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 r.--- NEW and USED TEXT BOOKS r and SUPPLIES FOR ALL UNIVERSITY COURSES WA H R'S .. here's the answer to all your Record and Phonograph needs... get the picture? I Michigan's Oldest and Most Complete Bookstore