Austin American-Statesman from Austin, Texas • 65

1 Conradt still disappointed four days after final loss 1 PageD2 Westwood, Westlake win in state soccer playoffs Page D8 Section Thursday, March 31, 1983 Austin American Statesman SpOlTtfcS Weltlich gets promise of hot-shooting Killeen guard Ken ly Murray 113 ha striKe spoken for, Texas has four scholarships still available. The monthlong signing period begins April 13. The Horns are still in the running for, among others, Houston Yate's standout 6-5 guard Carven Holcombe, Houston Worthing's 6-9 Gregory Anderson and 6-7 forward Mike Winters of Albuquerque, N.M. Winters, a high school teammate of current UT guard Karl Willock, led the city in scoring (25.1) and rebounding (14.2) in guiding his El Dp rado team to a 25-1 record and the New Mexico state championship. Longhorns now have four recruits who have declared their intentions to sign with UT.

The Horns signed 6-foot point guard Mike Hess of Newport Breach, in the fall signing period, and have commitments from 6-9 blue-chip center Raynard Davis of San Antonio Sam Houston and 6-8 forward Jerry Holmes of Longview. IF ALL ELIGIBLE veterans return from this past season's team, including injured 6-9 forward Mike Wacker, the Horns will have eight scholarships to offer for next year's squad before they reach the 15-scholarship limit With four already By RANDY RIGGS American-Statesman Staft Marcus Bolden, a 6-foot-3y2 guard who averaged 23 points a game for Killeen High School, has become the latest high school basketball player to commit to the University of Texas. Bolden, who visited the UT campus last weekend, was named the most valuable player in District 14AAAAA. As a McDonald's All-America nominee, he shot 53 percent from the field and 83 percent from the line. A good outside shooter, Bolden scored 36 points in three games as a senior.

Against Fort Worth Western Hills, he scored 30 points in the first half on a 15-of-16 showing. BOLDEN SAID HE decided to go to Texas Sunday, when he told coach Bob Weltlich of his decision. "There were a lot of things that made me choose Texas," Bolden said. "I like their academics, and I wanted to be a part of a rebuilding program. Coach Weltlich told me I would have an equal chance to play, just like anybody else." With Bolden's announcement, the would help fcftf no one at all Marcus Bolden averaged 23 points a game in high school.

a Forget about monster slams and playoff races and Magic Johnson and Dr. and the Ralph Sampson 4 week in the NBA, they're i playing Russian Roulette. itii-U Professional suicide, that's the taut risk they're running with all this jo tough talk and all. those clandes-''Jji-4--- tine meetings. NBA, union reach tentative contract t.t'.'THE WITCHING HOUR is at alii' i i UdllU.

lue piayeis asaui-iauuu, slipping into its most solemn game i face, is threatening to strike after ESs-stswA 5 EgCSS- sh Saturday's garrls. (Only reason I c.n; jhe players won't strike after Friday's games is that they don't want to look like Aprtyfools. Which they It: will anyway, of course.) And management, assuming an i ooi Equally sinister posture, is about to itn. call the players' bluff. Everybody, I it seems, is oblivious to the fact that this isa staredown neither j4 side can win.

Pkr "Another sports strike? Terrific, i We're used to it by now. We're hardened. Sayonara, guys. And good riddance. If you happen to 1 come to your senses over the sum- mer, see you in the fall.

If not '-who cares? There is always some-f place else to spend our entertain- Ronnie Robinson's spring showing has added to UT backfield strength. mem ducks. fealanrmnrirniii i'Tr'1'nf iiafiT Stammm'mmmnnMrf-SL- -tesstu, iHiinm mimi i 1 1 i mum iinrumwuniioirmj 4 .1 AP Fresno's Ron Anderson, gets a hug from his mom, Ethel, as he holds MVP trophy NEW. YORK (AP) The National Basketball Association and its players' union agreed on a tentative contract today, just two days before a threatened strike that would have interrupted the final two weeks of the season. The four-year contract includes provisions for maximum and minimum team salary limits, a share of gross revenues for players and profit sharing.

A strike by the NBA players, which had been threatened for Saturday, would have been the third by a professional sports league in as many years. In 1981, major league baseball players struck for 50 days; last year, National Football League players struck for 57 days. "It's a landmark labor agreement in professional sports," said NBA Commissioner Larry who announced the agreement on behalf of the NBA Board of Governors, which approved the tentative pact at a meeting today. Larry Fleischer, general counsel for the players' union, was not immediately available for comment The contract will take effect at the start of the 1983-84 season. The maximum salary cap takes effect the following season.

