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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 7, 1987)
Thursday, May 7, 1987/nThe Battalion/Page 7 Sports CAA infractions plague TCU, SMU Mustangs may be crippled for years to come iter .5/151 eone By Doug Hail Assistant Sports Editor Third in a fi ve-part series Without a doubt. Southern Methodist University’s athletic department has withstood more turmoil, more accusations, more allegations and more investiga tions than any other major col lege in the country in the past four years. Being the recipient of the NCAA’s infamous “death penal ty,” which involves suspension of ■ SMU’s football schedule for the ■ 1987 season, loss of scholarships ■ and forfeiture of television reve- ■ nue, makes the other reprimands 1 received by SWC schools pale in ■ comparison. SMU has since decided to ■ forgo its 1988 football season ■ also. No one is quite sure what might ■ go next. In fact, at the moment, SMU ■ doesn’t even have an athletic di- ■ rector since Bob Hitch, the for- ■ mer athletic director, resigned ■ during the NCAA investigation. ■ Head Football Coach Bobby Coi nns, who led the Ponies to the SWC championship in 1981 (No. 5 nationally) and 82 (No. 2 na tionally), also resigned. SMU’s recent disasters how ever, do not reflect the success their football team has enjoyed over the past century.The Mus tangs have won 11 SWC cham pionships and one national championship (1935). Like TCU, Rice and Baylor, SMU is a private institution. Con sequently, its 9,150 enrollment is somewhat similar to Baylor’s 11,000 but considerably more than Rice’s 3,600. Because it is a private institu tion, SMU did not reveal its ath letic budget. Dr. Steven Picou, professor of sports sociology at Texas A&M, said that even with expert super vision, it will take at least five years for SMU to recover from its most recent NCAA probation. “It will take at least five years for them to recover,” Picou said. “And that is with excellent man agement. “The reason I say five years is because of the recruiting. Their image, shall we say, will have to be reconstructed. “The athletic department has to go beyond the stigma of their continuing allegations. Right now they are in shock.” Considering the length of the rebuilding process, Picou said he is surprised that SMU has not taken action to replace Hitch or Collins as of yet. However, Picou also said the football program’s suspension should not negatively affect SMU’s other athletic teams. In fact, he said, those teams “will probably play more inspired in an effort to try and be a legitimate representative of the school.” After finishing fourth in SWC basketball last season, the Pony’s finished 16-13 this season includ ing a home-court thrashing of the Aggies. SMU contributions to the NBA include Atlanta Hawks’ sixth man Jon Koncak. Southern Methodist disconti nued its baseball program in 1974 and has not distinguished itself in men’s golf since it won the con ference in 1957, despite having current professional Payne Stew art play on the squad during the late ’70’s. The men’s tennis team did, however, win the SWC championship in 1982 and in 1983. Currently, however, SMU’s primary concern is getting the football program back on its feet and white-washed clean of it’s past infractions. It won’t, however, be an easy task. In wake of the NCAA investi gation, both the SMU faculty sen ate and student senate voiced strong opinions about abolishing the athletic department entirely. Meanwhile, Texas Governor Bill Clements was admitting to kno wingly allowing illegal to players to continue at was originally put on probation for similar infractions that oc curred under former Head Coach Ron Meyer. Fred Jacoby, the SWC commis sioner, perhaps best summed up SMU’s situation last week when he said that each school under in vestigation has a chance to accept its guilt, correct the wrong and re-establish the program in a bet ter state than it was prior to the incident. payments ifter SMU RESEARCH/LECAL ASSISTANT POSITIONS A major law firm with offices in Houston, Austin and Dallas is seeking mature individuals with excellent academic creden tials for full-time, permanent positions in its successful legal assistant program, working in such areas of the firm as liti gation, banking, corporate, employee benefits and tax. We require good written and oral communication skills, the capacitiy to master and organize a new body of knowledge quickly, and the ability and desire to interface with individuals from diverse backgrounds. We are seeking individuals with graduate and/or undergraduate degrees. No previous legal experience is required. Descriptive literature is available from Louis Van Pelt, John Cudelman, Ann McDonald and Daniel Orozco in the Placement Office. Interested persons should forward a copy of their resume, college transcript, and a research paper to: Julia H. Bolling, Vinson & Elkins, 2514 First City Tower, 1001 Fannin, Houston, TX 77002-6760. acker, basketball keep Horned Frogs going )UT RV By Doug Hall Assistant Sports Editor Texas Christian University is a [rather secluded school of nearly 7,000 students located in the quiet section of Fort Worth. The town that used to hold millions of head of cattle is now the home of some what fewer Horned Frogs. But the serenity of Fort Worth burst like a hot-air balloon almost two years ago when second-year Head Foytball Coach Jim Wacker suspended six of his key players for the season for allegedly re ceiving illegal cash payments from boosters. After the ensuing 1985 NCAA investigation and probation that cost TCU scholars!ii ps,“(television revenue and a chance at a bowl appearance, the Horned Frogs stumbled to a 3-8, eighth-place finish. 