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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 6, 1996)
Wednesday, March 6, 1996 Page 7 Mitch Sherman Nee deserves an opportunity to douse fires Danny Nee took center stage Tuesday afternoon in a room that has served as a platform for more Ilian its share of bad news and sol emn coaches over the past few months. Nee fought hard to protect the integrity of a basketball program under fire, defending himself against claims that if proved true would certainly cost him his job. On Monday, the Houston Chronicle, which ranks among the nation’s most reputable newspa pers, told the story of Christopher Pond, who has hurled momentous allegations in Nee’s direction. Accordingto Pond, he was given $8,400 by Nee in the spring of 1992. With that money, Pond said he was instructed by Nee to bring Osita Nwachukwa to Lincoln. That s totally incorrect, Nee said. “That never happened. Pe riod. There’s no doubts about that. There’s no questions about that. It just didn’t happen.” If what Pond says is true, Nec is gone. Athletic Director Bill Byrne confirmed that Tuesday without blinking an eye. In a year of turmoil on and off the Comhusker hardwood, this has the potential to be the worst blow. It could become the biggest disaster in the history of the Nebraska Ath letic Department. But Nee deserves a chance. In fact, he deserves more than just a chance. On one side of this story, we have Nee, Nebraska’s coach of 10 years. In that time, he has graduated almost all of his players and never has been proved guilty of a single NCAA violation, all while recruit ing athletes to battle in one of the most competit ive con ferences in the country. Nee s teams have had their short comings. But that is no reason to believe he gave thousands of dol lars to some guy from North Caro lina who is a sel f-proclaimed coach of Nigerian basketball players. Pond’s story may be true. In all likelihood, however, it is not. Why did Pond wait four years to tell his scandalous story of Nebraska bas ketball to a newspaper in Houston? “We don’t have a dam tiling to hide,” Byrne said. “There isnoproof of anything.” No athletic department money could have been given to Pond in 1992 without showing up on audit records. Byrne said the audits were clean, leaving one question. Why would Nee — or some booster—spend $8,400 ofhis own money to lure an unknown player never seen by a coach in the United States? Until the answer to that question is known, Nee shouldn’t have to worry about Pond. The coach and his embattled team deserve a chance to simply play basketball. Sherman Is a Junior news-editorial major and the Dally Nebraskan sports editor. Nee denies recruiting allegations By Trevor Parks Senior Reporter Danny Nee will lose his job as Nebraska’s basketball coach if a North Carolina man can prove that Nee gave him more than $8,000 to lure a poten tial recruit to Lincoln, Athletic Direc tor Bill Byrne said Tuesday. If Nee did anything in violation of NCAA rules to entice a player to come to Lincoln, Byme said, according to Nee’scontract, he would bcdismissed. All ofthis came to light after aMonday article in the Houston Chronicle. Nee denied the allegations in the story, in which Christopher Pond of Raleigh, N.C., said he received $8,400 from Nee to bring Osita Nwachukwu, a Nigerian basketball player, to Lin coln to play basketball for the Comhuskers. uWe can’t figure out any way that Danny Nee or any of our booster clubs would have been able to provide that amount of cash in any form. ” BILL BYRNE Nebraska athletic director Pond said he originally contacted former Nebraska assistant Lynn Mitchem in 1992 and told him about Nwachukwu and three other African players. Mitchcm then passed the word on to Nee, and Nee got in touch with Pond. That is when the trouble began. According to the newspaper, Nee offered Pond $8,400 in cash to bring Nwachukwu to the United States. Nee said he did not give Pond any money. “I’ll tell you now, that is totally incorrect,” Nee said. “That never hap pened. Period. There’s just no doubt about that. There’s no question about that. It didn’t happen.” Nee said Pond wanted money so lie could go to Nigeria, but Nee refused to pay for the trip. An internal audit conducted by UNL supports Nee’s statement that he didn’t give money to Pond, Byrne said. “We can’t figure out any way that Danny Nee or any of our booster clubs would have been able to provide that amount of cash in any form,” Byrne said. Byrne said Nee also would