Colleges

NIT: March Madness ruined tourney

By wire services
Published August 3, 2005

NEW YORK - A lawyer for the NIT took a shot at restoring the tournament's lost luster Tuesday, telling a jury that the NCAA's March Madness was purposefully ruining it.

Jeffrey Kessler, a lawyer for the five schools which sponsor the preseason and postseason National Invitation Tournament, said the NCAA "willfully, deliberately set out to get a monopoly, to eliminate competition, to make it impossible to compete."

In a civil case projected to feature testimony from college presidents, coaches, athletic directors and economists, the NIT - the older of the two tournaments - is asking a jury to find that the NCAA violated federal antitrust laws.

Kessler said the NCAA had eliminated the NIT's chance to land the best teams for its postseason tournament.

"Playing the game with the NCAA is a rigged game," he charged in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, blaming the multi-billion-dollar business of college basketball for corrupting the NCAA. He said his evidence would include videotape testimony from Hall of Fame coach Bob Knight.

The NIT is challenging a long-standing NCAA rule requiring schools to accept a bid to its tournament over a bid to all others.

IN OTHER NEWS: Christian Laettner and Brian Davis, members of Duke's first two national championship teams, will give the school $2-million to fund a scholarship and a help build a new athletics building.

A full men's scholarship will be endowed with $750,000 of the donation, and the rest of the money will help pay for a basketball practice and training facility, the university said.

TENNESSEE: Former Vols quarterback Brent Schaeffer has decided to attend a junior college this fall and hopes to transfer later to another school in the Southeastern Conference, perhaps Florida, Auburn or Georgia.

Last season Schaeffer became the first true freshman to start at quarterback in an SEC opener since 1945. He lost the starting job after the third game and then broke his collarbone.

USF: The Bulls lost their only commitment for 2006 when Justin Jenkins, a defensive tackle from Orlando Edgewater, backed out of a pledge he made three weeks ago, according to recruiting site USFBullsEye.com.

Jenkins is still considering USF but will entertain offers from other programs.

MORE FOOTBALL: Georgia freshman linebacker Tavares Kearney has been notified that the university has charged him with disorderly conduct for allegedly grabbing a teacher who accused him of cheating on an exam. ... James Moore Jr., the football coach at the University of the South at Sewanee, Tenn., for 32 years who also coached four other sports at the school, died at 78.... Ohio State, which has played a Mid-American Conference foe each of the past eight years, likely will face two in 2006. OSU coach Jim Tressel said his program is looking to add a MAC opponent when Division I schedules are expanded to 12 games next year. ... University of Florida senior Ryan Lochte finished second behind American Michael Phelps in the 200-meter individual medley at the Mutual of Omaha Duel In The Pool.

Times staff writer Greg Auman contributed to this report.

[Last modified August 3, 2005, 00:37:06]