Tampa Bay Times from St. Petersburg, Florida • 25

0 cm mm To Bob Cousy, recruWng to 'fie greatest in the ToAdolphRupp, recruiting is: 'the mdst detestable thing in college EDITOR'S NOTE: In the days of lege sports when high school athletes idolized "All-American boy" Jack Arm strong, it was every youngster's ambition to become a football hero for State U. Today, It's Out-Of-State U. that pursues the prep athletic star. The recruiting game has become big business, as Jeff Prugh of the Los Angeles Times re- -veals in this first of a four-part series. iiirtf" 1 Million-Dollar Gam Coaches Play For Keeps By JEFF PRUGH Im AitfilH TIibh Itrvk "Coach Smith, how will I look In Carolina blue On the telephone was 7-foot Tom McMillen, an A student and high school All-America basketball star from Mansfield, Pa.

He was informing North Carolina Coach Dean Smith that he had chosen Carolina over 275 other schools that were recruiting him despite objections from his parents, who were openly hostile to Smith. "Tom's been brainwashed," said Mrs. Margaret McMillen, who wanted him to attend the University of Virginia because the head coach was a long-time family friend. Tom's father, Dr. James McMillen, preferred the University of Maryland, where Tom's older brother, Jay, had played basketball.

Finally, on the eve of college registration three months later, Tom uj his father and brother stayed np until a.m., exploring every facet of the three schools. Next day, McMillen enrolled at Maryland and wired Smith: "Very, very sorry. I'm going to Maryland for reasons yon know. Hope yon understand." The war was over, but a family had been badly split Said Mrs. McMillen: "Every day I Just thank God that 197 la over with." Dr.

McMillen, in retrospect, called the whole thing a "dirty, nasty business." The "business" is called recruiting. It's little different today from 20 years ago, or a half-century ago. It's done in fancy restaurants and 50-yard line seats, on the long-distance telephone and ivy-draped campuses, on the playgrounds of East St. Louis and Watts and the Bronx, and in living rooms from Atlantic City to Pacific Palisades. It is college sports' game for all seasons, played by hundreds of the fastest-talking salesmen this side of Madison Avenue.

It's a battle for survival of the fittest fiscally and physically particularly in football and basketball. No subject in sport has aroused more furor, more zealously guarded secrets, than the game of luring prized high school and junior-college athletes to big-time varsity teams. esketfbdl dt.frtfrBburQiTimPB is A big-money game? It is played with "blue chip" athletes whose skills can mean millions to say nothing of national i prestige for the schools that field teams more for money than love. Vicious? Adoiph Rupp, retired University of Kentucky basketball coach, calls it "the most detestable thing" in college athletics. The man in the crossfire is the head coach.

His very livelihood and those of his assistants hang precariously on how skillfully they sign youngsters who can satisfy "win or else" demands by backslapping, dagger-wielding alumni. Controversial? Some say the very idea of grown men persuading a teen-age boy to attend a specific college raises ques- tions about what intercollegiate sports really are or should be and sharpens debate over amateurism. Intrigue? The re- cruiting game conjures visions of secret promises, of coaches concealing their hard-sell tricks as if they were Pentagon pa- pers or ITT memos. i To be a big winner on the football field and at the box office, you've got to do more than just outhustle those recruiters from whatever-it-is. Many say you've also got to outwit the "FBI" of college sports, the National Collegiate Athletic Asso- elation (NCAA), which disciplines schools for violations ranging from under-the-table money to tampering with grades and en- trance tests.

It is a game of super salesmanship and friendly persuasion, of a coach traveling 3,000 miles to say, "Son, we're convinced you're good enough to play for us" to a youngster who may never play for him because he's recruited 45 other guys who are better. It is an arch-rival complaining that an all-universe 7-footer from East Muleshoe, picked that "other" school because he got a new car, clothes and a scholarship for his girlfriend and not being able to prove it. It is a coach at big-time state losing a 250-pound tackle, "A real stud!" to a bitter rival, then muttering, "We couldn't get him admitted to our school. No grades. But they can admit anybody they want even if he can't spell his name Recruiting per se is perfectly legal.

