Out of Bounds
It’s rareness, not “His
sparking NBA season
The shortened, lockout plagued,
greedy playered, Jordanless NBA
season is only a month and a half
into the year, and it is already
halfway over. Sounds like a mess.
And it is. But it is still staying
popular to the fans. Not for the
big names on die court, but, rather,
for the unexpected stories that
surround it.
True basketball fans knew from
the start of the season, that we
couldn’t ignore the game that we
have come to love. But we did
wonder what the league could do
to spark interest with the people
that ultimately pay the outrageous
salaries of its players.
The biggest story of this rare
1999 season are the Los Angeles
Lakers. Every week seems to
bring changes to the team as you
can sec EVERY Sunday on NBC.
I have never seen a professional
sports team gel as much coverage
as these Lakers. If L.A. doesn’t
win the NBA Championship,
people will sec it as a shock. How
Down to the Wire...
Former Minnesota Adviser says Haskins advised her on work
By Judith Yates Borger And
George Dohrmann
Knight-Riddcr Newspapers
ST. PAUL - A former University
of Minnesota office manager
expanded her charges of academic
fraud in the men’s basketball
program Tuesday, saying coach
Clem Haskins knew she did
course work for players, and
adviser! her about how to make it
appear authentic.
“On a couple of occasions he
said, 'Just remember, Jan, you
can’t be too good,”’ Jan
Gangclhoff said. “The papers
can’t be too good.”
Gangclhoff said Haskins made
those remarks during at least diree
conversations between 1994-96
about former players Courtney
James, Micah Watkins and Darrell
Whaley. James and Whaley have
confirmed that Gangclhoff did
.course work for them. Watkins
has declined comment.
Haskins’ attorney Ron
Zamansky told the Associated
Press on Tuesday that Haskins
could a team “deserving” enough of so
much media coverage, not win it till?
Don’t be fooled. The Lakers arc
struggling to gain first place in their
division, let alone the NBA.
The 72-10 Chicago Bulls of 1995-
96 didn’t gel this many televised
games. They were arguably the
greatest team in the history of the NBA,
with the greatest player of all time, not
some generic imitation the Lakers
advertise.
But if you have watched the weekly
changes of the Lakers, you have
witnessed a new man walking the
sidelines (Kurt Rambis), veterans
(Glen Rice) replacing young
athleticism (Eddie Jones) and the most
exciting player in the NBA, Dennis
Rodman, picking and choosing what
days he will lace up his sneakers.
That is one thing that docsn’tchangc
from year to year. Let’s just say
Rodman has to work extra hard to keep
the cameras on him, on a team not
willing to share the spotlight. But if
L.A. would wake up, they would see
they are 11-0 with “The Worm” in the
was standing by his Monday statement,
in which he denied previous allegations
by Gangclhoff and Archambaull. “They
are not true,” Haskins said.
The allegations made on Tuesday
depart from Gangelhoff’s previous
accounts, in which she said Haskins
had no direct knowledge of her role on
behalf of players. During a news
conference at a downtown Minneapolis
hotel, with her attorney Jim Lord
occasionally whispering in her car, she
said she often discussed players’
academic progress with the coach.
“In the beginning, when I first started
helping the players, he would call and
we would talk about players'
homework, what assignments they had
to get done and how they were doing
in class,” Gangclhoff said.
“He would say 'Student X got a “D”
in this class. Now he’ll have to get a
“B” in this class or he might not be
eligible (to play,)”’ Gangclhoff said.
“Implying do whatever it took to get a
'B’ in that class so he’ll be eligible.”
Gangelhoff was flanked by her sister,
Jeanne Payer, and former Gophers
basketball player Russ Archambault.
ABC television’s “20/20” news
Big New York Pizza, SQ99
Un-New York Price.
lineup and 1-3 when he left for
“personal problems.”
Whether NBC likes to admit it or not,
there are other stories and teams worthy
to mention. There are five teams with
a better record than the Lakers,
including two surprises in Orlando and
Portland. The Magic are currently in a
battle with the Miami Heat for not only
the best record in Florida, but in the
Eastern Conference. Portland is blazing
their trail right to the top of the NBA
with no big scorer, just hard working
players lliat compete well together.
Just when Shaquille O’Neal and Karl
Malone thought it was their turn to lead
the league in scoring, along came a
changed Allen Iverson. Iverson is
averaging 29 points per game at the
halfway mark and has his 76crs well in
position for a long awaited playoff spot
The rookie class of 1999 looks to be
one of the best in recent history. Many
young players ar c changing the league’s
image from savvy veterans to upbeat,
exciting action. Boston’s Paul Pierce,
Toronto’s Vince Carter and Vancouver’s
Mike Bibby arc all playing big. But
program flew Archambault to the Twin
Cities on Tuesday morning for an
interview to be aired Friday.
