THE COLLEGES : Stephens’ Gag Order Unlikely to Help Boykin

He is old enough to drive. Old enough to vote. Almost old enough to drink.

But, according to his basketball coach, Shelton Boykin is not old enough, or maybe it’s not mature enough, to talk responsibly.

Boykin, 20, a sophomore forward on the Valley College basketball team, is big news around the University of Texas El Paso these days. With one comment published in The Times Valley edition last month, Boykin caused more of a stir for the Miners’ basketball program than he did in his full season as a UTEP player in 1987-88.

The quote: “When we wanted to go out, we’d get a car. They were nice cars, Cadillacs, Mercedes, Jaguars . . . The coaches went by the books, but the people (read: boosters), that’s a different story. They took care of us; they had some nice supporters . . .”

That claim, along with allegations by two other former Miner players and a former assistant coach in a 1989 Newsday newspaper article, has sparked an NCAA investigation into the UTEP program.

On Dec. 15, the day he read his comments in The Times, Boykin said that he had been misunderstood. Since then, he has said nothing to reporters--by decree of Jim Stephens, Valley’s basketball coach.

Stephens has gone so far as to tell one reporter that the NCAA had been notified that Boykin would not talk to investigators until the conclusion of Valley’s season. The next day, Stephens told another reporter that the NCAA hadn’t even contacted Boykin. “If the NCAA comes to us and wants to talk, we’ll make that decision then,” he said.

In the meantime, all Valley College players will be prohibited from talking to reporters unless they are accompanied by their coach. Boykin, Stephens said, is not going to talk “without me or a lawyer.”

“He’s a young kid,” Stephens said of Boykin. “I’m not saying he didn’t (say what was quoted). He just got on a roll, talking . . . I just can’t let my season go to pot.”

In a conversation with Brad Hovious, UTEP’s athletic director, the day the Times story appeared, Boykin claimed he was misquoted. Boykin, according to a transcript of that conversation obtained by the El Paso Times, told Hovious: “. . . none of us even received any benefit from our boosters except for support on the court.”

Most of the questions posed to Boykin involved the alleged use of cars by UTEP players. What Hovious did not know is that Boykin made claims in the same L. A. Times interview that were not printed. A story scheduled to run in Sunday’s editions of the El Paso Times includes the following excerpts:

“We had food, money, women. If we wanted, access to cars.”

“(At) Christmas, people gave gifts, gave cards, just to be nice.”

“If you wanted to drink, you could. . . . People would let us in bars. They gave us free drinks, offered us free albums.”

“We sold tickets. The ticket situation I don’t think was that good. They could have given us more.”

Each of the allegations is in violation of NCAA rules.

Stephens had been hopeful that silence would bring an end to the controversy. “I just want it to blow over,” he said. “If we don’t talk about it, maybe it will.”

To the contrary. While it is true that the garrulous Boykin could use a lesson in public relations, putting lip clamps on him is not the right idea.

Advising him to simply publicly state the truth would do.

And if he already has been candid, then by all means let him reiterate it.

Valley College’s season isn’t the only thing at stake here. The good name of a university is being questioned, and so is a young man’s reputation.

Shelton Boykin had the first word in all of this. He also should have the last.

No news is good news: Let’s give credit where credit is due. Mike Dunlap, coach of the Cal Lutheran basketball team, was absolutely right when he complained that a reporter had raised the expectations of Kingsmen fans too high.

A preview story pointed out that CLU’s structure would be that of UNLV on defense and of Indiana on offense, reportedly causing Dunlap to chew on a towel and toss a chair.

Indeed, if the hopes of CLU fans were heightened, it made the team’s fall hurt all the more. Dunlap’s squad lost its first 13 games.

It could be noted that the Kingsmen are playing much better, having won two of their past three. But, why make the same mistake twice?

Identifying Mt. Whitney: Will Ken Whitney ever get his uniform straight? Cal Lutheran’s 6-foot-4, 295-pound senior swapped uniform numbers during football games last fall as he rotated between offensive guard and tight end. Now, for his moment under the microscope of National Football League scouts, Whitney will wear the helmet of a hated rival--that of Cal State Northridge.

It wasn’t until early this week that Whitney was asked to play in Monday’s inaugural Martin Luther King Jr. Bowl in San Jose. The game matches Division I college all-stars against those from Division II, Division III and the NAIA.

Whitney, who has bench-pressed 615 pounds, was asked to participate when another lineman reported to workouts 40 pounds overweight. Unfortunately, Cal Lutheran’s helmets are being refurbished, forcing Whitney to don a different battle bonnet.

There is now the possibility of two CSUN helmets showing up on the same line. Barry Voorhees, a 6-5, 290-pound guard from Northridge, also will play.

Price could be right: For John Price, men’s volleyball coach at Northridge, it has become a rite of winter. Every year, it seems, Price predicts that the Matadors will be better than ever.

But then there is that rite of spring: Northridge forever fails to gain a berth in the Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Assn.’s postseason tournament. Price has formed a predictably rosy outlook for the upcoming season, saying, “We have much more talent than ever. It’s a better team.”

Some might say Price stretches credibility to the limit with such statements. The truth be told, he is annually correct. The Matadors are usually better--just not good enough to defeat the likes of UCLA, USC and Pepperdine, which have combined to win 16 consecutive NCAA championships.

Look for the Matadors to make their most serious playoff run ever this season, which begins Monday night with a nonconference game at home against USC.

The WIVA, whose teams have won every national title since the NCAA first sanctioned the event in 1970, has been split into two six-team divisions for the first time. Three teams from each division will gain entry to the WIVA tournament at CSUN in April.

WIVA coaches picked Northridge to finish fifth in its division, behind first-place UCLA, Pepperdine, UC Santa Barbara and Brigham Young.