0 0 By Adam Schrager Something was troubling ESPN and ABC television col- lege basketball announcer Dick Vitale as he leaned back in his chair and awaited his dinner. He wasn't worried about his chicken soup or his ham and cheese sandwich, but instead about what he felt was the major problem concerning college athletics today. "I think you have to look first at Proposition 48," Vitale said. "That bothers me dearly. (The affected athlete) carries the sign of a stigma around his neck. It's like telling everyone 'I didn't get a 700 on my SAT.' All this is totally unfair." Proposition 48, which until recently prohibited athletes who did not meet particular academic requirements (specifically a 700 on their Scholastic Aptitude Test and a 2.0 grade-point average in a required curriculum) from practicing, working, or playing with their respective teams their first year at school, has always been controversial. But with the addition of Pro- posal 42 at the annual NCAA convention last week, student- athletes will no longer be allowed to receive any financial aid during the year they are declared ineligible. "Proposal 42 is absolutely ludicrous and will open up an entire Pandora's box," Vitale exclaimed. "We will see cheating to get financial aid and cheating with SAT tests." Proposal 42 has also added to charges that Proposition 48 is racist. "It is just discriminatory," said Vitale. "There is no ques- tion in my mind that it discriminates against Black kids. 90 percent of the people affected are Black. They should have the chance to fulfill their dream too." There is no doubt of the controversy last Wednesday's tightening of Proposition 48 has caused. Last Saturday, Georgetown head basketball coach John Thompson walked off the court following the tipoff of his team's conference game with Boston College, in protest of the rule. Thompson, who did so with both the consent of his 15 players-who offered to join him - and the school's presi- dent, has always been a staunch opponent of the rule. But he never felt compelled to act before now. "In moral conscience, I feel it is my responsibility to take a stand," said Thompson, who coached the United States Olympic basketball team to a bronze medal in the 1988 Sum- mer Games. "I'm beginning to feel that a kid with a low so- cio-economic background has been invited to dinner, had dessert and is now being asked to leave." Thompson said that while he supports core curriculum and a minimum GPA of 2.0, he does not support SAT scores "which have been proven to be culturally biased." It is this "cultural bias" that has caused many Division I coaches and players to be against Proposition 48. Many have said it is impossible for people who live in the inner cities and do not have the education offered in the suburbs to do well on the SAT. Furthermore, it has been stated that most of these inner-city residents happen to be Black. "These educators just didn't know what the hell they were doing. They even went so far as to get some Blacks to vote for it," said Temple basketball coach John Chaney of the Proposition 48 rule passed by the NCAA in 1983, which went into effect in 1985-86. "It's wrong, absolutely wrong. First of all, the young- ster affected comes from a poor" educational background because Pro posth he comes from a poor eco- nomic background," Chaney 1986 said. "He has been victimized by a poor early education and labeled an educational failure- by his test score." "Temple has a mission to educate the masses. Temple does not have the same mis- sion as Notre Dame, Duke, Harvard, Princeton, or Stan- 1 ford," continued Chaney, who b (along with Thompson) is one Pr of the two most influential of Black head coaches in college af Schrager is an Associate Sports Editor basketball today. "I interpret what they're saying as, 'We don't want poor blacks.'... I believe the tests are valid - they're all we have - but the use of the tests is wrong. For Blacks, Proposition 48 is the most damaging leg- islation ever." Even though the NCAA uses the test scores to determine where students are placed, officials admit the cultural biases that stem from the exam. "The testing services will admit (the SAT) has a socio-eco- nomic bias built into it," said NCAA Executive Director Dick Schultz. "There is a segment of the population this discrimi- nates against." After looking at the facts surrounding the issue, this bias becomes evident. In 1986, the NCAA sent out a survey to ev- ery Division I institution in the country. Of the 88 percent that responded, there were 599 students who were partial quali- fiers, meaning they failed at least one of the Proposition 48 requirements. Of those 599, 400, or two out of three, were Black. In 1987, only 70 percent of the Division I institutions re- sponded to the survey, but the results were basically the same. There were 457 partial qualifiers, of which 297, or almost two out of three, were Black. That same 1987 survey showed that 9,597 athletic scholar- ships were given in the country. Of these, 7,444 were given to whites and only 1,965 were given to Blacks. This results in a ratio of one of every 6.6 Blacks unable to participate in athlet- ics, while only one of every 53.1 white athletes would be af- fected by the rule. While Proposition 48 is most publicized as affecting men's basketball, it also notably affects women's basketball and col- lege football. In fact, the ratio in all sports of exceptions is two Blacks for every one white. The Chicago Sun-Times ran an article in October, 1986 concerning the inner-city women's basketball students from Chicago, and how they would have fared under the Proposition 48 rule. The Sun-Times reported that of the 12 Division I signees, all of whom were Black, only two would have quali- fied. "I can understand the problems with Proposition 48," said Northwestern