Sweet Staying With Decision to Play Basketball at Arizona

The announcement last week that North Hollywood High basketball standout Jacinda Sweet had signed a letter of intent with Arizona was supposed to end the phone calls.

It did, but only from coaches.

Ever since, North Hollywood Coach Rich Allen has been inundated with calls from newspapers, network television and cable sports programs. They all ask the same question: Why did Sweet, who is black, decide to attend Arizona in light of the controversy over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday?

Sweet said this week that she had based her decision solely on the strength of the Wildcat program.

“I liked it from the start,” she said. “I won’t change my mind because of that (holiday issue).”

Allen said last week that Sweet expressed concern over the results of the state’s recent election in which voters rejected a ballot initiative that would have created a paid holiday on King’s birthday. Some believed that the outcome was a reflection of the state’s position on the issue of race. Sweet decided to see for herself.

“Nothing like that’s going to stop me,” she said. “It’s none of anybody else’s business--they don’t have to live there for four years.”

Allen said Sweet told him that had she decided not to sign with the school she believed that she would be running away from the problem. And since she is black, she felt strongly that she should address the situation head-on, Allen said.

“I’ll just have to see for myself,” Sweet said.