Monday, February 13, 1984
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Daily Nebraskan
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Sports :
Nebraska reserve middle guard Ken
ny Shead gets free sneakers.
He gets them from his "uncle" Darryl
Jones, and Charles Edwards two ofd
family friends.
One problem: Jones and Edwards
represent shoe companies. The sneak
ers come from Kangaroos USA Inc.
Among the 1 983-84 NCAA Manual 's
hundreds of pages and dozens of rules
invented to preserve student athletes'
amateur status, there is a rule about
sneakers.
Shead may or may not be pressing
that rule. It's a "gray area."
More gray areas further complicate
the Shead sneaker story.
Jones said he's been giving Shead
presents since the boy was born. Jones
said he didn't know the NCAA had a
rule about sneakers.
Edwards said Shead tested the
sneakers for Kangaroos. He said he
didn't want to get Shead in any trouble.
Jones and Edwards were just giv
ing sneakers and some T-shirts and
maybe a couple of hats to their
"adopted" nephew.
And to Mike Rozier, Kenny's team
mate just because Rozier liked Shead's
sneakers and asked for some.
There are a lot of gray areas in the
NCAA manual. One gray area con
cerns just what friends and relatives
can give players where does gift
giving stop, and pay for play begin?
An NCAA legislative assistant, when
confronted with a hypothetical scena
rio similar to Shead's, said he wasn't
sure if the sneaker rule applied.
"It appears that normally there
wouldn't be any circumstances where
a student athlete could receive shoes
directly from a manufacturer without
damaging his amateur status," said
John Leavens. "But there are lots of
gray areas."
Leavens said allegations are consi
dered on a case-by-case basis. Every
case could develop into a new rule.
Leavens said his office receives 150 to
200 inquiries a day. That means 150 to
200 potential new rules.
Observers think excessive ennvth cf
the nils manuid could 1 2 hv.rllr - the
NCAA system. Such growth does raise
questions:
How an J. why did the book gst so
big?
Is themsziusl's size creeling more
problems than It's solving? How?
Are improvements beir.3 ms.de?
What is the future of the NCAA man
ual? The NCAA manual contains the organi
zation's rules and by-laws. In the last
25 years, the manual has nearly quad
rupled in size. The casebook, which is
supposed to clarify the rules and by
laws, listed 1 54 cases in 1 972. Now, the
casebook contains more than 400 cases.
(See Table 1.)
The rule book may have been thinner
and simpler years ago, but concerns of
university and athletic officials were
the same . . . even about "gifts." Harvard
professor William J. Bingham wrote in
1924:
"If an athlete is dependent on his
own resources to meet college expenses,
he must account for every cent he
earns. The motive behind every gift is
questioned with suspicious apprehen
sion. "
So if the concerns behind NCAA
rules have remained basically the same
for more than 60 years, how and why
has the book blossomed to its present
state?
Daily Nebraskan staff members con
tacted athletic experts and NCAA offi
cials by phone, last week to collect
opinions on the growth, problems and
future of the NCAA manual. Coaches
were unavailable for comment because
of absence during letter of intent week.
Wayne Duke joined the NCAA staff
originally in 1952 to edit the NCAA
manual Now Big Ten commissioner
and representative to the NCAA adminis
trative committee, Duke is a member
of both the Big Ten rules and NCAA
long-range planning committees. Both
groups met last week to discuss the
burgeoning NCAA rule book.
Duke said the book has grown to
such mammoth size because people in
athletics dont want to observe the
spirit of the rules..
-to look for the exceptions. If they
didn't ask for all the exceptions, the
rule book wouldn't be so thick," Duke
said.
Generally, people looking for excep
tions fall in two categories: those who
intended to get around the rules and
those who unintentionally pressed a
rule usually because or ignorance.
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One of the most blatant rule-benders
in recent years was Oklahoma busi
nessman and Oklahoma State alum
nus Jim Treat.
Treat told Sports Illustrated in 1978
that he was a "strong advocate of Ieal
cheating."
"I like to sit down with a player and
say, 'Son, tell me about your situation.
Tell me about your mama and your
daddy, your brothers and sisters. How
much money can your family send?' If
the answer is none, then . . . Ill take
care of the problem."
The only problem with the way Treat
hKed to do things, he admitted, was that
Teop'e in college athletics are inclined it's "against every rule in the NCAA
4
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book."
NCAA manual gray areas concern
ing what alumni can and can't do hit a
little closer to home earlier this month.
Heisman Trophy winner Mike Rozier,
now with the Pittsburgh Maulers, men
tioned to the Pittsburgh Press that he
had received outside help while at
UNL
Roziers subsequent clarifications indi
cated that probably no rules were vio
lated, but Coach Tom Osborne said he
thought recruiting was hurt this year
by the publicity.
So next year, nnyt s the NCAA will
adept another rule cr add another
case to clarify aain what alumni can
and can't do for athletes. More rules,
more cases, more room for interpre
tation and more gray areas.
Catch-22. It's this ever-widening
vicious circle of rules and gray areas
that concerns many authorities in the
sporting world. They think that circle
is tightening into a bureaucratic strang
lehold, hurting the NCAA, member .
universities, coaches and players.
William H. Baughn, Big Eight repre
sentative to the NCAA administrative
committee, said there were 162 rule
changes proposed at the NCAA annual
convention in January.
"People have always been worried
about the gray areas," Baughn said.
"That's what causes the 162 proposals.
We have to change what's been com
plained about."
Many complaints are about those
elusive gray areas, areas leaving room
for too much interpretation. Brian
Boulac, assistant athletic director at
Notre Dame, said people inside and
outside sports find too many "escape
rlansps."
Escape clauses hurt the system.
Knowing they exist can prove to be a
mighty temptation to coaches and ath
letes. Prentice Gautt, Big Eight assistant
commissioner, set up atypical tempta
tion scenario. ;
Coach A approaches Joe pbyer. Coach
A offers Joe just what the NCAA man
ual allows room, board, tuition, fees.
Ccr.tlnnd cn Pea 9
Table 1: Rule Booli Panes
1957 1 960 1955 1970 1971 1974 1977 1979 1983
. Stories by:
Jeff Browne
llona Z. Kcppeimsa
Chris Welsch
Artwork by
Lou Anse Zacek
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