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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1990 ■ Student Body
U. THE NATIONAL COLLEGE NEWSPAPER 17
Freshmen may be ruled ineligible for competition
By Rita Heimes
■ The Daily Iowan
U. of Iowa
When U. of Iowa President Hunter
Rawlings announced last year that the
university would declare its freshman
athletes ineligible to compete in inter
collegiate athletics, even if other schools
in the Big Ten conference or the NCAA
did not, the outcry was immense.
Coaches, athletic directors and fans
feared that the university would be
unable to land top high school recruits if
Iowa were the only school to enforce the
measure.
Proponents of ineligibility say it would
allow freshman student athletes to
adjust to their first year of college and
concentrate on academics without the
Athletics
Continued from page 16
I think that anytime you bring in
quality teams or schools in the confer
ence you do nothing but strengthen
your media interest and television con
tracts,” Alford said.
The networks look at potential audi
ence when hammering out contracts,
thus huge conferences with glamorous
teams can secure big money deals for
their members.
Florida State U., an independent with
a strong football program and alumni
following, was a prize in the conference
war and was thought to be leaning
toward the SEC.
The Seminoles announced intentions
to sign with the Atlantic Coast
Conference, though, leaving the SEC
with South Carolina as its final mem
ber to balance the addition of the
Ra/.orbacks.
Following the Seminoles’ move,
Florida’s other major independent,
Miami, announced plans to join the Big
East conference in everything except
baseball this fall.
Several events besides the CFA situ
ation precipitated this summer’s flurry
of activity on conference expansion,
most notably the acceptance of
Pennsylvania State U. into the power
ful Big Ten and the flight of the U. of
Notre Dame from the CFA’s proposed
television package.
The Big Ten, which dominates mid-
western athletics and academics,
stretched its boundaries eastward in
search of a larger television market in
addition to gaining a quality institution
and athletic department, conference
officials said.
The Fighting Irish arranged their
own deal with NBC last winter, selling
the rights for their home games from
I 191 to 1995 for $38 million.
PFA officials had to scramble to
renegotiate a contract for its other 63
members.
The move by Notre Dame in all like
lihood will not be duplicated by other
i dependents, said Ole Miss Chancellor
Herald Turner, a major player in the
■''EC expansion decision.
Notre Dame’s contract did force insti-
lutions to re-evaluate their positions,
i hough the possibility of growth is noth
ing new.
'About every 10 years we try to review
the situation and see if there’s a need
for expansion,” Turner said. “In 1979,
they decided not to, but this time we saw
a definite need.”
pressures of athletic competition.
“If some athletes are involved in their
sports 40 hours per week . .. they can’t
give a fair shake to academics, and they
have no chance for any other kind of uni
versity life,” said Christine Grant, direc
tor of women’s athletics at Iowa.
But even if the measure passed nation
wide, some coaches and athletes would
remain opposed to freshmen ineligibility
because of the loss of a year of competi
tion it forces on the student athlete.
This argument is strongest among
“minor” sports, also referred to as “non
revenue” or “Olympic” sports. Athletes
in these sports say that taking a year off
from competition would damage their
skill level, which generally peaks during
the college years.
See FRESHMEN, Page 23
ATHLETICS VS. ACADEMICS
SAT standoff. . . Pennsylvania State U. researcher Donald E. Sheffield, who
studied 350 Penn State freshmen student athletes and 350 freshmen non-ath
letes, said that not only are SAT scores a deceptive criterion for freshman eli
gibility, but freshmen should be banned completely from Division I and II com
petition. Sheffield said he believes first-year college athletes become so
engrossed in athletics that academics become a second priority. He said SAT
scores should only be used as a college admission criterion and not a device
for determining freshman college sports eligibility, adding that many athletes
also take SAT prep courses, which can raise their scores by 100 points without
increasing their intelligence. “As long as freshmen are allowed to participate
in sports programs, they will continue to turn in a mediocre academic perfor
mance,” he said. “Student athletes will invest as much time as possible to do
whatever physical training it takes to establish themselves on a team." Shorty
Stoner, Penn State’s baseball coach of nine seasons, disagreed with Sheffield’s
assertions. “Our freshmen have done very well, both academically and ath
letically,” Stoner said. “If it wouldn’t have been for freshmen we would have
been in a bind." ■ Tom Esterly, The Daily Collegian, Pennsylvania State U.
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