Eliminating betting lines is an unrealistic goal

Sporting News, The, August 15, 1994 by Gene Wojciechowski

It wasn't exactly the summit at Yalta, but members of the NCAA Division I men's basketball committee met recently in Monterey, Calif., and tiptoed through an assortment of issues -- some noteworthy, some duller than a Big East doubleheader.

Among the topics of interest:

* Betting lines. Gamblers love them, the NCAA hates them. The all-powerful basketball committee, now chaired by Kansas Athletic Director Bob Frederick, wants to do more to persuade newspapers to stop running the point spreads of college games. The committee's thinking: Gambling and college basketball shouldn't mix.

It's a nice thought, but the NCAA can do only so much. It already denies media credentials to any publication that includes regular advertisements for tip sheets or wagering supplements. And beginning in 1996, no NCAA Tournament games will be allowed at sites where legalized wagering on athletic events is available nearby.

That pretty much rules out UNLV's Thomas & Mack Center for a Final Four bid.

Some newspapers have discarded betting lines. But to expect every newspaper to join the NCAA's point-spread fight is unrealistic.

* Pay-per-view. It could happen. The committee plans to form a task force with CBS, which owns the television rights to the NCAA Tournament, to study the feasibility of pay-per-view postseason games.

According to the initial discussions -- and none of this has gone beyond the concept stage -- pay-per-view would be available on a limited basis. For example: You're an Ohio State fan, but you live in Los Angeles, where CBS is showing a tournament game between California and Brigham Young. Under the pay-per-view arrangement, you might be able to replace the Cal-BYU game with the Ohio State game.

* NABC requests. At the meeting, the National Association of Basketball Coaches presented a wish list, and the committee did what all committees everywhere do: It said it will study the requests.

The NABC wants a participating player to get more than the usual four Final Four tickets. It wants the NCAA's special assistance fund to pay for the travel costs and expenses incurred by a player's family at the Final Four. It wants, with the exception of the first round, all game-day tournament practices closed to the media and public. And it wants increased security for teams attending Final Four-related functions.

Our vote:

Yes to the tickets. Yes to paying for travel costs.

After all, the players are the reason CBS paid a billion bucks for the TV rights. In return, the NCAA can afford to provide a few more tickets and pick up the airfare and hotel costs of players' families.

Yes to increased security (a no-brainer).

No to closed practices.

Coaches tend to be paranoid and aren't crazy about public relations, which explains the NABC request. When a team loses a game because a reporter or fan watched a game-day practice, we'll listen. Until then, the NABC needs to lighten up.

Good fortune

It isn't official yet, but it appears that Indiana might have lucked into signing Michael Hermon, a 6-foot-3 off-guard from King High School in Chicago.

Hermon, an all-state selection last season, originally agreed to attend Illinois. But when his ACT scores were too low to qualify for Illinois' summer academic program, the prized Hermon was forced to look elsewhere.

Hermon expressed an interest in the Hoosiers, who happen to have an extra scholarship available after guard Rob Foster transferred. Indiana Coach Bob Knight and his staff, who had never actively recruited Hermon, have begun a background check of sorts. They had better hurry. Classes begin August 29.

Hermon is good enough to play as a freshman. With Sherron Wilkerson's status still questionable after he suffered a leg injury in last season's NCAA Tournament, Hermon would provide the Hoosiers with some much-needed depth at guard.

"He's a very good player -- one of the best that I've had," King Coach Landon (Sonny) Cox told the Indianapolis News. "He'll flourish in Bob Knight's program, if they can get him."