The Michigan Daily - Sports Monday - April 16, 1990 - Page 3 dt " {ioNQ$$$&a tt ft eti Dinect /a s a aiis Harris A Black AD discusses minority participation in intercollegiate athletics Richard Eisen Charles Harris is one of the few Black athletic directors in Division 1-A athletics. Harris' career began at Michigan in the 1970s. He * became an assistant athletic direc- tor here before becoming an athletic director at the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently the athletic director at Arizona State. Harris spoke to Daily Sports Writer Adam Benson on the topic of Black coaches and administrators in college athletics. Daily: What is your greatest concern about minorities in college administration and coaching posi- tions? Harris: I think if I have a concern it is quite simply that, while in some areas there has been some growth, there has been a fair number of opportunities that have developed, particularly in basketball. I think the institutions that have done that are, and should be, applauded for what * they have done. On the other hand, what you generally see is a recycling of former coaches. I guess my biggest concern has to do with whether or not at some level people are A) putting themselves in a position to be prepared to take advantage of those opportunities when they develop and B) whether or not those opportun- ities etist for people to have the chances. Administratively, I think I have a different concern. When I got started at Michigan there were probably two or three division one athletic directors around the country who were minorities. That was very nearly twenty years ago, and there are still two or three athletic direc- tors who are minorities. The only thing that is different is the three that were are no longer, and they have simply been replaced by three others. D: What can be done to change this? H: If you are going to be succes- sful in the long run you have to realize you need to rely on other people to accomplish it. Part of that is having a mentor, or someone who can advise you, that is a tremendous *asset. The bigger part of it, and I'll use the parallel of institutions that are concerned about having young tenure track professors, irrespective of sex or race. Principaly what most insti- tutions do when they feel they are going to have a short fall of profes- sorial types down the road is grow there own. You pick the best and brightest of your own undergraduate population and channel them into graduate type programs, be it at your institution or somewhere else, so that one, three, five, seven or nine years you've got a base of people that you can draw from that have some knowledge of your institution that are prepared to be associate Read ad Cabe Dailq professors and assistant professors. In athletics, there are no shortage of minorities or women who are vital participants in athletic pro- grams across the country. I think if institutions are serious, they need to grow there own. They need to cultivate some of those young men and women who have an interest, from a career standpoint, and channel them both into appropriate academic programs, to set up internships to keep them involved in their insti- tution and then to be willing to give them an opportunity at an entry level so they can be knowledgeable when the opportunity presents itself at a subsequent point they are ready to take advantage of it. D: When you were at Michigan, then-athletic director Don Canham ran the athletic department himself, and somewhat separately from the University. Recently, faculty mem- bers have tried to bring the athletic 'In athletics, there are no shortage of minorities or women who are vital participants in athletic programs across the country' department closer to the rest of the University. Is this a legitimate suggestion? . H: I'm not really prepared to speak (about the current situation at Michigan). I think The Board in Control (of Intercollegiate Athletics) concept is unique in that it exists at probably a dozen or maybe two doz- en institutions around the country. I think it is a question of what the agenda is. I guess I'd have to tell you that my perception is that for the twenty years that Don Canham ran (the Michigan) program they did not have an infraction, they had tre- mendous success competitively, they had great graduation rates. It was a program that I think is clearly one that people around the country look at as a model in many regards. That was the time when I was there. I think the important thing is that the institution should control the pro- gram. To me, as long as the in- stitution controls the program, regardless as to what that means in terms of individuals, you have an- swered your biggest charge to the NCAA. D: But you still have experience in dealing with the Board and a un- derstanding of how Michigan works. H: Yeah... I think the thing that gets deceptive with any board is that it is democracy. No question that the athletics board at Michigan, like the athletics board at Arizona State, like everywhere else in the country, has a majority of faculty members. TheI fundamental principal of control of1 intercollegiate athletics programs is that they be controlled by the fac-1 ulty. The faculty has more votes1 than anybody else. To the extent that they are involved, I can't speak to that, but I can tell you during the time I was at Michigan, the faculty, ran the board of control. They had1 the votes, it was just that simple. D: When Arizona State head- football coach John Cooper left after the 1987 season, you promoted as- sistant coach Larry Marmie to lead the Sun Devils. When you promote a coach, as you did with the football program, what criteria do you evaluate? H: In our case, we were coming off our third consecutive bowl. We felt recruited a good group of student-athletes. I think in the main, we approached from the standpoint of it's not as if we are facing a major overhaul in our football program. Institutionally, we were satisfied1 with the direction the program was going. To that extent, we didn't need to look outside of our own program to find the next person to lead it. D: In football, it's said that recruiting is so intense and time con- suming that it is really difficult to go through a nationwide search. Is there a need to move very quickly? H: I think recruiting needs to be reordered and restructured pretty dra- matically. I would like to see a time when there is a prohibition on recruiting that allows for reasonable changes in staff. If it's a month or six weeks, but there is a time when people aren't recruiting. That gives time to evaluate your program, to make a decision about personnel, and if you are going to make a coaching change you can make it and not feel an inordinate amount of pressure. But as I think about the Mich- igan program and Gary Moeller and the long term that he spent at that program, and the success he had at that program, I don't know why you need to look outside. D: Your name was mentioned when the athletic director