Sports Saturday, July 31, 1982 Page 12. The Michigan Daily Schenibechler blasts USFL By BOB WOJNOWSKI Special to the Daily with wirereports CHICAGO- Michigan head coach Bo Schembechler used the dais at the an- nual Big Ten Football luncheon yester- day to blast the new United States Football League and its possible inter- ference with college athletics. Schembechler, the dean of Big Ten coaches, was commissioned by his fellow coaches to make a statement detailing the Big Ten's policy on a variety of current issues. And the Wolverine's head man pounced on what is quickly becoming a major issue-the drafting tactics of the USFL. "We (Big Ten coaches) have passed a resolution that says we will not cooperate in any way with a professional League that drafts in December and intends to withdraw our players from their classes on the first of February," said Schembechler. The USFL is planning on instituting a December draft, a fact that has angered Schembechler, but yesterday marked the first official action taken by the Big Ten. "We do not think it is necessary for. them (the USFL officials) to do that, and if they don't change we will not permit them to come on our campus to view our practices, to study our films, or to meet with our coaches, until they have some program that is going to guarantee us that agents will not con- stantly pursue our players prior to the completion of their eligibility," said Schembechler. "We are not opposed in any way, shape, or form, to professional foot- ball," he continued. "I think it is a great opportunity but only if I go into the game with a degree in my back pocket. In the Big Ten conference we are still academics first and football second." In response to Schembechler's tirade, USFL officials admitted they may request that players leave school early, though they will urge them to return to school to get their degrees. The head of the USFL said yesterday that college players drafted by the USFL before they finish college should return to school to earn their degrees. "There's no question that we realize the importance of an athlete going back to school to finish his degree," USFL Commissioner Chet Simmons said in a telephone interview. Simmons said the league had not set a definite date for a draft but acknowledged that because of the league's season, March through July a winter draft was likely. "It's obvious that if your going to play in March we're going to need some lead time," he said. "It would be physically impossible for us to draft the way the NFL National Football League does." The NFL holds its collegiate draft in May. Simmons admitted that the USFL might ask players to leave college for a time, but that he plans to encourage them to return to school and will provide a yet-to-be specified incentive for them to do so. "There are a number of kids who have taken a semester off and then gone back and finished their education," Simmons said. "As far as I'm concerned, thats going to be a priority of the USFL." Schembechlers speech was the highlight of the eleventh annual lun- cheon, which fetured all ten Big Ten coaches and two players from each school. Tailback Lawrence Ricks and linebacker Robert Thompson represen- ted Michigan. Lindsey Nelson, CBS sportscaster, served as master of ceremonies for the luncheon, which for the first time was held at the Mariott Hotel to accomodate Schembechler ... academics are first the crowd of better than fifteen hun- dred. Also present was Indiana track star Jim Spivey, who received his trophy for Big Ten athlete of the year. Spivey beat out former Michigan running back But- ch Woolfolk by one vote to capture the award. Basketball elimination angers USF fans SAN FRANCISCO (AP)- The decision to abolish men's basketball at the University of San Francisco was not popular with fans and alumni who have followed the Dons' winning program for decades. "It's sleazy," said Kevin Mc- Donough, a lawyer who attended the university, then graduated from its law school. "IF YOUR kid gets arrested, you don't disown him. You try to straighten him out. This -is too bad. Forty years of a great tradition down the drain." The decision was announced Thur- sday by university President Rev. John LoSchiavo. He said the school, with its proud 58-year history in basketball highlighted by NCAA championships in 1955 and 1956, abolished the sport because cheating by some alumni and coaches has damaged the university's integrity and reputation. LoSchiavo said his decision was based on a series of violations over several years, but it appeared to be triggered by the Quintin Dailey case this year. Dailey's problems began when he was charged with, and later pleaded guilty to, assaulting a student nurse and ended with revelations that the All-American guard received as much as $5,000 in under-the-table payments from an alumnus. LOSCHIAVO noted that other univer- sities have experienced similar problems, "some of them even worse" than the Dons' admitted violations of NCAA rules. 'If these problems are as pervasive as they appear to be," LoSchiavo said, "The consequences can be more im- portant than their impact on any single institution. LoSchiavo said the university would meet its scholarship commitments to its athletes and help others try to tran- sfer. San Francisco attorney Art Zief, a school booster who attended LoSchiavo's news conference, was in- censed by the decision. "I THINK IT'S a travesty," he said, "because the president didn't have the guts to stand up and take the heat. Anyone knows what goes on at these universities. I don't condone it, although I think it's wonderful for an alumnus to give a kid a job, but that's not worth closing down the program." Incoming freshman Renaldo Thomas of Gary, Ind., was bitter about the decision because the school recruited him, then left him "out in the cold." Thomas blamed Dailey's "grudge" against Coach Pete Barry for the even- ts that led to the program's downfall." "I hold it against Dailey," Thomas said. "It wasn't a team, it was in- dividuals. It was Quintin Dailey. He didn't have a grudge against the school, it was against Pete Barry." Barry still is employed by the univer- sity but has no team to coach. Pumping Iron -- Mike Cohen of Savannah Georgia strains to lift 175 pounds in the clean and jerk competition at the National Sports Festival in Indianapolis. Cohen set a meet record with a total of 285 pounds lifted.