And necessary. University of Texas Football Coach Darrell Royal calls it the "life- blood of sports." It is very much a part of life in college sports, "Batter the SeJ, eraer Pep Says or TitnH Wire Strvlcts A merger between the American Basketball Association and the National Basketball Association already has been agreed upon, the Greensboro (N.C.) Daily News reported 'Sure, we cheat. We have to because everybody else does. If we don't, we're A major-college coach yfefl 1 It 1 IHw s- Mk Tuesday, June 6, 1972 SECTION Is Tennis Everybody's 2nd Game? It's hard to say what, exactly, is the cause of tennis' recent popularity up-, surge. More and more celebrities are taking it up why? Maybe because ten-i nis is a purgative, a way to rid yourself of the tensions that build In your everyday life.

The men pic-; tared here don't have your everyday tensions. Above is Vice President Splro T. Agnew, whose grimace of concentration tells you it's an election year. At right, Serving, is chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer, who's i relaxing before going into serious training for his world title match with champion Boris Spassky of CLASSIFIED .1 UPI Team and make the game enjoyable." The list was reported as saying the below-signed players felt Fuller lacked in possibly one or all of the points and that each point was the view of one player, if not all of them. The players reportedly met in small sessions Friday and Saturday night.

The list was brought to Graves by three members of the team. When asked about the list, Graves said players felt the suggestions were needed to help improve the baseball program at the university. "I'll look into it and investigate the need, if any, to help Improve the a Graves said. "I think the boys (See FULLER, 2-C) The Mick Absorbs A Serving Of Stengelese Old Casey Stengel, never a man of a few with numerous other former stars at an words, is still at it as he gives Mickey Oldtimers Game in Los Angeles Sunday. Mantle a few tips on how the game of base- Stengel managed the American League Old-bail should be played.

Both appeared along sters to a 3-3 tie with the National League. According to the newspaper, a source," could not be said at least six ABA ran-- chises will be absorbed by the NBA; three, including the Flo-ridians, will be disbanded, and one, Denver, will be put on ice until a new arena is built. The newspaper said the agreement was reached between NBA Commissioner Walter Kennedy and Carolina Cougars President Tedd Mun-chak, representing the ABA In the absence of Jack Dolph, who resigned Friday as its commissioner. The agreement will be ratified by NBA owners at a meeting June 15-18 at White Sulphur Springs, the source said. The source also told the News that the consolidation of the two leagues is "98 per cent complete," and said Munchak has been working behind the scenes since February for consolidation.

Under the absorbtion agreement, Carolina, Dallas, Utah, New York, Indiana and Kentucky definitely would join the NBA. Denver's admission might be delayed for three years before construction of the arena is complete and Virginia is so financially plagued the NBA might not want it. That leaves the Floridians, Pittsburgh and Memphis without a spot in the merger. The News' source said six schedules have been drawn np for next season. One will be used depending on how many ABA teams would be absorbed.

Munchak and Kennedy declined to comment on the, story. The News' story says Munchak and Kennedy will meet Thursday in hopes of finalizing the deal before the ABA meeting next Monday. Fourteen of the 17 NBA teams have approved the merger, the News said, and Kennedy is supposed to have the approval of the other three by the time NBA clubs meet. One major obstacle to consolidation was the threatened lawsuit by the NBA Players Association. The News report- ed that Munchak has con vinced Larry Fleischer, legal counsel for the players, and has worked out a solution to this barrier.

Congress is studying all merger plans for possible antitrust violations. It is possible that by merging the leagues, pro basketball could fose its anti-trust exemption. That could mean the end of the reserve clause, which binds a player to the team he signs with. v4 Mi I -Y ft 1 Baseball Bruins" banners and Rose Bowls. But, so are its abuses and therein lies a major reason why recruiting has, rightly or wrongly, acquired its "flesh market" image.

