FRIDAY, JANUARY 6,1967
TIRE MICHIGAN DAILY
CAGE FJVr,
FRIDAY, JANUARY 6,1967 TIlE MIChIGAN DAILY PAGE FIVE
Illini
Scandal
Could
Rock
Big
Ten
By CHUCK VETZNER
Sports Editor
The highly efficient Illinois ath-
letic department has become a
chaotic nightmare without a di-
rector or an assistant director.-
The highly praised Illni basket-
ball team has become an inex-
perienced mediocre bunch with a
coach on probation.
And more important, the high-
ly-ranked Big Ten is getting brac-
ed for a possible series of scan-
dalous exposures.
All this is the result of a sud-
den, shocking peek at a highly or-
ganized, highly illegal fund for
athletes at Illinois.
Illinois President Dr. David Hen-
ry came forward with the informa-
tion that over a five-year span,
29 Illini football and basketball
players had received $21,000 in
illegal aid.
Self-Inflicted
After a brief investigation, Illi-
nois took action itself, suspend-
ing 12 athletes, placing basketball
Coach Harry Combes and foot-
ball Coach Pete Elliott on one year
probation and banning them from
recruiting activities.
Names of the suspended foot-.
ball players were withheld since
the suspension may no longer be
in effect by the start of the 1967
football season. The punished bas-
ketball players were Rich Jones, a
6'7" All-American candidate; Ron
Dunlap, the team's starting cen-
ter; Steve Kuberski, an outstand-
ing sophomore, and Steve Span-
ich; a prize freshman who would
have been eligible second semester
this year. -
As yet the Big Ten has taken no
official action in the case. A
spokesman for the conference of-
fice said that a decision for any
further action would be reach-
ed during the middle of January.
Most observers believe that Illi-
nois' self-inflicted measures were
so strong that no other steps
were needed.
New Investigation
What is seen, however, is the
strong possibility of a new thor-
ough investigation of all Big Ten
schools.
"I see coming out of this a
mandate of re-examination of all
persons who have a responsibility
in this area and a renewal of
vigilance in adhering to the rules,"
said Big Ten Commissioner Bill
Reed. And in less formal language
he added, "Obviously this troubles
me. This is a shaking experience."
Reed's concern is most under-
standable. Recently conference of-
ficial John Dewey completed a
careful inspection of all Big Ten
schools for any rule violations of
this nature and found everyone
to be in the clear. Many people
are now wondering what goes on
at other shcools if a special fund
with careful, accurate bookkeeping
can exist for five years without
being detected.
In an interview with The Daily,
one conference official said, "This
thing started with Illinois. They
are first in an alphabetical list of
the Big Ten schools. I think we
ought to go right down the line
and examine the other schools,
taking them in alphabetical or-
der.
kind of things is throw a violat-
ing school out of the conference.
Maybe that will make the alumni
think twice about helping their
schools in this way."t
In the Illinois case, the capital
was provided by generous alumni
and books were kept by a Cham-
paign businessman.
And it is generally conceded that
the whole operation would still
be running smoothly and Pete El-
liott would be an athletic direc-
tor if a man named Mel Brewer
hadn't spilled the beans.
Strange Story
The story is a strange one with
several versions. One tale says
that Elliott was actually chosen
for the athletic director's job at
Northwestern back on December 3.
But President Roscoe Miller fum-
bled with the announcement and
finally postponed it because he
didn't want anything to interfere
with publicity for a new multi-
million dollar building program,
By the time he was ready to of-
ficially appoint Elliott, the scan-
dal had broken and he couldn't
possibly select a man punished at
his own school for allowing his
players to receive aid from the
slush fund.
Supposedly when Elliott took
over at NU, he was going to bring
his assistant coach to become head
football coach for the Wildcats.
Alex Agase, the present head
coach, would then have taken the
same job at Illinois with the va-
cant athleticdirectorship going to
Ray Eliot, a former Illini foot-
ball coach working in the athlet-
ic department.
Boat
Another variation says that Pete
Elliott turned down the job at
Northwestern because an outsid-
er was to get his old Illinois post
and thereby threaten the jobs of
all his assistants. This story con-
cludes with Elliott getting the
athletic director's job at Illinois
three hours before the slush fund
was revealed.
Osne common element in both
stories is that Mel Brewer wasn't
appointed anything. Crushed over
his failure to win the athletic di-
rector position at Illinois, he al-
legedly rushed to President Henry
with information about the slush
fund. Henry then had no choice
but to turn the information over
to the conference.
See ILLINI, Page 7
"The only
'Classic
Readies
Cagers
way to stop these
for
Big
10
Wolverines Slugged by Tech
But Rebound for Two Wins
High-flying Big Ten Rivals
Settle Down for Dogfights
By RICK STERN,
LOS ANGELES -Dave McClellan
once. wanted to be a high school
biology teacher in the Toledo
school system. But now his life'
ambition is to be a conductor in
the Santa Fe express in Disney-
land.
The coast does that to people.
Los Angeles, 70 degrees when the
temperature registered 15 in Ann
Arbor four hours before, is a
seductive agglomeration of palm
trees, jamed up expressways, lush,
expensive houses, and attractive,
tanned girls in mini-skirts.
