days until Notre Dame at
Michigan Stadium. Who is kickin'
around the Big House? Page 14.

abe g Oakb1u a

Monday
August 2, 1999 13


One way or
e other,
Jr Cleaves
As if the money Michigan
State's Mateen Cleaves will
make when he gets drafted in
he NBA next year isn't enough, the
enior is suing former Michigan play-
r Maurice Taylor, among others, in
he latest frivolous lawsuit to grace
ur nation's
ourts.
bile the law-
uit was filed c
ack in January,
I took until thisw
ast Friday for
he public to get=
vind of the Chris
etails. To sum, Duprey
leaves alleges Dupe's
he injuries he Scoop
ered in the
w- famous
996 rollover accident with Taylor and
our other Wolverines have caused "a
oss of earning capacity and the abili-
y to work."
Presumably, what Cleaves is claim-
ag is this: had everything in his bas-
etball career happened to him a year
arlier than it did (due to back prob-
ms that plagued his freshman sea-
on), he would have left for the NBA
last year, his junior season, as
osed to staying all four years.
Thus, Cleaves asserts that he has
tissed out on a year's worth of NBA
alary and endorsement opportunities
ue to his injuries.
This seems to make sense - until
ou cross Cleaves with his own words.
Back on May 7, Cleaves told the
letroit Free Press that, "I really love it
(at Michigan State) ... Coming
here gives me a chance to get my
egree ... It really wasn't a tough deci-
ion. I never wanted to go to the NBA."
So what's the truth, Mateen?
Wayne County Circuit Court wants
> know. Either you were itching to get
> the NBA in the worst way and
Taylor's careless driving kept you
om your dream, or you're perfectly
ontent to stay in East Lansing and
lay college ball for another year. One
r the other.
*nd if you changed your mind
etween January, when you filed the
awsuit, and May, when you said you
ever wanted to declare for the draft,
hen you should drop this money-mak-
ig scheme and do something else.
Take a summer class and actually
ttend it. Get another tattoo. Settle
our own legal problems. Just don't
e up the courts and waste everyone
s time and money with this ridicu-
lawsuit.
We've all got better things to do.
- Chris Duprey can be reached via
e-nail at cduprey@usiich.edu.

.I-ky M litu
H
c ear

MARGARET MEYERS/Daily
Mike Van Ryn (4) may leave the Michigan hockey team to return to junior hockey
in order to gain free agent status in the NHL.
a Wa~nIOU lo-
State's athletic budget00
'a wash' for 19798-99

By MihaelKernand
Over the past few months. there has
been a great deal of talk sbout star
Michigan defensemeat ike 'i Ryn
forgoing the ietai der of his digibili-
ty to pursue a caretr is the NIHIL
The latest repoits seem to show that
Van Ryn will in factt rn pro, but his
coach does not believe i will be so that
he can play for the Nes, Jersey Devils,
who drafted him in 199.
"Mike is turning pro as a ploy to get
away from New Jersey," Michigan
coach Red Berenson said. "If he goes
back to junior hockey then he can
become an unrestncted free agent and
make around $975.000 per season
instead of the 5500-600.000 that New
Jersey is offering him."
But despite the recent rumors, noth-
ing is official yet.
"I spoke to Mike two weeks ago and
I still think it's up in the air," Michigan
assistant coach Mel Pearson said. "I
don't know if the recent reports are
necessarily true, but we should hear
something official in the next week or
two."
Recently Van Ryn played on
Canada's gold-medal winning roller
hockey team at the Pan Am Games in
Winnipeg, Manitoba and spoke candid-
ly with reporters in Winnipeg about the
possibility of him leaving Michigan.
According to a report in the Ann
Arbor News, Van Ryn told reporters
that he was "pretty sure" that he would
turn pro.
The move would make Van Ryn the
first Michigan hockey player to leave
school early since current Detroit Red
Wing Aaron'Ward left after being draft-
ed by the Winnipeg Jets in 1991.
Up to this point Van Ryn has not
returned his scholarship appointment
letter and no one from the Michigan
coaching staff had spoken with Van

Ryn or his family in the last fe wecks
Van Ryn must have his scholirsitip
appointment letter returned by the f'irst
day of classes if he wants to stay
enrohled at the University.
"I haven't spoken to him in oser a
mort,' Berenson said. "But this has
been an issue since the end of the sea-
son. We've gone round and round about
it. ie came in one day and said that he
decided he was staying. Then he went
home and when he came back he came
into my office with his mother and said
that he was leaving."
Berenson and the rest of the coach-
ing staff are concerned that Van Ryn
may be getting influenced by the wrong
people.
"I know New Jersey has been
involved," Berenson said. "And I know
that he's been talking to people and
they say he should leave."
Most of Van Ryn's teammates had
not spoken with him about his decision.
"I heard that he was definitely leav-
ing," center Mark Kosick said, "and
then right before I left he was staying.
So I think it's still up in the air."
Defenseman Bob Gassoff was confi-
dent that even if Van Ryn were to leave,
the Wolverines could maintain very
deep blueline.
"Van Ryn is a great player, but if he
leaves we'll just have to fill his slot,"
Gassoff said. "We've got a great core of
players coming back,"
Berenson echoed Gassoffs views,
but was more concerned with the future
of his young player.
"We're still going to be a good team
and we're going to have a good
defense,' Berenson said. "But I'm wor-
ried about Mike Van Ryn and his
future. If he decides to go back to
junior hockey it will be a big step back
for him. If he leaves school now he's
relying on hockey and not on his edu-
cation and I don't know if I agree with
that decision."

* Final Four trip yielded
$530K, but Spartans'
expenses were nearly
half of Michigan's
From staff and wire reports
EAST LANSING (AP) -
Michigan State University's athletic
department said it will break even
for 1998-99 and make a profit in the
coming year.
Although final figures will not be
available until late August, budget
director Dave Byelich said revenue
from sports and private fund-raising
should cover its $25.3-million
expenses for the budget year that
ended June 30.
"We think it will be a wash,"
Byelich said. "Maybe $100,000
either way."
The department is banking on
home football games against rivals
Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State
in 1999-2000 to help generate a
$200,000 surplus for next year.
The basketball team's trip to the
NCAA Final Four last spring
brought in $530,000 in revenue..
The budget prediction comes after
Michigan announced in July that it
has a $2 million deficit for 1998-99.
But Michigan reported revenues of
$43.9 million and expenses of $45.6

million, nearly double those of
Michigan State.
In the past five years, the
Michigan State athletic department
has seen only slight profits or broken
even. Surpluses are placed in the
department's reserve funds, which
total about $21 million.
The athletic department budget
has a private fund and a general
operating fund, which draws almost
all of its revenue from ticket sales,
See SPARTANS, Page 15


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