allow the university to check the coach’s personal bank records. “That’s a heck of a lot more than Danny Nee takes home in a month,” Byme said. “That’s a lot of money, and that just doesn ’t make any sense to me.” Pond received four Airborne Ex press packages from Nee over an eight week period in the spring of 1992. Nee said media guides, newspaper clip pings and information about admis sion to Nebraska were included in the packages. See NEE on 8 Jay Calderon/DN Wyoming shortstop Ron Cincera dives back into first base as Nebraska first baseman Jason Fry takes a pickoff attempt Tuesday afternoon at Buck Beltzer Field. Nebraska and Wyoming spin the doubleheader. NU splits pair with Wyoming By David Wilson Staff Reporter A crowd of less than 40 people showed up to see the Nebraska base ball team split a doubleheader with Wyoming in 30-degree weather at Buck Beltzer Field Tuesday afternoon. The Comhuskers won the first game 4-1 and the Cowboys took the second game 8-1. “The elements didn’t bother them as much as they bothered us,” Ne braska coach John Sanders said. “They obviously played better than we did.” The split moved Nebraska to 4-11 on the season. Wyoming is now 7-6. Nebraska junior rightfielder Francis Collins singled to open the first game and advanced to third on sacrifices from freshman Corey Miller and se nior Matt Meyer. Collins scored on a grounder by senior outfielder Mel Motley that went between the legs of Wyoming third baseman Lawrence Norris. See SPLIT on 8 Patton is named as CU coach BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Colo rado interim basketball coach Ricardo Patton was hired to coach the Buffa loes on a permanent basis Tuesday. Patton, elevated from assistant coach to interim head coach on Jan. 16 following the resig nation of Joe Harrington, guided the Buffaloes to a 4 8 record in 12 “Over the past seven weeks, Ricardo’s approach to the job and the way the players reacted to him were very impressive,” Marolt said. “He has the team playing hard and believ ing in themselves. We’ve gotten better and better every game.” Initially, Marolt said he hoped to hire a permanent coach by mid-March. When it became apparent Patton was his choice, Marolt waived the forma tion of a search committee. “It’s something you dream about,” said the 38-year-old Patton, who is in his third season at Colorado. “I’m not one to make promises, but I will prom ise you this. We will no longer be the team that everybody expects to beat.” Big 8 teams fight for bids By Vince D'Adamo Staff Reporter With Selection Sunday less than one week away, as many as four Big Eight teams are still jockeying for position to earn at-large NCAA r n a mre n t * , into ’s Big Eight Tour nament, Kansas and Iowa State are locks to make Qomns/in thc 64-team Sampson field Al 17_n with an 8-6 conference record, Oklahoma’schancesarcgood. Kan sas State and Oklahoma State are on the bubble, and Missouri prob ably needs at least two moire wins, league coaches said this week. Since the NCAA Tournament field expanded to 64 teams in 1984 85, every Big Eight team that has finished at least 7-7 in league play with 17 or more Division I wins has made the NCAA Tournament. Every year since 1985, the Big Eight has sent at least three teams to the tournament. In 1992 and 1993, six conference schools qualified. The league has sent five teams three times, four schools four times and three teams twice. This weekend’s Big Eight Tour Final Big Eight Standings Team Conference Overall Wins Losses Wins Losses ■■■■■■■' t Iowa State 9 5 20 8 Kansas State 7 7 16 10 Missouri 6 8 16 13 Colorado 3 11 9 17 nament in Kansas City, Mo., fig ures to play a major role in deter mining which teams advance. Nebraska, called the best sev enth seed in the nation by Okla homa coach Kelvin Sampson, is 16-13 overall and 4-10 in the con ference. The Huskers’ only chance to make the NCAA Tournament is to win the conference champion ship, which they did two years ago. “I’m a company man,” said Sampson, whose third-seeded Sooners beat Kansas on Saturday to improve their record to 17-11 and 8-6. “I hope the Big Eight gets as many teams as possible. We’re a hot team right now. I think we should be in the tournament.” Missouri, Oklahoma’s first round opponent Friday, is 16-13 and 6-8. The Tigers have advanced to the second round of the Big Eight Toumamentsixofthepast lOyears. Coach Norm Stewart said he knew his team would have to do some damage if it hoped to squeeze into the NCAA Tournament. See BIG 8 on 8 Patton games.