Money charges
Archambault, who was dismissed
from the basketball team in February
1998 as a sophomore because of
disciplinary problems, said he received
money from Haskins about eight to 10
times, but he could not recall the total
amount of the payments.
Some of Archambault’s allegations
also were inconsistent with his previous
statements, including comments he
made to the Pioneer Press on March 1.
At that time, be said Haskins gave
him two payments totaling $6OO to pay
for a window broken during a fight at a
Minneapolis tavern. But on Tuesday, he
said he remembers getting $4OO in two
equal payments from Haskins to pay for
die window. The bar owner has denied
the incident ever occurred.
Archambault also repeated earlier
allegations diat he first received money
from Haskins Dec. 20, 19%, when he
said the coach gave him $2OO in a
Williams Arena restroom.
Archambaull said he was dismissed
from the team because of curfew
Sports
JASON SNYDER
Airness,”
the biggest surprise of the rookie class
has to be Jason Williams. The
Sacramento Kings guard is already
being compared to “Pistol Pete”
Maravich for his showman-like ability
on the court. He has earned himself
the nickname, “White Chocolate” by
his teammates for his “soulful” game.
Williams, along with Chris Webber
and an explosive offense may not have
the Kings in playoff contention, but
do have fans reminiscing about the
“Showtime” days in Los Angeles.
To this point in the NBA, the league
has no dominant team or player. And
despite some empty seats in the
arenas, the basketball excitement is
back. Fan enthusiasm is for real and
the NBA phrase, “I still love this
game!” is being lived up to through
the season’s rare happenings and
flashy new image.
Snyder is the sports editor for the
Beacon. Out of Bounds appears
weekly on this page.
violations and fighting.
“But I got no ax to grind to get back
at the coach,” Archambault said.
Asked if they were calling Haskins
a liar, Gangelhoff and Archambault
both replied, “Yes.”
Charges and counter charges earlier
in the day, University of Minnesota
President Mark Yudof said
Gangelhoff’s lawyer, Lord, was
“irresponsible” for charging that the
university investigation into academic
fraud is a coverup.
Lord disagreed.
“Bear in mind that the law firm that
is doing this investigation has an
ultimate end task,” Lord said. “That is
to minimize the sanctions from the
NCAA on the University of
Minnesota.”
But Michael Glazier, partner with
Bond, Schoeneck & King, the law firm
investigating the allegations, called
Lord’s statement “inaccurate.”
“The charge President Yudof gave
me and my firm is to conduct a
thorough investigation and submit a
factual report," Glazier said. “There
has not been any decision about what
role any attorney will play with the
Thursday, March 25,1999 - The Behrend College Beacon - page 11
NCAA investigation.”
Lord said Gangclhoff and
Archambault will both testify under
oath for the university’s investigators
and he called on the university to ask
all witnesses to do the same.
According to Glazier, it is not
common practice for any witness to
testify under oath because there is no
punishment, such as perjury, for
anyone who lies to an investigator
looking into charges of academic
fraud.
At the press conference, Gangclhoff
presented copies of some of the course
work she says she wrote for the
players, but did not indicate whether
she would turn over the materials to
university investigators.
First meeting. As if there was not
sufficient drama at Tuesday’s news
conference, television producers for
“20/20” staged a reunion of
Gangelhoff and Archambault, their
first meeting in more than a year.
Gangelhoff was instructed to wait
on the Stone Arch Bridge in
downtown Minneapolis for
Archambault’s arrival with a film crew
at the ready.
for players
“This is all so weird,” Gangelhoff
said, minutes before Archambault
was cued and allowed to meet her
on the bridge. “But I am so happy to
see Russ. I am extremely proud of
him.”
Gangelhoff has said she was closer
to Archambault than to any other
player.
Gangelhoff said she joined
Haskins and Archambault’s parents
for dinner at a downtown restaurant
during his recruiting visit in 1995.
She also said Haskins and assistant
coach Charles Cunningham called
her the night Archambault was
dismissed from the team.
“They tried to convince me that
Russ was being kicked off the team
for being Russ,” Gangelhoff said.
“They wanted me to say that was
OK. But 1 wouldn’t. And I told them
that they had an opportunity to do
what no one at the University of
Minnesota had ever done - graduate
(an American Indian basketball
player) - and they blew it.”
Down to the Wire will feature a new
sports’wire article every week.