Starting with the premise that "you don't have to be sick to get better," the National Association of Basketball Coaches and Character Counts! Sports convened a two-and-a-half day summit in November to address ethical, sportsmanship and character-building issues in men's and boys' basketball.

Reading like a "Who's Who" of amateur basketball, the list of delegates was carefully crafted to include influential representatives of each of basketball's major constituencies: university presidents, college conference commissioners, prominent and powerful coaches and athletics directors, sports officials, top executives from the NCAA, the national and state high-school associations, state legislators and a regent of a major public university system.

The invitation letter to the delegates described the conclave's goal: "to develop a detailed and practical strategy for implementation of the principles of the Arizona Sports Summit Accord," which the NABC and several other major sports organizations already had adopted. The delegates completed a preliminary document by the end of their meeting. Then, after months of follow-up discussions and negotiations, they signed and endorsed a final document, "A Game Plan for Amateur Basketball."

The Game Plan consists of 113 provisions, specific policies and practices to reinforce the highest values of the sport and combat negative trends and pressures in men's and boys' amateur basketball. It tackles some of the most troubling and controversial issues in amateur basketball, including recruiting practices, graduation rates, coaching contracts (including compensation, bonuses for winning and terminations), on- and off-court conduct of coaches and athletes, standards of officiating, excessive commercialism and fiscal responsibility.

Although the Game Plan reflects the high-

Why did so many incredibly busy people devote so much time to this effort and why have they put their considerable reputations behind this Game Plan? Simply put, they want action, not just rhetoric. They have come to believe in the ability of the organizations involved in the national Pursuing Victory With Honor sportsmanship campaign to mobilize leaders of diverse constituencies and to provide comprehensive and aggressive follow-through. This follow-through is multidimensional and includes sportsmanship and character-building summits, certification training and a detailed implementation kit for coaches and athletics administrators. To assure specificity, the delegates also developed and approved extensive model codes of conduct for teacher-coaches, student-athletes, athletics administrators, parents, spectators and game officials.

For example, trustees and presidents will be urged to:

Assure that the educational mission of the athletics department is clearly articulated and widely circulated and that the director of athletics specifies in the basketball coach's contract objectives and expectations, if any, regarding revenues, winning or similar matters.

Assure that academic, sportsmanship and character-building objectives are incorporated into the job descriptions for all athletics personnel, especially coaches, and that all hiring and retention decisions are made with direct reference to these objectives.

Institute a review of admission criteria and practices for student-athletes in light of the school's academic, sportsmanship and character-building objectives and assure that actual admission criteria and practices are published.

Instruct athletics department personnel to recruit only student-athletes who can compete academically with the general student body and who have a serious interest in education.

Assure that special support programs for student-athletes report to academic officers rather than athletics administrators, that these programs safeguard against cheating and plagiarism, and that they require student-athletes to accept personal responsibility for their academic performance.

Provide to student-athletes and coaches an annual address from the president and assure that coaches are considered, first and foremost, teachers.

Assure that athletics programs are conducted in a fiscally responsible manner and that salaries, recruiting and promotional expenses are fully consistent with the mission of the university and the stated goals of its athletics program.

Athletics administrators and directors will be urged to:

* Heavily emphasize the expectation that all parties live up to their contractual commitments. Coaches should not be terminated before the end of a season, nor should an institution induce a coach with another organization to break an agreement.

Put greater emphasis on teaching life skills, academic achievement and character-building in coaching contracts and in retention decisions, and avoid financial incentives relating to athletics performance.

Adopt the Pursuing Victory With Honor model codes of conduct for all student-athletes and coaches.

Ensure that coaches follow the spirit of limitations on time spent in practices and the number of games to be played and that playing schedules do not unduly jeopardize a student-athlete's ability to perform academically.

Safeguard the physical and emotional health of those involved in sports and seek to provide a safe environment.

In conjunction with other administrators, require spirit groups, alumni and boosters to actively support the institution's sportsmanship and character-building goals and encourage and enforce good sportsmanship from spectators.

Coaches will be urged to:

Abide by the code of conduct adopted for the athletics program and enforce the student-athlete code of conduct and regularly promote sportsmanship, foster good character and teach positive life skills that will help student-athletes become personally successful and socially responsible by teaching, enforcing, advocating and modeling trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship (the Six Pillars of Character). Among the strategies advocated are: stressing sportsmanship and character-building objectives in recruiting and preseason communications, establishing rituals that reinforce sportsmanship, demanding respect during the national anthem and specifically acknowledging instances of good sportsmanship.

Demonstrate an uncompromising commitment to protect the integrity of the game and a high regard for principles of fair play and sportsmanship by abiding by the letter and spirit of the rules and avoiding evasion schemes and reporting violations.

Encourage student-athletes to think of themselves as students first by stressing the importance of academic achievement and by being attentive to grades and exams in a manner that emphasizes the student-athlete's academic potential, not just eligibility.

Assure that the overall academic, social, emotional, physical and ethical well-being of student-athletes is always placed above winning.

Keep all promises and commitments, including contractual ones, and refrain from mid-contract resignations to go to other schools.

Assure that student-athletes understand and accept their responsibilities to be role models and ambassadors of the institution.

Enhance leadership and community outreach programs for student-athletes and encourage them to serve as game officials for youth sports.

Assure that student-athletes and parents have complete and realistic information regarding the likelihood of a successful professional career in basketball.

The Game Plan's drafters and endorsers are aware of the serious barriers that must be overcome (including cynicism), just as they are aware that past efforts at reform have not been fully successful. There is, however, an unprecedented commitment to translate the Game Plan's high ideals into the reality of competition. Never before have so many diverse constituencies been brought together in the context of a serious, long-term implementation strategy backed by a coalition with the resources and staying power to follow through.

The NABC's support of this project is part of its commitment to be Guardians of the Game and to the initiatives taken to justify that title. College basketball provides a uniquely powerful opportunity to model the very best of sports. We are convinced that serious and immediate efforts to implement the Game Plan, one provision at a time if necessary, will make the pursuit of victory with honor the guiding goal of all programs.

Jim Haney is the executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches and Michael Josephson is president of Character Counts! Sports. For a copy of the complete Game Plan or more information on the Pursuing Victory With Honor sportsmanship campaign, see www.charactercounts.org or www.nabc.com.