1986 was much the same as TCU again went 3-8 and fin ished ahead of only 1-10 UH. But it there are those who be- teve that “as the football pro gram goes, so goes the athletic de partment,” let TCU dispel the umor. Over the past two years, the lorned Frogs have won one >WC basketball title outright, peen part of a three-way tie for hat same title in 1986 and won a ten’s golf title. Frank Windegger, TCU’s ath letic director, said he too once be lieved the football-first theory, but has discovered his mistake. “You know, surprisingly that (theory) doesn’t hold true all the time,” Windegger said. “Since the football program was put on pro bation, we have won two basket ball championships and one men’s golf title.” Indeed, the Horned Frogs have been the toast of the SWC over the past two seasons. In 1986, the Frogs finished 12-4 in the SWC and tied for first with Texas A&M and Texas. In 1987, however, the Frogs went 15-1 in the conference and 24-7 overall to finish in first [place. Despite being knocked out of the SWC post-season tourney by the Aggies, TCU went on to the NCCA post-season tourna ment and finished 18th nationally on the season. In baseball, the Horned Frogs have won five SWC titles. Most of that success, however, came ear lier this century. TCU last made a run at the title in 1972 when they tied Texas for first place with identical 12-6 records. TCU, like Rice and SMU, did not reveal its athletic budget be cause it’s a private institution. Windegger did say, however, that student participation at athletic events is in the 60 - 70 percent range. Concerning the football team’s probation and recent struggles, Windegger said he thinks the rough times are over, and the fruits of hard labor will begin to show this year. “I don’t think there’s any doubt that we’re finally moving up in to the upper class of football,” Windegger said. “The culmina tion of four recruiting classes will finally pay off for us. We’ve been playing freshmen and sopho mores so long that we should have a lot of experience on the field for us.” If there’s one area that the Horned F’rogs have been able to outdo many of the SWC schools over the past several years, it has been in the area of recruiting. Wacker, who ran the football pro gram at Southwest Texas State before transferring over to TCU, is able to lure prospective recruits to TCU by combining his positive attitude with incredible enthu siasm for the game. Consistently, TCU has been able to keep up with the big-name recruiting schools such as A&M, Texas and Arkansas thanks largely to Wacker. But just as it seems the football program is on the verge of bouncing back, the TCU basket ball team must get ready to reb uild. After eight seasons at the helm of the Florned Frog’s bas ketball program, Head Coach Jim Killingsworth retired this spring to pursue other interests. Replac ing “The Killer,” as the humor ous Killingsworth was often called, next year will be Moe Iba, who left Drake University to take over the Horned Frog program. The Frogs, however, lost more than just a coach from this year’s league champions. All-SWC play ers Carven Holcombe and Jamie Dixon, and starters Tony Papa and Carl Lott will not return in the Fall. Only two players — Nor man Anderson and Larry Rich ards — will return for I CU next Maybe one of these years, the football team and the basketball team will both put together win ning seasons. Horned Frog fans certainly have been patient. Friday: Texas Tech and Texas LET THE ARMY HELP YOU THROUGH MEDICAL SCHOOL The U.S. Army Health Professions Scholarship Program offers a unique opportunity for financial support to a num ber of students or potential students of medicine or osteo pathy. Financial support in the scholarship includes ap proximately $7,360.00 per year. In addition, tuition, books, and certain other expenses required of all students in a particular course of study will also be paid by the government. For more information concerning eligibility criteria, pay, service obligation, and application procedures, contact your Army Medical Department Persnnnpl Connaplnr; Brooke Army Medical Center ATTN: HSHE-OP Fort Sam Houston, TX 78234-6200) (512) 826-0836 ARMY. 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