COLLEGE BASKETBALL / GENE WOJCIECHOWSKI : Notre Dame Faces More Tarnish

The 1991 “resignation” of Notre Dame’s Digger Phelps always had the distinct smell of fish to it. Nothing against Phelps’ social conscience, but since when does someone walk away from a life’s work so he later can help observe Cambodian elections?

Phelps, who coached the Irish for 20 years, put on a happy face the day he announced his departure from Notre Dame, but it was obvious there was more to the story. How else do you explain the noticeable absence of any of the school’s power brokers--Rev. E. William Beauchamp, executive vice president; Rev. Edward A. Malloy, president; Richard Rosenthal, athletic director--at the farewell news conference? Didn’t 17 winning seasons, 14 NCAA tournament appearances, a trip to the Final Four and a perfect graduation rate deserve better than the generic “We-wish-Digger-well” statement Rosenthal later issued to the media?

Yes, well, now comes Notre Dame’s worst nightmare: another tell-all book on the inner workings of the school’s hierarchy, this one by Teresa Godwin Phelps.

That’s right, Mrs. Digger.

First there was “Under the Tarnished Dome,” a best-selling expose on Coach Lou Holtz and the Irish football program. Now this, “The Coach’s Wife,” sort of a stand-by-your-man look at the hypocrisy of college athletics.

Terry Phelps, a Notre Dame graduate who teaches at the university’s law school, does what her husband wouldn’t or couldn’t do the day he announced his resignation: She fills in the blanks.

According to Terry Phelps, Rosenthal told Digger as early as March of 1990 that the school wanted a new coach. Rosenthal then said the only reason Phelps wouldn’t be fired immediately was so he could complete his 20th season at Notre Dame.

Flabbergasted by the conversation, Digger told Rosenthal he wanted to coach the Irish five more years. Rosenthal told him fat chance.

Still thinking he could save his job, Phelps took his case to Malloy.

“Father Malloy said that even if I won the national title next year, I was still finished coaching here,” Digger later told his wife.

The reasons? Malloy, Beauchamp and Rosenthal didn’t like Phelps’ style of play, were worried about the lack of top-20 rankings and decreasing ticket sales. Or as Terry Phelps wrote: “They measured success by the bottom line--money.”

DIGGER AND THE DOME--PART II

As one might expect, Rosenthal and Beauchamp don’t fare well in the book. Among the revelations:

--Rosenthal was “irate” when Digger agreed to play Louisiana State in a nationally televised game in New Orleans, with a portion of the proceeds earmarked for a homeless center in South Bend, Ind.

--Rosenthal wrested the scheduling duties from Phelps, the result being a ridiculously hard lineup of opponents that has contributed to the program’s downfall, to say nothing of compromising the players’ abilities to function as students.

--Rosenthal, as well as Malloy and Beauchamp, ignored Phelps’ request that the basketball program shed its independent status and join a conference.

--Beauchamp sent a letter to Phelps in November of 1990. In it, Beauchamp said Phelps could return for the 1991-92 season if he accepted a $20,000 pay cut, allowed Rosenthal to have the final say on recruiting and announced his decision to resign at season’s end. In a later letter, the offer was withdrawn.

Rather than fight the administration, as he had initially vowed to do, Phelps ultimately decided to retire. Said Phelps to his wife: “Look at what the response has been to questions about my future--’We review every coach every year.’ After 20 years of opening my veins for Notre Dame, I’m to be ‘reviewed.’ ”

Phelps, now with ESPN, wasn’t without his coaching faults. Of course, the same can be said of Phelps’ replacement, John MacLeod, who has seen his victory totals go from 18 to nine to six and counting.

Which brings us to the Notre Dame administration’s newest fear: Does Carol MacLeod, the coach’s wife, have a literary agent?

THAT’S NOT THE WAY HE REMEMBERS IT

John Pelphrey, a first-year assistant coach at Oklahoma State, was watching videotape of a recent game when a commercial featuring a fat guy wearing a Duke jersey suddenly appeared on the screen.

Pelphrey didn’t pay much attention to it until he noticed it was Chris Farley of “Saturday Night Live” fame, and that Farley was re-creating Christian Laettner’s game-winning shot against Kentucky in the 1992 NCAA East Regional final.

“I was watching almost in disbelief,” Pelphrey said.

In the clever spot, Farley elbows his way past the five life-size cardboard cutouts of Kentucky players, lumbers toward the basket and then launches shot after shot until, finally, the ball drops through the hoop.

“And that’s the way it happened!” Farley shouts, followed later by, “Well, almost.”

Pelphrey laughed when he saw it. Sort of.

