Sports Page 12 Thursday, August 13, 1981 The Michigan Daily REPORTEDLY WORTH $700,000 McGee signs Laker pact 4 4 By BUDDY MOOREHOUSE Daily Executive Sports Editor It's a long way from Ann Arbor to California, but the Los Angeles Lakers are reportedly giving former Michigan forward Mike McGee $700,000 over four years to make the move. McGee, who was the National Basketball Association club's first round pick in this year's draft-the 19th player chosen overall-reportedly signed a contract last week, but the Lakers decided to announce the signing when it would get better media atten- tion. "We were very close to announ- cing it last week," said Lakers Public Relations Director Bruce Jolesch. "But with a press conference with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar one day, a conference with Magic Johnson one day, the start of the baseball season and everything, and nobody gives a s--t about the signing of a number one draft pick." ACCORDING TO reports published yesterday in the Ann Arbor News, Mc- Gee will be receiving a guaranteed $175,000 for the first two years of the pact. But Jolesch said that the contract has not been finalized yet. "We haven't heard from his lawyer yet that all the terms have been ironed out," he said. "If we hear from his lawyer, then we'll announce the signing on Sunday (August 16)." In his four years at Michigan, the Omaha native rewrote virtually all of the school's scoring records. McGee broke Cazzie Russell's career scoring record with 2,439 points, and put his name in the Big Ten records book with Man kit by shot put sues NCAA AUSTIN, Texas (AP)- A man hit in the head by a 16-pound shot during the 1980 NCAA Track and Field Champion- ships has filed a personal injury suit against the NCAA and the University of Texas. James P. Smith filed suit Tuesday for alleged "severe, painful and per- manent personal injury" that occurred June 6, 1980, when he was hit in the forehead by a shot thrown by Tim Scott of Texas A&M. SMJITH, A volunteer official at the meet in Memorial Stadium, said the NCAA and University of Texas had failed to provide adequate safety rules. The accident happened while Smith and another official were cleaning off the shot put area in preparation for the event. Scott apparently had asked one official for another practice throw, Smith said, but he was not aware of the request. Smith underwent a four-hour operation to repair a fracture in the frontal sinus area and another operation for a broken upper jaw. most points in a career and most points in Big Ten games (1,503). In his senior year, McGee averaged 21.2 points per game for the Wolverines, earning first team All-Big Ten and honorable men- tion All-American honors. Although he played forward for Michigan, McGee could be moved to guard at Los Angeles because of his 6-5 size and good quickness. "He'll be ex- pected to come off the bech and score," said Jolesch. "He'll be one of the first subs off the bench." McGee will be joining a former teammate on the Lakers. Alan Hardy, who played for the Wolverines from 1974-78, was a reserve for Los Angeles last season. Although McGee never missed a game for the Wolverines because of in- jury, he broke his ankle in a pickup game during the offseason and is still in the process of rehabilitation. But despite the fact that McGee says the ankle is still not totally healed, the Lakers are not worried. "If there was any concern about his ankle, then he wouldn't have been the 19th player picked," said Jolesch. "He was out here the week before the draft, and he was fine. We really aren't concerned at all about his ankle." The Lakers won the NBA Champion- ship in 1980, with Johnson filling in for the injured Jabbar at center, but were ousted in the first round in 1981 by Houston. FORMER MICHIGAN CAGER Mike McGee (40) is shown here scoring a layup past Derek Harper of Illinois. The 6-5 forward has reportedly signed a contract with the Los Angeles Lakers worth $700,000 over four years. Nine more: Bear Bryant nears record TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) - Bear Bryant insists he doesn't want to talk about it, but each victory by his Alabama team this fall will move him one step closer to one of the most revered records in college football, the most victories by a coach. If the Crimson Tide keeps winning as it has done for the past decade, the record will come late in the season. IN HIS 36 years as a coach, the 67- year-old Bryant has amassed 306 vic- tories. He needs eight to tie the mark of 314 held by the late Amos Alonzo Stagg and nine to seta new standard. - It took Stagg 57 years to reach his total, whereas the late Glen "Pop" Warner, the second man on the list won 313 games in 44 seasons. "If anybody holds the record, it might as well be me," Bryant said a few season back. BUT NOW HE SAYS, "That's something I wish nobody would men- tion to me again because I don't have time to talk about it all the time. I don't want to. I'm scared to." Instead, he said he wants to talk about his team that will try to improve on Alabama's 1980 10-2 record and sixth place finish in the final Associated Press poll. "After all, they're the ones who do the winning," Bryant said. HE CAN COUNT on only 10 seniors, but that is misleading because under Bryant's system of liberal sub- stitutions, all his players except a promising freshman crop have gained experience. Junior Ken Coley will have the quar- terback job when practice begins next week but he will be challenged by senior Alan Gray and sophomores Walter Lewis and Paul Fields. Alabama probably will have its fastest backfield ever-even Bryant admits it will have "better than average speed"-with Ken Simon, Joe Carter, Linnie Patrick, Jeff Fagan, Mark Nix and James Haney sharing Halfback duties, and Earl Collings and Charley Williams alternating at fullback. Mississippi State, after 22 straight losses to the Tide, upset Alabama 6-3 last season and the Tide lost 7-0 to Notre Dame. Alabama opens Sept. 5 at LSU in a televisedgame and then meets Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Mississippi, Southern Mississippi, Tennessee, Rutgers, Mississippi State, Penn State And Auburn. After that, Alabama likely will be going to its 23rd consecutive bowl game and its 35th overall, both national records. 4 E I Bryant .,. hopes topass Stagg