wife, Patricia, will be divided. Half of the gift will provide funding to support physicians and researchers in the School of Medicine who are working on a new, non-invasive technique to diagnose and treat patients at risk of heart disease.

The other half of the Calhoun gift will provide an endowed cardiology research fellowship. That portion of the Calhoun gift also will be matched on a $1 for $2 basis through the state's endowment matching-grant program.

Calhoun, who was treated several years ago at the Health Center, said he wanted to pay back the institution that had treated him, while also underscoring the importance of good health care.

"As one of the nation's leading university medical centers, the UConn Health Center provides cardiac care to patients from the local community, the state and the region," Calhoun said. "I am delighted that Pat and I can assist with that and help support such important research."

'Real Sports' for women

Real Sports, a consumer magazine dedicated to capturing the action of women's sports, debuted across the nation last month.

Real Sports is thought to be the first national magazine to cover strictly women's sports with no coverage of fitness or self-help topics.

It is aimed at women and men ages 12-18 and 22-24 and will include coverage of professional, collegiate and amateur athletics. Its current schedule calls for it to be published four times a year. Independent publisher Amy Love, whose family launched a class-action suit in the 1970s and won her the right to play on an elite (previously all-male) soccer team, has launched the venture.

"This market segment has been ignored for too long," said Love. "Fans of female sports now have several professional leagues to follow, which complement the already strong collegiate and amateur levels. However, media sources have not kept pace."

Additional information about the magazine can be found on its Web site at www.loves-real-sports.com.

Help for Honduras

Citizens of hurricane-ravaged Honduras have been receiving assistance from several private groups in the United States, including some athletics departments that have chipped in to help.

At the University of Cincinnati, student-athletes, coaches and athletics administrative staff members gathered food, clothing and medical supplies for the victims of Hurricane Georges.

A dozen boxes of items were gathered over a three-day period and then shipped to aid the relief effort.

At St. Francis College (Pennsylvania), different departments on campus competed to raise donations for the victims. The most money was raised by the Red Flash women's basketball team, which led all other departments with $800 of the $2,000 raised.

Members of the team will get a congratulatory lunch with college president Rev. Christian R. Oravec, while the victims in Honduras will get food, medical care and other supplies.

-- Compiled by Kay Hawes

Looking back

5 years ago: Record-shattering years from both the Big Ten and Southeastern Conferences fail to offset a second consecutive decline in college football attendance. National attendance for all 560 NCAA teams in 1993 dropped 1 percent from the previous year. The average crowd dropped by more than 400 per game. Only Division I-A showed an increase in per-game average among the four NCAA divisions, although Division I-A actually dropped in total attendance by more than 96,000 because four fewer games were played. Division I-AA recorded the only increase in total attendance, but that was due to the addition of 27 teams to the division. Both Divisions II and III declined in average per game and total attendance. (The NCAA News, January 5, 1994)

10 years ago: Six outstanding student-athletes will be honored at the 1989 Convention as Today's Top Six recipients. The six winners are Dylann Duncan, volleyball player at Brigham Young University; Suzanne McConnell, basketball player at Pennsylvania State University; Faith Elizabeth "Betsy" Mitchell, swimmer at the University of Texas at Austin; Anthony Phillips, football player at the University of Oklahoma; Thomas Schlesinger, gymnast at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln; and Mark Stepnoski, football player at the University of Pittsburgh. Phillips and Stepnoski both are Outland Trophy and Lombardi Award candidates, Schlesinger and Mitchell are past NCAA individual event champions in their respective sports, Duncan is a national record-holder in kills and McConnell was a member of the 1988 gold-medal winning U.S. Olympic basketball team. (The NCAA News, January 4, 1989)

15 years ago: Proposals to establish a more formal structure for involvement by chief executive officers highlight an agenda of 162 legislative proposals to be considered at the 78th annual Convention in Dallas. Among the proposals is one prepared by the American Council on Education (ACE) that would create a 44-member presidents board with the power to adopt, amend or suspend bylaws, interpretations, resolutions and constitutional provisions apart from an NCAA Convention. Another proposal would establish a 44-member Presidents Commission, which would have substantial authority but not to the extent of the ACE proposal. (The NCAA News, January 4, 1984)