V U V V U -IV -0 Big Ten: Iowa, Michigan, Illinois to take command of conference Adam'sRib BY ADAM SCHRAGER Big Ten botches eligibility caper By Adam Schrager The Big Ten basketball confer- ence is good. Maybe the best. Illinois is good. Iowa and Michi- gan are better. The other seven teams are on a lower level. Want to know more? Just remember, "This is basket- ball season. Forget about football. Tell Schembechler and all, that basketball is king in the Big Ten." So says the ultimate sage of college basketball Dick Vitale, of ABC Sports. Yes, college basketball is back. "This league is going to be wild and woolly this season," said Purdue coach Gene Keady. "We may not be able to keep up with the top three teams (Michigan, Iowa, Illinois), but the other seven teams in the conference can give any coach an ulcer." Purdue won the conference decisively last season with a 16-2 record, but will have a difficult time living up to that performance. With the graduationtof his senior tri- captains Todd Lewis, Todd Mitchell, and Everette Stephens, Keady lost three of his top four scorers, his leading three-point shooter, his lea- ding rebounder, and his leader in assists. Leading the Boilermakers will be senior power forwardMelvin McCants and junior center Stephen Scheffler. McCants averaged 14.2 points at center last season and Scheffler, according to Keady, was the most improved player in the conference last season. BIG TEN BASKETBALL "You can never count Purdue out," said Michigan coach Bill Frieder. "With McCants and Scheff- ler, they have the two top post-up men in the conference." Last season's second-place team, Michigan, appears ready to chal- lenge for its first Big Ten cham- pionship in three years. With pre- season "All-Basketball" Glen Rice, guard Rumeal Robinson, and for- ward Terry Mills, Frieder may have to hold his head for fear of having it dribbled by his offensive-oriented team. Iowa and Illinois tied for fourth in the conference with a 12-6 record and both are capable of meeting and surpassing that record this season. Iowa, ranked No. 1 in the country by The Sporting News, has three returning starters, including preseason All-Big Ten guard B.J. Armstrong. Armstrong, one of the nation's premier guards last season averaging nearly 18 points per game, will remain at the point guard spot. Small forward Roy Marble will shift to the shooting guard. "By moving Roy from the small forward to the small guard position, we are taking a risk," said Iowa coach Dr. Tom Davis. "But we feel that not only will Iowa benefit from his talents at that position, but he personally will benefit." The Hawkeyes frontcourt still needs to score some points with critics everywhere to prove its capability. Senior Ed Horton will shift to the power forward spot, allowing 7-footer Les Jepsen to play at center. Ex-Colorado forward Matt Bullard will start the season at for- ward, while ex-Missouri center Michael Ingram will be the first frontcourt player off the bench. Coach Lou Henson's Illinois, with the tallest player on its roster measuring 6-8,tis void of the height that its rivals Michigan and Iowa possess. The Fighting Illini's star- ting center of a year ago, 7-foot Jens 'This league is going to be wild and woolly this season. We may not be able to keep up with the three teams (Michigan, Iowa, Illinois), but the other seven teams in the conference can give any coach an ulcer.' -Purdue coach Gene Keady Kujawa, returned to his homeland of West Germany to play on the Olympic team. "Illinois is my choice right now," said Vitale. "Lou said to me, 'Dick, you know we lost Jens Kujawa and you still ranked us No. 2 (in the country).' I said, 'Hell,.if I knew that, I would have put you No. 1."' Preseason All-Big Ten forwards Nick Anderson and Kenny Battle lead the Illini. Anderson and Battle, both 6-6, both averaged 15+ points per game last season. Joining them will be Proposition 48 victim of a year ago, Marcus Liberty, who, some experts say, is the next Magic Johnson. Indiana will be hard-pressed to equal its 11-7 record of a year ago, due to the loss of three of its four top scorers and the off-court troubles of first-year phenom Jay Edwards. Edwards has encountered academic and drug problems since winning the Newcomer-of-the-Year award last season. As of now, it looks like Edwards will play, but not on scholarship. As usual, coach Bob Knight made life hard on t.np- ' : r :y attending the annual coaches press conf, rence 'st vect This a:am the B ic will nme , c £ r l x him. Ohio State, is the unanimous team to watch this season. With four returning starters, two top reserves, and an impressive crew of newcomers, the Buckeyes look to build on their NIT runner-up season of a year ago. "I see Ohio