The Way Cousy Sees It, Corruption Is Taught

Tulane University revived its basketball program four years after it was dropped because of a point-shaving scandal. But former Boston Celtic great and Boston College coach Bob Cousy perceives an ongoing threat of such scandals:

“For at least 20 years now, recruiting practices in college basketball have been completely corrupt,” Cousy said. “When the example has been set by institutions, impressionable kids get the idea. Do it any way you can. Get the grade, get the votes, get to the top of the ladder--get the money.

“Should we be surprised if in the basketball games at school--or three or four years down the line in the real world--they follow these guidelines along the road of least resistance? We teach them how the game is played. Why are we surprised when they play the game the way they were taught?”

Trivia time: Which current Pacific 10 coach has the most conference victories?

No sermons: Pekka Markkanen, a 6-foot-10 former Finnish soldier who has become the surprise star of the top-ranked Kansas basketball team, on playing in noisy Allen Field House: “In Finland, people sit like they are in church. Here, I like it. Every young player from Finland should come and see what kind of game this is. People here who are 60 years old say, ‘Can you give me an autograph?’ I could understand a 10-year-old asking. But I’m getting more used to it.”

Add college basketball: The University of Connecticut’s Nadav Henefeld, a native of Israel, is averaging nearly five steals per game. One writer has labeled his thefts “Gaza strips.”

He’s been there: Dick Motta, new coach of the Sacramento Kings, coached the Chicago Bulls when the centers were Tom Boerwinkle and Clifford Ray. His center when he coached the Washington Bullets was Wes Unseld, and his center with Dallas was usually Kurt Nimphius.

Motta said: “Not once have (my teams) passed it to the center with the idea of scoring. And who do I get here? Greg Kite! I stay right in my realm.”

Keys to success: William R. Wirtz, president of the Chicago Blackhawks, told the Chicago Sun-Times that he fears the new arena the team will play in beginning in 1992 will lack the atmosphere of Chicago Stadium. Wirtz said: “Chicago Stadium is like an opera house. We wanted the new building to be as close to the Stadium as possible, but it’s difficult because of the costs. When the Stadium was built 60 years ago, it cost $3,250,000--and 12% of that, $350,000, was (for) the organ.”

That’s the ticket: Norm Hitzges, host of a radio sports talk show in Dallas, has been hired by ESPN as an analyst for its broadcasts of major league baseball. Says Hitzges, who has no playing or managing experience: “You hear players say, ‘You’ve never played the game.’ My comeback is, ‘Hey, pal, you never paid your way in.’ ”

Trivia answer: USC’s George Raveling, who also coached at Washington State, has 92.

Quotebook: Stu Jackson, rookie coach of the New York Knicks, on complaints by some players about limited playing time: “The complaining doesn’t upset me. When it happens, I ask myself, ‘What did I expect, Boys Town?’ ”