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USF says Title IX criticism 'skewed'

TAMPA -- South Florida spokesman Michael Reich said a report issued by the National Women's Law Center accusing USF of not being in compliance with Title IX is "skewed information."

The NWLC sent letters to 30 schools, ranging from Division I power-conference members like California and Miami, to NAIA members Lewis-Clark (Idaho) State College and Green Mountain (Vt.) College. The letters said each school was in violation of Title IX -- the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in all aspects of federally funded education, including athletic programs -- with regard to distribution of athletic scholarship money.

In the USF letter, the NWLC said USF had an average scholarship gap of $1,337 between its male and female athletes and a total gap of $138,181 out of $2,284,045 in athletic scholarships awarded during the 2000-01 academic year.

"Their numbers are skewed by a few factors," Reich said Wednesday. "Fourteen athletes, female sailors, who aren't allowed to accept scholarships and wouldn't be included in a Title IX review (by the NCAA), are included (in the NWLC's calculations)."

The NWLC letter said, "We look forward to your immediate reply, setting out the specific steps you will take to remedy the scholarship gap at your institution."

Reich said he is unaware of any time USF hasn't been in compliance with Title IX.

"What's important to us is not the report but ensuring that we're complying with Title IX," Reich said. "Title IX is very important to us. It's disconcerting that they're putting skewed information out there."

WORLD SERIES: Trey Dyson hit a pair of two-run homers and South Carolina stayed alive with a 12-4 victory over Clemson in Omaha, Neb.

Landon Powell and Steve Thomas added homers for the Gamecocks (56-17), who play their state rivals one more time Friday, with the winner advancing to Saturday's championship game.

Matt Campbell (4-2) shut out the Tigers over the final 51/3 innings and struck out a career-high eight.

The Gamecocks outhit the Tigers 15-9 and Clemson (54-16) left 12 men on, leaving the bases loaded three times. If Clemson had won, it would have ended South Carolina's season.

Zane Green hit the first pitch of the game for a homer and Michael Johnson added a two-run homer in the third for Clemson.

Campbell came on in the fourth and walked the first batter he faced to load the bases, then struck out the side. He held Clemson to two hits and walked two in his longest outing of the season.

Steve Reba (13-4) yielded Thomas' leadoff homer in sixth that broke a tie at 4 and started a five-run inning. South Carolina added three more in the eighth, including Powell's 12th homer of the season, and improved to 2-3 against Clemson this season.

The intensity of the state rivalry was clear before the first inning was over. Both benches received warnings after pitches sailed over the heads of Clemson's Khalil Greene and South Carolina leadoff hitter Drew Meyer.

South Carolina tied it at 4 in the fourth when Brian Buscher reached on an error and Dyson hit a high fly that the 23 mph wind helped over the wall in left. Then after Thomas' homer into the upper level of the leftfield bleachers gave the Gamecocks a 5-4 lead in the sixth, Dyson came up again with a man on and pulled a shot to right for his 18th homer of the year.

Justin Harris and Kevin Melillo added RBIs during the sixth.

MORE BASEBALL: Stetson sophomore catcher Chris Westervelt was named a third-team All-American by Baseball America. ... Nebraska fans are trying to persuade coach Dave Van Horn to stay. They sent e-mails, signed cards and called radio stations to show support for Van Horn, who was offered the Arkansas job on Monday. Van Horn said he wants to make his decision by the end of the week.

BASKETBALL: Pitt is selling tickets at a record pace and could sell out its new 12,500-seat arena before the 2002-03 season begins. There are about 2,000 seats still to sell, most behind the baskets at the $100-million Petersen Events Center, which has not opened.

In other news, Mississippi State hired former Alcorn State coach Sam Weaver as an assistant and Wyoming center Uche Nsonwu-Amadi withdrew his name from consideration for the NBA draft to return for his senior season.

FOOTBALL: The Sept. 14 South Florida-Arkansas game at Little Rock will be at 6 p.m., though the time is subject to change because television arrangements have not been finalized. ... Savannah State named ex-NFL player Ken Pettiford coach.

GATORS HONORED: Florida used 12 Top 10 national team finishes to claim the third-place plaque in the Directors' Cup national all-sports competition presented by National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. Stanford won the title.

-- Information from other news organizations was used in this report.

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