McClellan and his Wolverine
teammates were there to play
basketball, and this they did, at
times badly, at times very well,
but when they weren't playing.
they like any tourists, succumbed
to the erie, muical, pulsating ex-
citement of the L.A. area.
Stunning Beauty
The expressway from ,.A. in-
ternational airport to the Bel Air
Sands Motel is elevated and on
either side as far as the eye can
see are rows and rows of brightly
painted buildings which glowed
For a report on other Wolver-
ine vacation basketball games
see Page 8.
like a fairyland in the early eve-
ning ndght. The, players, many of
whom had never seen an orange
tree, staredu in unbelieving silence
Sas the bus headed toward the
motel. It was almost too beautiful
to be true.
Disneyland the next morning
was no different. It wasn't so
much the rides or the folk lured
Adventure and Fantasylands that
were amazing. Rather it was the
V number and variety of people that
jammed the park, waiting in lines
for hours under the California
sun. The Michigan team got stares
from all the segments, not to men-
tion red carpet treatment and a
cute, highly extroverted blue eyed
guide.
Tech Watches Workout'
Michigan stayed just three hours
in Disneyland, then worked out for
an hour in the empty 14,000 seat
Pauley Pavilion) the sight of the
tournament. Georgia Tech, whom
the Wolverines were to play the
next night, worked out just before
Michigan and stood around
watching as coach Dave Strack
sent his 12 charges through their
drills. They watched with more
than a casual interest, however,
and they seemed to develop a
cautious measure of confidence as
they watched.
The Wolverines did get in a good
bit of sight seeing on their own
during the remaining four days of
the trip. Some went to the Sunset
Strip, some to the Farmer's Mark-
et, some waded in the Pacific
Ocean, and some went climbing
in the California foothills.
'M' Bounces Back
But for the most part, the trip
was basketball, and the results,
disastrous after a 101-70 first
round troucing at the hands of
Georgia Tech, were a bit more
reassuring after the Wolverines
bounced back to capture the con-
solation championship beating
Wisconsin 98-88, and Arkansas
32-72, to finish their exhibition
game schedule with a respectable
6-4 record.
UCLA breezed to the tournament
championship, smashing Wiscon-
sin 100-56, shaking off Georgia
91-72, then mauling USC 107-83
after breaking out to a 14-0 lead
in the first three minutes of play.
USC had beaten Arkansas 70-67,
then edged Illinois in the semi-
finals 73-72. Illinois the cinde-
rella team of the tournament,
playing well ,in spite of the loss
of two starting players, put con-
vincing wings, 93-77 over Arizona,
and 83-71 over a tired Georgia
Tech squad, on either side of the
loss to USC and finished third.
Tech was fourth, the Wolverines
fifth, Arkansas sixth, and Wiscon-
sin, finally routed lowly Arizona
104-77 to finish in seventh place.
Up and Down
The Georgia Ttch games was the
only one that Michigan was real-
ly "up" for, because it was the
only one played in front of a
crowd. 11,573 were on hand, parti-
ally to see the Wolverines and
Yellow Jackets, but mainly be-
cause UCLA was playing the sec-
ond game, against Wisconsin.
Michigan wanted to win, not
only for their own glory but be-
cause they wanted to play UCLA
the next night. Perhaps they even
wanted to win too badly because
before the night was over they had
undergone the worst shellacking
of any Michigan team since before
Cazzie.
,From a tight 45-44 battle at half-
time the game turned in a rout
that looked like one of Ulysses S.
Grant's nightmares. The South-
erners capitalized on every Wolv-
erine mistake, and there were quite
a number. Furthermore, Michigan
couldn't hit a basket. After hitting
18 out of 29 for a fantastic 62 per
By HOWARD KOHN
Already basketball experts are
predicting a down-to-the-wire
NBA race in 1968-69 as every
team fights to finish last.
As expected, Lew-CLA has swung
the collegiate basketball spotlight
back from the Southern havens of
Duke and Kentucky to the West
Coast this season.
In anticipation of an unprece-
dented 75-game winning streak by
the Bruins, no one has given more
than passing notice to a Cazzie-
less Big Ten. Ohio State and
Michigan, national powerhouses in
the early sixties, looked shortcir-
cuited. Michigan State's rocketing
rise in the polls burned out.
But, as the Big Ten rivals start
scratching for three-time defend-
ing champ Michigan's title this
weekend, the conference has a .619
percentage (52-32) against outside
opposition.
Northwestern Upsets Redmen
Going into the New York Holi-
day Festival, East Coast power-
house St. John's was ranked eighth
in the Associated Press poll. In the
opening round, Northwestern shot
down the Redmen 62-60.
Earlier in the season, Michigan
had surprised fifth-ranked Hous-
ton 86-75.
In the current standings of the
Big Ten teams, based on pre-
season won-lost records, Michigan
and Northwestern are only in sev-
enth and eighth place, respective-
ly.