State where we were between '84 and '85, when we went from NIT champs to Big Ten champs," said Frieder. "This is going to be a good basketball team." Led by everyone's favorite camper Jay Burson, who averaged 19 points per game last year, the Buckeyes are solid. If Proposition 48 victims Eli Brewster and Treg Lee live up to expectations, they and Burson will make coach Gary Williams one happy camper. Coach Steve Yoder's Wiscon- sin team finished seventh in 1987- 88, its highest finish in 14 years. Led by junior forward Danny Jones, who scored 52 points in a game in Europe this summer, and 20 point- scorer Trent Jackson, the Badgers could break into the top division this season. Michigan State w a a than the eighth spot in th. mrem:e !_s ' When I was younger and my older sisters were picking on me endlessly, I was always the one who seemed to get in trouble. I constantly com- plained to my parents that "It wasn't fair." To which they promptly res- ponded, "Life isn't fair." Well, I have never bought that concept. Maybe I'm too much of an idealist, but when there are certain injustices that I find unbearable, I tranform into Keystone Column writer to expose them to the public. In this caper, the Big Ten is the culprit. By enacting a new rule to go into effect next September, players transfering from junior colleges must sit out a full year before they are allowed to play for a four-year school. In the past, these players were allowed to play the year that they transfered from the junior college. The Big Ten is the only conference in the country to adopt this policy, and according to Michi- gan State coach Jud Heathcote, it was composed by presidents and faculty representatives without the consul- tation of the athletic directors and coaches. "The rule is wrong," said Minnesota coach Clem Haskins. "You go to the junior college to get your academics straight. It's not fair to black athletes. They need to wake up and realize that they made a mistake." A mistake indeed. What this rule does is alienatehmostly inner-city student/athletes that may not have the grades to go directly to a four- year school. Instead, they do the next best thing by getting their grades straightened out at a junior college. And yet, for doing something positive, student/athletessare being punished twice: first, by not letting them attend a four-year school out of high school and second, by then making them wait once they have corrected the first problem. Without junior college players, we would have a different 1987 National Champion because Indiana would have been void of two key components, guard Keith Smart and center Dean Garrett. Former Indiana players Keith Smart (left) and Dean Garrett (right) would have had to sit out a year after transfering from junior college with the new Big Ten rule. If the rule was to go into effect this season, there would be at least seven junior college players playing for Big Ten men's teams and at least two playing on women's teams who would be ineligible. Should these players have to sit out? Is that fair? Does fairness really matter? INTER VIEW Continued from Page 15 Her talk got everybody thinking about what we can do. We have set our sights on winning the Big Ten. We have put that as goal, instead of saying 'we're not that good - let's just see what happens.' W: When you watch games of this team on video tape, what kind of play do you hope to see? B: We'll be a team that plays hellacious defense. We are going to play in-your-face defense, all the time. We are going to bother you from one end of -the court to the other. At any point in time during a game, five people will bust their butts, totally determined to do what- ever it takes to win. W: Being that you are a preseason All-Big Ten selection and captain of the team, do you feel added pressure? B: Throughout the department, the coaches look for me to be reponsible in out: keel the rest hap Th bet Bu res W acc yem B: an thi edu W: YOU B: eni toI anc thi t . - " Inside Rick's 611 Church * Take out/catering 665-1055 Earn $20 on your first donation. Y month. Couples can earn up to $24 not dontated in the last 30 days rec for return visit. YPSILANTI PLASMA CEN 813 W. Michigan Ave., Ypsilanti Monday thru Friday 8:00am-4:00pr HOUSE OF WINGS * "Best Wings in Ann Arbor." -Steve Marble "'.Iowa scoring guard Open until 1 AM. -- C O U P O- - "" "" " -Ac C57fe - HOTA? 40b O Os I I MILES 482-6790 BUY I BURGER, GET 1 FREE!1 (present before ordering, offer expires /31189) Plasma donors are peop I i NOW - CHECK O 1TTHEO AT THE "Y Last season's sixth-phace team, ee 1IG(3 . : - SeeBI TE, a eiB NOW FOUR STORES TO SERVE YOU!!! - 4000 Carpenter across from Meijers) P77-0940 . 703 W. 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