job became open at Michigan in 1987. Yet when the search began to heat up, the name most often, besides Bo's, was John Swofford, the athletic director at North Carolina. Some people said you weren't interested in coming to Michigan, but wasn't it strange that you did not get more consideration? H: I' m not the person to answer that question. I think college ath- letics is full of speculation about what will happen next and what happen last. I think that fact that I had been there led to lots of speculation. I don't think anyone ever puts themselves in a position where they are not interested in a particular position. By the same to- ken, I had made a commitment to Arizona State, and I had not been 'The fundamental principal of control of intercollegiate athletics programs is that they be controlled by the faculty' here that long. We were really just; getting started in doing a lot of the things that I wanted to do. In the case of Michigan, I think timing was the main issue. Michigan is one of the prize jobs in the country. Because of the kind of institution Michigan is, the repu- tation its had and I think because of the role the administration has had there over the years. Wfiether or not a particular person gets a job there or not to me is the function of a large number of variables. Michigan is a great job, a great institution, it's a place I will always have tremendous respect for, but I want to stress to you that anytime you consider a move or you aggressively pursue a move or any of the variables related to it, you are dealing with an issue, of timing. I had just gotten (to Arizona State). I made a commitment to these people. They went through an extensive search process when I took this job. There were some things the University wanted, theie were some things that I felt were important if we were going to be able to have a program at Arizona State, like the one that exist at the University of Michigan. That's a total program in terms of academic success, athletic success, of compliance - all those things to me are a package. And that's not a process that starts or one that is concluded in any short period of time. Rich responds to reader's reaction As graduation rapidly approaches, it becomes time to finally clear out my things at the Student Publication Building, the building you love to hate. Suddenly, as most seniors out there know, everything becomes the last time you do something. This will be the last time I blow off class. This will be the last time I get a pamphlet in the Diag. This will be the last time an Ann Arbor youth nearly kills me with a skateboard. You get the picture. Well, here, for you the home viewers, is the last letter I will answer in my tenure as Sports Monday featured columnist. I'm getting misty about this already. We had fun together reviewing the letters about the Marching Band. And we took a stroll down memory lane answering a letter concerning Michigan State hockey fans taking over Yost Ice Arena. I'm so glad we had this time together. So, I figured, let's do it once more, for old times sake. One for the gipper, you know? Interestingly enough, this letter was not sent to me directly like the others, but was sent instead to the Daily Opinion Page and printed in the letters box on Tuesday. What a wimp. So, just in case Nelson thought that he might escape retaliation, here is the letter, once again. And let's not get too misty here. To the Daily: I don't think that it is fair for you to assert that the Detroit Pistons have directly altered the existing face of the NBA salary structure (Pistons ruin NBA pay scale, 4/9/90). To do so by reference to William Bedford's new contract and the Konkak (sic) debacle is ludicrous and bad sportswriting. Huge sums of money rewarded to NBA players is nothing new. It's a dead topic. So Bedford's new contract is a relatively small dent in otherwise notable sports news - even the Detroit News noted how "quiet" the whole procedure was. In short, let's not make too big a deal here. Secondly, I agree that offering Konkak (sic) $2.5 million was pretty humorous, but you seem to forget the intent of the offer. Perhaps I'm being too kind. You might not have even thought of it. The Pistons wished to accomplish two things in their offer to Konkak (sic): first, find a suitable replacement for Rick Mahorn, second, to hurt a division foe - Atlanta - in the process. Atlanta felt compelled to match the offer made by Detroit. So, offering Konkak (sic) $2.5 million was simply sound business by (Pistons general manager) Jack McCloskey. I would also like to add that there were several disturbing statements in your article. One made reference to Terry Porter as an "unknown commodity." Perhaps only to you. Among knowledgeable NBA followers, Porter is regarded as one of the top point guards in the league. He is consistently among the league leaders in assists. And, by the way, your statement at the end referring to Dennis Rodman is a classic example of "Piston-bashing." Congratulations on ending a terrible article in such a classy fashion. Nelson Peralta Dear Nelson: LSA junior Look, Nelson, doling out Brinks Trucks to pineriders like Koncak (With a "C") and Bedford is unconscionable, not a dead topic. As of yesterday, Bedford played in only 39 games this season, averaging an earth-shattering 2.6 points a game. He has made only 45 percent of his shots, and only 7-of-18 free throws. Does this sound like a million dollar player to you? The Detroit News said the proceedings were "quiet." Because of that I shouldn't make a big deal out of the Pistons ruining the NBA pay scale? Well, Nelson, if Joe Falls told you to jump off the Empire State Building, would you? I think not. Then you wouldn't be able to write the Daily Opinion page such cogent letters, would you? Remember in the '70s when two up and coming reporters named Woodward and Bernstein uncovered Watergate? The White House said the proceedings were quiet and look what happened! Do you actually believe signing Koncak to a $2.5 million contract was a shrewd business move by McCloskey? It did not hurt the Hawks; they still have Koncak. It hurt the league; look at what's going on now. Cleveland's excellent sixth man, John "Hot Rod" Williams wants $2 million next year. The sixth man! Danny "Pass the Fetuccini Alfredo" Ferry is currently negotiating with the Cavs - by the way, I heard the procedure is relatively quiet - and he wants $2 million as well. A rookie and a sixth man on a team that might not make the playoffs both want $2 million each. I have never heard or seen of that before the Ko icak signing. This is not a dead topic, this is disgusting. And, one last thing, about calling me a Piston basher: yes, I am. GET ITI The Personal Column AM CHIGANGAMILY CASS WED ADS r I. _________________________________________________________ Put the Bite on our No Cholesterol, High Fiber, Low Fat Cookies, in assor- ted flavors. Send $1.00 for your 2 oz. Sample. 545 N. 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