National Collegiate Athletic Association
NCAA News Archive - 2000
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Opinions
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DeLoss Dodds, director of athletics
University of Texas at Austin
USA Today
"Presidents are trying to be involved (in intercollegiate athletics), but they've got jobs. The commissioners work at this full time. They work the politics full time. It's kind of a vacuum they've fallen into. They're running it, and they're convincing people to go along with them. I'm not saying it's a bad thing or a good thing. It's just the way it is."
Rick Bay, director of athletics
San Diego State University
USA Today
"If (some conference commissioners are) carrying out the wishes of their presidents, I'd have to wonder if the presidents in those conferences are looking out for the welfare of Division I athletics as a whole. If Jim (Delany, Big Ten Conference commissioner) and Roy (Kramer, Southeastern Conference commissioner) have become the de facto leaders of the NCAA, then the presidents have no control."
Michael Tranghese, commissioner
Big East Conference
USA Today
"There are people out there who are trying to cast (conference commissioners) as being these monsters of the midway, (that) we're running amok on our own. And that is absolutely not true. Each of us answers to a board of directors composed of (school) presidents and, in my case, I also answer to athletics directors. If I represent positions nationally that my presidents or my athletics directors don't like, they're going to tell me. Or they're going to fire me."
Drug use in sports
Frank Uryasz, president
National Center for Drug-Free Sport
CBS Sportsline
"There will always be pressure to enhance athletics performance. What we want is for young athletes to make the right choices and understand that there is an accepted way to enhance performance and an unacceptable way that constitutes cheating. Any high-school athlete who resorts to steroid use could end up testing positive in college and lose eligibility. I think it is fair to say most college football coaches will not recruit an athlete who they think is using steroids because they know the athlete will not be able to continue using steroids in college."
Priscilla Clarkson, professor
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
CBS Sportsline
"People want to believe they are effective, and (dietary supplements) are marketed based on people's hopes. Many of the advertisements are based on animal research studies, and they make them sound as if the supplement will work on humans when in fact they have not been tested on humans. ...
"I think we should begin educating parents of young children and begin to educate junior high-age students regarding the safety of supplements. Parents are calling coaches and physicians to ask about safety because their children are asking to use these supplements. Many people erroneously believe that if the supplement is available to purchase, that it is both safe and effective. This is not always the case."
Basketball rules
Tom Izzo, head men's basketball coach
Michigan State University
Indianapolis Star
Discussing the Men's Basketball Rules Committee's intention to eliminate rough play in the 2000-01 season:
"We're a physical team and I'm in favor of controlling it. How (officials are) going to do that is the question. Will it be done consistently throughout the year? Will it be done for half the season? Those are some things I have concerns about. I think (rough play) needs to be cleaned up."
Hank Nichols, NCAA coordinator for men's basketball officials
Roanoke (Virginia) Times & World News
"We're going to take care of the obvious rough play in the post. Once a post player gets the ball, we're going to treat him just like he had the ball at the top of the key. And we don't want the holding and pushing in the post that we've had. It's just too ridiculous, so we're going to blow the whistle more there."