women's basketball coach Don Perrelli. "I see it every day in my recruiting. Especially at a school like ours, where our academic standards are high, we don't take Proposi- tion 48 victims. Believe me, I miss out on a lot of talent that way." "When I played at Northwestern, I saw some talent in Chicago that was unbelievable," said Wisconsin women's basketball head coach Mary Murphy. "But a lot of those women were not academically oriented. Unfortunately, due to poor educational facilities, most of them were Black." The article reported that college football has also been hit hard by the Proposition 48 rule. In Illinois, 30 of the top 100 football players in the state in 1986 would have been academi- cally ineligible, and 55 percent of them were Black. In fact, not one member of the East St. Louis-Lincoln state and na- tional football champion passed every qualification to play college athletics. Chicago Martin Luther King high school basketball coach Landon Cox was scolded by the Chicago Board of Education when he stated publicly that 90 percent of Public League Players, coaches label it racist, but NCAA officials deem it academically necessary (mainly inner-city schools) athletes would never play in col- lege, not because of lack of talent, but because of lack of edu- cation available. But in order to understand the impact on Blacks, it is im- perative to look at the college basketball ranks. In 1986-87, 80 students were test-exceptions in not qualifying to play college basketball. Of these, 73 (or 91 percent) were Black. Last year, while there are no available official statistics, many media outlets including NBC have said that college basketball casualties were 97 percent Black. Michigan, one of the schools sponsoring the Proposition 48 rule when it was passed in 1983, was probably hit the hardest when the rule took effect in 1985. Football player Vada Murray and basketball players Terry Mills and Rumeal Robin- son were unable to pass the requirements which would have enabled them to play their first-year with the Wolverines. Since then, there have been no more victims to attend this university. "The Prop 48 rule is a terrible rule," said Michigan basket- ball coach Bill Frieder. "You single people out and say this kid's a dummy or this one's a dummy. You look at both Terry Mills and Rumeal Robinson and they are no dummies. With the way things are now, you've got kids who sat out that are in better academic standing than those who haven't. Cases in point are Mills and Robinson." While both Robinson and Mills are surviving fine academically at Michigan, there are other schools and other conferences that are feeling the bite of the new rule. When passed in 1983, the commissioners of both the Southeastern Conference - including academic institutions such as Vander- bilt - and the Southwestern Conference - with a school like Rice- predicted that 50 percent of all their athletes would be ineligible under the new rule. The Southwestern Athletic and Mid-Eastern Conferences are made up collectively of 14 small, Black colleges. A study done by the conferences in the fall of 1986 predicted that 29 percent of Blacks in the conference would be unable to play football, while only 7 percent of whites at Division I schools would fall under that category. And also in that conference, the study es- timated that 26 percent of Black players would be ineligible, while 11 percent of whites would be ineligible. In addition to this, all of Sports Illustrated's top five "All- Prop. 48s-in-waiting" (published before the season) are Black, and all their top five "All-Prop. 48 returnees" are Black. With these facts in mind, it is especially important to consider what Proposal 42 could do to Blacks. "It will affect 90 percent of the kids from the inner-city," said Illinois basketball player Nick Anderson, Player-of-the- Year in Illinois and a Proposi- tion 48 victim two years ago. "I know that I wouldn't have been able to afford Illinois if I hadn't had aid. The people who passed this rule should come live in my neighborhood (Chicago's South Side) and then pass a rule as stupid as this. I'll tell you what... that would never happen. "I mean we didn't have the educational facilities that the schools in the suburbs did. They had everything we didn't, like computers in their class- rooms and other stuff," Ander- son continued. "When it comes right down to it, it really isn't fair." It is this distance between the players/coaches and chancellors/ presidents that has many people wondering if what is going on is really under- 0 stood. "Someone needs to show a that what is taking place is " wrong," said Illinois head ° coach Lou Henson, responding W to Thompson's actions at Safety Vada Murray was t- on Michigan to fall under I Propositioi -Need 2.0 grade-point average well as 700 on SAT to be elig their first-year. -Passed in 1983, took effect in 'Proposal 42- An addition to athletes not fulfilling minimur athletic financial aid. -In all sports, the ratio of affect 2:1 -Southeastern and Southweste upon the rule's passing in 198 athletes would be affected. 'In 1986,50 of the top 100 hig Illinois failed to meet the requ -In 1986, notonememberof the Louis Lincoln high school fool ment. -In 1986-87, 80 people were ii 73 were Black. ion 48 partial qualifiers 1987 30 other 20 other, 169white 140white 400 Black 297 Black out of every 6.6 Blacks would e unable to participate under oposition 48, while only 1 out every 53.1 whites would be fected. Source: NCAA Z z LU Y W Junior guard Rumeal Robinson is now doing fine academically. He was ruled ineligible under Prop. 48 his first year of play. -L Weekend gaphs by MiuelCuz See PROP 48, Page 13 Michigan Center Terry Mills fell victim to Prop. 48 in o . _. ... _ _. J . ., _ _ .. .. ...r PAGE 8 .WU WEEKEND/JANUARY 20.1989 I WEEKEND/JANUARY 2Q 1989