full court
*PRES
By JOE EWING
POOR BILL Frieder. Just months after the Michigan
basketball coach brought success to his team and to
the Big Ten by leading the Wolverines to the NIT cham-
pionship, the conference has pegged him in its "bad boys"
category with Indiana mentor Bob Knight.
On Monday the conference headquarters reprimanded
both Frieder and Knight for failing to attend recent
meetings of the league's basketball coaches. It seems both
decided not to attend a coaches' officiating clinic on Oc-
tober 7. The Indiana head man also skipped the annual Big
Ten press day November 18.
Conference officials claimed that both had violated
league rules, saying that it is "the professional respon-
sibility of all conference personnel to attend meetings
scheduled by their group." The league gave both coaches
equal slaps on the wrist. According to the Big Ten, both
had broken the rules, and both needed to be punished in
the same degree.
One small thing the league overlooked, however, is that
Frieder and Knight did not break the rules to the same
degree. What Knight did was far more severe than
Frieder, and deserved to be acted on by the conference.
But what Frieder did might not have warranted action.
Sure, both coaches missed the October 7 meeting with
the referees but it appears that the session was optional.
According to a statement sent to Big Ten coaches by
meeting chairman Jud Heathcote, the coaches' atten-
dance would not required.
So Frieder really wasn't in the wrong in the first place,
and therefore should not have been reprimanded.
Knight, however, kept up his bad boy of the Big Ten
image, thumbing his nose at the media by skipping the
November 18 meeting. The dean of Big Ten coaches
deserved the punishment he got.
The press meeting was supposed to have been man-
datory for each of the ten conference hoop coaches and,
even though only seven coaches showed up, Knight's ab-
sence was the only one that was unexcused. Illinois coach
Lou Henson was with his team knocking off Oklahoma in
Bad boy Frieder?.0..
get it straight, guys
the Tip-Off Classic, and still managed to send a tape of an
interview he had done with the media the week before.
And Heathcote, who was recovering from a heart attack
suffered in September, sent assistant coach Michael
Deane and guard Sam Vincent to represent the Spartans'
program.
But where was Bobby Knight?
"(I was doing) undercover work for the Indiana Depar-
tment of Natural Resources," he later told Sports
Illustrated. "They had been told that several quial had in-
filtrated southern Indiana and they asked my to spend by
Sunday on a search-and-destroy mission." Knight had
gone hunting and ignored his responsibility to his team
and his league.
There is no need to say how important a conference with
media is, especially for a basketball coach and his
program. So when someone like Bobby Knight doesn't
show up for the event, it can do nothing but hurt the
reputation of his team, as well as the Big Ten in general.
Frieder hadn't done anything that would be damaging
to the Michigan basketball program, and really shouldn't
have been pigeon-holed with the Hoosier coach. It appears
that the Big Ten might have wanted to get at Knight for
missing the press conference, among other things, but
didn't want to take him on one-on-one, so they went after
Frieder,too. No one at the Big Ten office would elaborate
on the reprimands.
Also, Knight has stirred up some controversy in the
college basketball world in the past few weeks, accusing
some unnamed Big Ten coaches of cheating in the Big Ten
recruiting war. Knight was sent a letter requesting that he
provide the conference with information on any recruiting
violations.
The reprimand might also have been sent to apply more
pressure on Knight and demonstrate that the Big Ten is in
control of the situation. The league wants the embattled
Knight to either tell all, or admit that he has no proof of
any wrongdoing and shut up. The truth of the matter won't
come out until Knight and the league say something, but
Bill Frieder might have gotten stuck in the middle.
The Michigan Daily - Wedn
SPORTS ON TAP
MEN'S BASKETBALL
EASTERN MICHIGAN, Dec. 12, 7:30
p.m.
ALCORN STATE, Dec. 17, 7:30 p.m.
RUTGERS, Dec. 22, 2:00 p.m.
at Tennessee, Dec. 29, 7:30 p.m.
INDIANA, Jan. 2,8:08 p.m.
OHIO STATE, Jan. 5, 2:00 p.m.
HOCKEY
MIAMI, Dec. 14-15, 7:30 p.m.
at Great Lakes Invitational, Detroit
Mich,. Dec. 28-29.
JAPAN, Dec. 31, 7:00 p.m.
at Ferris State, Jan 4-5, 7:30 p.m.
RUSSIA, Jan. 6,7:00
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
at Detroit, Dec. 16, 2:00 p.m.
TOLEDO, Dec. 21, 7:00 p.m.
DOMINO CLASSIC, Dec 29-30, 5:00
p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
at Indiana, Jan. 4, 7:30 p.m.
at Ohio State, Jan. 6, 2:00 p.m.
WRESTLING
at Midlands Tournament, Evanston,
Ill., Dec. 27-28.
at Ohio State, Jan. 5.
MEN'S GYMNASTICS
at Spartan Invitational, East Lansing,
Mich., Jan. 6.
nesday, December 12, 1984 - Page 11
Joubert 1s
player of
the week
CHICAGO (UPI) - Michigan guard
Antoine Joubert, who led the
Wolverines to three victories last week,
was named as the Big Ten player of the
week yesterday.
Joubert had 42 points and 27 assists in
leading the Wolverines to wins over
Youngstown State, Dayton, and
Western Michigan. Joubert, a 6-foot-5
sophomore, had 21 points, 10 assists and
five rebounds in the Michigan 87-78'win
over Dayton.
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ATES AVAILABLE
The invitation just said black tie.
Thanks to your friends,
you also wore a jacket and pants.
When none other than the Dean invites you to a
black tie reception, what do you do? Start borrowing:
a jacket here (40 regular), a pair of pants there, and
before you know it, you're looking pretty sharp.
And when your formal party is over, a
there's another one you should arrange.
ITt AMIN