Trotters Seek Good Woman

Another all-male bastion is falling. The Harlem Globetrotters are going co-ed.

Coach Charles (Tex) Harrison said: “With the tremendous strides in women’s basketball since we first started playing, we think a woman would be an added asset for the Globetrotters.”

He said an ideal choice would be USC’s Cheryl Miller but ruled her out because “we don’t want to tamper with anyone who is still matriculating.”

Harrison said more than 200 women already have tried out and one of them will become a Globetrotter by next year.

This could prove a boon to Red Klotz and his Washington Generals who haven’t beaten the Globetrotters in 14 years.

Or will Klotz be called upon to add a female, too?

Clang!: Anyone notice that the East shot only 40.8% in the NBA All-Star game? The most notable brick-throwers were Moses Malone (2 for 10), Michael Jordan (2 for 9), Micheal Ray Richardson (2 for 8) and Julius Erving (5 for 15).

The only person who shot worse was Rick Barry in the NBA Legends game the day before. He was 1 for 10.

Remember when the Lakers tried to work a deal so they could draft Ralph Sampson?

Said Sampson, after converting Magic Johnson’s assists into an MVP performance in the All-Star game: “It makes you think about it. But that’s over and I’m in Houston. There would be a lot of winning involved, no doubt. He’d push the ball up court, get it out. It would be a lot of assists, it would be a lot of dunks, it would be a fun game to watch.”

Said Johnson of playing with Sampson: “I’ve got some great wing men playing with me now, but I can’t throw that pass up as high to them. I know it’s not going to happen right now, but I would love to play with him. If I did I think I’d average 25 assists a game.”

Add Sampson: Trying to be modest about his award, he said, “Lots of people get the MVP; someone does every year.”

Wrong. The greatest scorer in the history of the game never has won the award, and he had his 14th crack at it Sunday. That’s right, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

For What It’s Worth: Of the first three college teams to record 20 wins this season, two are coached by ex-UCLA coaches. Alabama Birmingham, under Gene Bartow, is 21-5; Kansas, under Larry Brown, is 20-4. Georgetown, defending NCAA champion, is 22-2.

When North Carolina State Coach Jim Valvano did the TV commentary on the Indiana-Illinois game a couple of weeks ago, he got some static from Wolfpack fans for not staying home and tending to the store.

Now, it appears the move could pay dividends. According to John Feinstein of the Washington Post, a recent visitor to N.C. State was Mike Giomi, the 6-7 forward Bob Knight dropped for cutting classes at Indiana.

Giomi would have one year of eligibility remaining if he transferred.

Heartless: From an Associated Press story on the recuperation of Nebraska Coach Tom Osborne from heart surgery: “Several players, including Omaha Central High standout Sean Ridley, visited Osborne in the hospital on Saturday.

“Ridley said Sunday he will attend the University of Iowa.”

Quotebook

Hubert Mizell of the St. Petersburg Times: “My nominations for the three most punishing runners in 1984 are (No. 3) James Wilder, Tampa Bay Bucs; (No. 2) Eric Dickerson, Los Angeles Rams, and (No. 1) Zola Budd, South Africa-Great Britain.”