How widespread are the problems? Is there more cheating or less than meets the eye? What can be done to improve, the situation? The questions defy simple answers, recruiting is so sensitive and volatile an issue. As one person said, "It's like asking a py to admit he held up a Brink's truck." Recruiters squirm and flinch or nervously say, "No com-, ment," or, "Keep this off the record" when the subject comes up. Coaches willingly share secrets on how to attack the Wish-bone-T or the fullcourt press but you won't hear them revealing how they wine and dine a 9.4 sprinter-halfback. To do so, they say, would be giving away "that extra edge." The truths about recruiting are often harder to uncover than airline hijackers. They are usually buried amid cliches such as "Oh, every school cheats it's just because our admission requirements are too high" "aw, they bought the kid by giving him a new -car." Nonetheless, the following examples shed light on the game that might be called, "Beat the NCAA" A major-college football coach confided to a reporter, "Sure, we cheat.

We have to because everybody else does. If we don't, we're dead." An alumnus of one university admits he buys clothes for athletes and slips them money for incidentals, saying "Hell, I've got to! These kids can't live today just on an athletic scholarship, which pays only their tuition, room and board. Their families can't afford to give them extra money. The university can't either. But please don't tell anybody, because it would absolutely mean the end of the world for the coach and the athletic director." In a survey of 107 coaches by the fellowship of Christian Athletes, 30 said most coaches "skirt the rules" in recruiting.

A majority said the rules are possible to abide by, but some said: "Only if you want mediocre teams." Others said: "It's impossible to recruit honestly." Recruiting has been called "the greatest hypocrisy in the world" by Bob Cousy, Cincinnati Royals' coach who formerly coached at Boston College. "Everyone in college sports knows what's going on," he said. "You've got to cheat in recruiting to win. Competition is fierce. If a school becomes too flagrant and is charged with irregularities, there's a lot of buck passing.

Usually, though, it's the coach who winds up getting fired." A football coach at a midwest university asked a re-: porter to "arrange" a news conference announcing the signing of a top prospect, so the rule prohibiting coaches from doing so could be circumvented- One source said a basketball player was bewildered by a promise from a southern university that his parents would be rnoved into a new home in a neighboring state, a home owned by the university. "The kid asked me," said the source, "What happens to my folks if I don't like it here and transfer to another school? Do my folks get thrown into the Recent cases involving black athletes, notably UCLA's James McAlister and California's Isaac Curtis (now at San Grievances UF Lists By PETE JOHNSON Tlmti CorrMpoiMiMt GAINESVILLE Twenty-four members of the University of Florida baseball team signed a list of points, suggestions and what some called grievances and it was presented to Athletic Director Ray Graves The list came about after an article in the student newspaper, The Alligator, last Thursday in which reporter Sim Smith asked for the resignation of head baseball Coach Dave Fuller. Smith's article Included complaints from some of the players about dissension on the team. The suggestions handed to Graves were reportedly a list of qualities the 24 signed players felt a coach should Frankie Frisch, 74, Weds mmi ond baseman with the St. Louis Cardinals, said, "I go to ball games, but nobody knows me.

I'm just an old man sitting around. I'd just as soon have it that way peace and quiet you know." Frisch's first wife, Ada, died in January 1971, after 48 years of marriage. "Arthritis has been knocking the hell out of me. But today is great. It's warm, it's good weather for me," he said.

1 NARRAGANSETT, B.I. (UPI) Declaring, "I feel just marvelous," former baseball great Frankie Frisch, 74, married for the second time Sunday. Discarding a cane he had been using for some time, the Hall-of-Famer married the former Mrs. Augusta Kass, 63, in ceremonies attended by his brother George, and the bride's daughter, Mrs. Bonnie Frisch, who was a star sec- DAVE FULLER UF coach 25 years.

have. About 25-30 points were presented stating a coach should "take pride in his team, should be able to communicate, should be trusting, honest, try to keep morale up Diego State), have thrust recruiting into heavy controversy In- (See RECRUITING, 3-C).