The NBA Players Association had set its strike deadline last month after playing nearly the entire season under terms of its old contract which had expired last June. The regular season ends April 17, with playoffs to begin two days later. The timing of the strike threat was aimed at pressuring the NBA at its most fragile point the bottom line of its ledger books. Less than half the -league's teams turned profits last year and between five and 10 had been reported to be on various finan- cial-danger lists. A major part of the league's revenues, both from ticket sales and TY contracts, generally comes at the end of the regular season and in the post-season AN NBA STRIKE? It would be sheer lunacy, about as sensible as an eye-gouging contest And it would have utterly devastating suits.

Certainly, neither manage-- ment nor the players association Could be so stupid as to overlook the repercussions. Or could they? And maybe some cities would be relieved not to have to endure any more pro basketball this season. 'A strike will mean heavy casualties on both sides. Owners will lose money, players will lose jobs and some cities will lose franchises. This tightening of the belt, some owners predict, will strengthen the NBA.

And that's why they're willing to take the gamble. How will Joe Fan react? We dpn't need the aggravation of any more litigation. We've been down this blind alley before, remember. WE GRIEVED WHEN we missed our daily dose of baseball two summers ago. We moaned when we missed our weekly fix of pro football last fall.

But we won't even blink if we miss the relentless bump and grind of pro basket UT backfield split 3 ways By LOU MAYSEL American-Statesman Staff A triangle in affairs of the heart is always awkward, but Ronnie Robinson isn't disturbed by the triangular situation he has created at fullback with the Texas football team. Redshirted last fall, the 6-3, 228-pound Robinson has emerged with such a flair this spring that he moved ahead of Terry Orr and Ervin Davis with a great showing against the third defense last week and remained on the first team after Saturday's scrimmage. "I THINK ITS kind of helpful in a way because we'll all be playing. They've established that we can all play and we'll get the same amount of playing time if we all stay healthy," the soft-spoken sophomore from Dallas Adams said. He also" spoke several times of how supportive the threp are of one another.

Ronnie Thompson, UT's running back confirms Robinson's thinking about the workability of the triangle, which he also views as equilateral. "All three are going to play regardless of who. starts. Coach Akers will play three sets of backs, and that's not unusual for us," Thompson said. Robinson's emergence is no surprise.

Both Akers and Thompson were expecting it because of Robinson's dedication last spring and during his redshirt season. Robinson credits his mother for instilling the work ethic in him. "She keeps my head up and keeps me in the books, going to school and everything. So I give a lot of credit to my Mom for pushing me in the right direction," he said. Ex-Coog says UH better now By BRAD BUCHHOLZ American-Statesman Staff SAN ANTONIO Rob Williams, basketball professional, describes the nation's top-ranked college basketball team as "my guys." Most of the Houston Cougars, says Williams, are longtime friends from Houston's inner city.

Pals. Teammates. Buddies. "They're, the best basketball team in the country. I'm betting my money oh them, and I only bet on winners," says energetic Rob Williams, speaking at supersonic speeds.

"If anyone wants to bet against 'em, they better give me a call." Williams would have been senior at Houston this season; instead, the 6-foot-2 guard chose an early start in the NBA. So as the Cougars finish up a midweek practice in Hofheinz Pavilion Tuesday, Williams checks into HemisFair Arena with a new set of teammates, the Denver Nuggets. ON THIS DAY, two hundred miles of interstate highway separate Williams and the See Rob, D4 Fresno wins DePaul, Meyer fall, 69-60 NEW YORK (AP) "At first, we probably didn't know what to expect with all that goes with the National Invitation Tournament" admitted Fresno State Coach Boyd Grant In the end, he and his Bulldogs learned what it was like to win it "This is our biggest victory ever," Grant said after Fresno State dealt DePaul a 69-60 defeat Wednesday night in the championship game of the 46th annual NIT at Madison Square Garden. "Winning it here is like a dream." "We wanted to make them have trouble handling the ball," said junior forward Bernard Thompson, who scored a game-high 22 points. "We came out with good intensity and it seemed to bother them." Ron Anderson was named MVP.

