National Collegiate Athletic Association
NCAA News Archive - 2000
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Opinions
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Roy Kramer, commissioner
Southeastern Conference
Chattanooga Times
"I don't think it's fair to penalize the schools because an athlete signs early with a sports agent. We need to continue to educate the athletes, and we need to find more and more ways to restrict agents' activities. There are some very good agents who give excellent advice and know what they're doing. However, we have an awful long of fringe-area 'runners,' or parasites as I call them, who talk individuals into signing with them early for a very small amount of money. Those are the ones who bother me because they ruin a young man's eligibility."
Academic integrity
Jeffrey Kovac, chemistry professor
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
New York Times
"Most faculty are cynical about sports. Athletes get away with murder -- so what? Just let me concentrate on neutron scattering. But I've also been a professional soccer referee for 20 years, and I've always thought, all we have is our integrity and a whistle."
Basketball recruiting
Steve Lavin, men's basketball coach
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles Times
"There's a real concern because everything's accelerated. Kids are going to the NBA early. They're making their decisions about school earlier. So as a result, coaches feel there needs to be access to players and the families and support groups to educate them.
"Everything's getting done sooner. Kids are committing as juniors. Kids are committing in the summer before they get to their senior year. They're committing before a coach ever comes to their home or they ever visit a college campus.
"The issue runs deeper than how many days in the summer, whether it's 14 or 24 days, that's not going to solve the problems that have plagued college athletics for 30, 40, 50 years now....
"People are continually circumventing the rules. So when you make new legislation, people look for creative ways -- the people who aren't going to work with integrity.
"I just think cheating takes different forms. Issues of integrity have always been there. That doesn't mean the NCAA or NABC shouldn't keep working to protect what is good about the game or what needs to be put in place. It's a preventive model you're working on, but it's not going to be fail-safe."