Northwestern's Wildcats were an
early season favorite, along with
Michigan State, for this year's
championship. On Saturday, they
will take their first test of the
term in Yost Fieldhouse against
Dave Strack's Wolverines - who
have yet to lose at home.
Everyone's In
Right now, even hometown fans
who make partiality a disease, are
willing to admit that anyone in
the league-with the possible ex-
ception of Wisconsin and Minne-
sota-can cash in on the chips.
Illinois, despite the slush-fund
suspension of two starters and a
first-line sub, has knocked off Cal-
ifornia and Georgia Tech and been
barely nosed out by Southern Cal
since.
If the three players-Ron Dun-
lap, Rich Jones and Steve Kuber-
ski-regain their eligibility, to be
decided at the January meeting
of the Big Ten board of directors,
the Illini could breeze through its
lightschedule.
Surprising Iowa, which lost to
highly-touted Creighton by one
point in its third game of the year
has reeled ,off six straight wins-
including decisions, over Wichita
State and Cincinnati.
McGilmer Ineligible
The Hawkeyes are playing with-
out last year's soph sensation Ben
McGilmer, who is academically in-
eligible; but high-scoring Jerry
How They Fared
BASKETBALL-The Wolverines got off to a good start during vaca-
tion by celebrating the end of classes with two home court wins-
a 71-68 thriller over tall Davidson and an easy 91-80 triumph over
Butler. A few days later Michigan came up with in 86-80 win over
Ohio University,
But in the Los Angeles Classic, Georgia Tech blasted the Blue,
101-70. Coming back, Michigan downed Wisconsin 98-88 and Arkansas
82-72 to take fifth place in the tourney.
HOCKEY-Al Renfrew's icers lost Mel Wakabayashi, but not before
the team record scored to 10-0-1 during vacation. The Wolverines
whipped Michigan State in two league games to move atop the WCHA
standings. Then the team journeyed to Detroit to the Great Lakes
Tournament where they beat arch-rival Michigan Tech, 4-3, and then
bounced the Spartans once again for the title.
Moving Eastward, Michigan coped another title-champions of
the RPI Tournament. A 13-3 route of New Brunswick was followed
by a 9'-1 win over Colgate. Host Rennsselaer then put a blemish in
the record by tying Michigan 6-6, but the Wolverines still bad the
best mark.
WRESTLING-Once again Bob Fehrs was the main attraction as he
was named Outstanding Wrestler at the Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Tourney.
Several other team members were on hand to give Michigan a sixth
place in the meet. Meanwhile a first place by Bert Merical helped the
rest of the squad take a fourth place in the Midlands Open.
1
-Daily-Thomas R. Copi
THE MORE TIMES Wolverine forward Bob Sullivan can slip
through tough Big Ten defenses, the better are Michigan's
chances for a fourth straight championship.
Non-writers Wanted
Many people are under the
impression that one must be a
journalism major to work on
the Daily sports staff. This is
absolutely untrue. The high
calibre of writing on the sports
staff should make this obvious.
No matter how little . or much
experience you have, we'll hire
you free. So drop in at 420
Maynard St. or call 764-0555.
Jones, who sat out a semester last
year because of grades, is back on
the job.
Michigan State lopped off Wich-
ita State, Indiana clipped Loyola
(Chicago), and Ohio, State stop-
ped Duke as supposedly woefully-
weak teams scourged the best of
the nation in warm-up bouts.
From now on, however, the sud-
denly-proud Big Ten warriors will
war among themselves to find out
who's tops in the tribe.
Back during football season,
See CAGERS, Page 6
Annual
Clothing
BALE
This Week
At
WILD'S
SState Street on the Campus.
cent in the first half, the Wolver-
ines hit an atrocious 10 of 36 in
the second half for 28 per cent,
Poor Finish
"We just couldn't do anything
right in the second half," lament-
ed Strack. "They were getting two
or three shots to everyone of ours.
We gave the ball up and our de-
fense was weak."
In the course of the last 20
minutes, Georgia Tech outscored
Michigan 56-26. Elusive guard Ted
Tomasovich sparked them with 20-
footers from the outside, finishing
with 18 points, while forward Pres
Judy hit seven straight free throws
and finished as high scorer with
21 tallies.,
Tiny guards Stan Guth (5'11")
and Bob Brizendine (5'9") scored
12 apiece and won the crowds ap-
proval as they made the taller
Wolverines look like salty pretzel
sticks with deft ball handling and
deadly shooting.
Tech's Star Absent
Adding to the embarrassment
was the fact that the top Yellow
Jacket scorer, guard Phil Wagner
missed the entire game (and the
entire tournament) with a shoulder
injury. Georgia, giving up almost
three inches per man to Michigan,
nonetheless took rebounding hon-
ors 51-49.
Craig Dill led Michigan with
20 points and Dennis Stewart
added 19, followed by Bob Sulli-
van with 13. But most of those
came in the first half.
Thus Michigan moved into the
consolation bracket to play Wis-
consin, a Big Ten foe, in a rare
exhibition game. The game was
played at 1:30 ;the next afternoon
and a grand total of 793 fans;
most of them kids let in for a
quarter, saw the action.
See 'M,' Page 6
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