"GIVE THEIR DEFENSE credit" said De-Paul's 65-year-old coach, Ray Meyer. "It was- no fluke. We shot 25 of 74 from the floor. There's no possible way you can win with shooting like that." "I don't know what to expect now," Grant said, smiling. "Right now, people are talking about Fresno State." ball.

We won't miss that nine-month trek through tedium and boredom that is relieved only by the exhilarating climax of the Freshman starter may steal away from second base playoffs. We've got college basketball, after all. And the USFL and baseball and Sundays at the lake. only the NBA had done its homework when it came time to approve new ownership, the problem might not be so severe now. Because the malaise that grips the game is, for the most part, self- induced.

The open-checkbook mentality that has become fashionable in Philadelphia and Los Angeles is finally catching up with the league's new breed of owner-entrepreneur. Cleveland owner Ted Stfpien wants to dress like a king, but looks more like a clown. Surely, the game can suffer only so much of that kind of fashion. i STEPIEN'S CAVALIERS aren't the only floundering franchise. In-; diana, San Diego and Utah are all in need of life-support systems.

Reportedly as many as 10 NBA 1 outfits operate in the red these days. Give them a strike and some- body's sure to pull a plug or two. Now the owriers are asking no, begging to be saved from themselves. want to put a ceiling on salaries. They want to give the players share of the lea-! gue's gross revemies.

They want to i take back some of the riches they've handed out the last de rather not talk about it. The season ain't over with." GUSTAFSON, FOR ONE, hopes the season or what's left of it persuades the talented second baseman to remain a Longhorn, at least until his junior season after which he would be eligible for the major league draft. "He's probably homesick," Gustafson said. "He loves the baseball aspect of it I don't know why he would (transfer). I don't know what he has to gain by transferring.

It's very unusual for a freshman to come in and play a key spot. Besides that he's our leading (full-time) hitter AFTER LOSING SHORTSTOP Owen last year to the pros, Gustafson would hate to lose Bates so quickly. A year ago, Gustafson said Bates, coming out of high school, was ahead of the All-America shortstop "toolwise" at a comparable age. Gustafson has yet to back down from that weighty comparison. "I think they've got a lot of similarities," Gustafson said.

"I thought Bates had better physical talent Bill's arm is a little stronger, and he's got more pop in his bat He hasn't done anything to change my opinio." The youngest of seven children of a Houston paint foreman, Bates refused the Philadelphia Phillies'. $38,500 bonus offer as an eighth-round draft choice after a brilliant high school career that belies his 5-foot-7, 155-pound frame. IN NO PARTICULAR order, Bates was: The leading rusher in the Greater Houston area two seasons ago with 1,510 yards and 23 touchdowns as a tailback who "ran over a couple of linebackers if I had A penetrating guard with a pen-, chant for taking charges and who was called "Wild Willie" by his basketball coach. The alpha and omega of his baseball team who pitched (8-3) his last two losses came on a one-hitter and three-hitter in the playoffs -C and played every infield position oa "a terrible team." "He's something else," said UT shortstop Mike Brumley, Bates' closest friend and most fervent supporter. "Pressure doesn't seem to bother him.

I think he's handled it great because I know how it is to play as a freshpan." By KIRK BOHLS American-Statesman Staff Bill Bates is a freshman. Bill Bates is a freshman. Bill Bates is a freshman. While it may not be necessary to write that on the blackboard 500 times, it is advisable to remember that fact That however, isn't the news. That the Houston Aldine second baseman starts for Texas as a freshman is.

Few Longhorns this side of Spike Owen do. THERE IS, HOWEVER, some question about whether Bates will start as a sophomore. At Texas, anyway. Several of his Longhorn teammates have said that Bates told them as recently as last week that he had decided to transfer to a junior college because he wasn't happy at UT. Coach Cliff Gustafson said that the 19-year-old infielder came to him early this semester, troubled by school, and said he was transferring to San Jacinto Junior College in Pasadena but has not mentioned it since.

Gustafson said Bates' departure is "a possibility." Bates refuses to be drawn into such a. discussion, saying only, "I'd V. 11 i- i cade. Not surprisingly, the players say they won't gfve up the ground they've gained through previous negotiation. it By Saturday, push will come to shove.

And both sides had better nrav the nlavers saueeze off an Staff Photo by Barbara Lainj right, and Mike Brumley ar into chewing. T-2 empty chamber if they squeeze i yhe trigger at all..