Look quickly and you’ll see Pelphrey’s cardboard likeness knocked to the ground by Farley. That’s because the former Wildcat forward was assigned to help cover Laettner on the final shot that night in Philadelphia. He did what he could, but Laettner made the magical jumper anyway.

Duke went on to win a national championship. Pelphrey, his playing career ended by the shot, simply went home.

“All that pain and hurt is gone now,” Pelphrey said. “It only took a year and a half.”

Pelphrey never has watched a replay of the Kentucky loss, considered by some to be the most exciting NCAA tournament game of all time. However, he has seen the Farley spoof.

“I think he’s a funny dude,” Pelphrey said. “I thought it was really cute. But I’ve been wondering if I could get a piece of that money.”

Sorry, no residuals.

THE TV GODS

In easy-to-understand language, the essence of coaching success, courtesy of Temple’s John Chaney:

“You got to get players. I think the thing that gives you players, the thing that opens the doors in the homes of young people, (is) the fact that you’re able to talk to them about something they’re familiar with. They’re familiar with having seen you on TV.

“(North Carolina Coach) Dean Smith does not leave his door--and I know he doesn’t leave his door. He’s got assistant coaches out there working their tails off and the only thing he’s got to do is get on a phone and say, ‘Did you get the letter of intent?’ That’s all he’s got to ask. He just mentions his name, ‘This is Dean Smith.’ That’s all he’s got to say to the average kid. Because he’s a household word in this business.

“Any time a guy can come in at the 11th hour-- the 11th hour --and who was not even in the picture and recruit the top recruit in the country (7-foot center Rasheed Wallace of Philadelphia). . . . That does not happen because somebody is looking at the radio.”

Temple, which plays football in the Big East Conference and basketball in the Atlantic 10, wants to become a full-time member of the Big East. Wherever the Owls wind up, Chaney said there had better be lots of television lights. Or else.

“We’ve certainly got to look at that TV, because that seems to be what’s wagging everybody around,” he said.

COUNTDOWN IN CAROLINA

Ten things you should know about tonight’s game between No. 1-ranked Duke and No. 2 North Carolina at Chapel Hill:

(1) Even with North Carolina guard Donald Williams, the Final Four MVP, considered a longshot to play because of injury, the Tar Heels are favored. Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski said it was the first time he could remember a top-ranked team relegated to underdog status.

(2) Georgia Tech Coach Bobby Cremins picks the Tar Heels to win: home-court advantage. Clemson’s Cliff Ellis and Florida State’s Pat Kennedy said Duke had a chance, but they didn’t say it with much conviction.

(3) This is the 191st meeting of the teams, but only the first time they have entered the game ranked Nos. 1 and 2.

(4) In 12 of the last 32 games between the Blue Devils and Tar Heels, one of them has been ranked No. 1. That team has won nine of those 12 games.

(5) It is 11.1 miles from the doorstep of Cameron Indoor Stadium to the Dean E. Smith Center. We just thought you’d like to know.

(6) Krzyzewski says North Carolina is “more talented than we are.” And: “It’s astonishing how much talent they have coming off the bench.” He’s right.

(7) Duke or North Carolina has won the last three national championships.

(8) Clemson’s Ellis says the game will have higher TV ratings than the Final Four. Doubtful--it’s on ESPN2.

(9) The most telling matchup of the evening will feature much-improved Duke center Cherokee Parks vs. All-American Eric Montross, once dubbed, “Useless White Space,” by the Blue Devil student newspaper.

(10) Williams will play briefly, but it won’t matter. Krzyzewski will figure out a way to semi-neutralize the Tar Heels’ inside attack. That done, North Carolina’s most glaring weakness will be exposed: no outside shooting. Duke wins.

THE REST

Who has the best conference? “I think we’ve probably got the best athletes overall of any league,” Arkansas’ Nolan Richardson said of the Southeastern Conference. Countered Clemson’s Ellis: “Without a doubt, this is the league.” The weekly RPI rankings, which measure strength of conference, had the Big Ten No. 1, followed by the ACC and the Big Eight. The SEC was ninth. . . . If the season ended today, comeback-player-of-the-year honors would go to Texas point guard B.J. Tyler, who missed all but 13 games last season because of injuries and later entered the John Lucas Center in an effort to combat depression. The Longhorns have won 11 of their last 13 games, due in part to Tyler, who leads the Southwest Conference in scoring. With Tyler back in the lineup, Texas is averaging nearly 20 points more a game.

Top 10

As selected by staff writer Gene Wojciechowski

No. Team Record 1. Duke 15-1 2. Arkansas 15-2 3. UCLA 14-1 4. North Carolina 17-3 5. Louisville 16-2 6. Michigan 14-4 7. Indiana 13-4 8. Temple 14-2 9. Arizona 16-3 10. Kentucky 17-3

Waiting list: Syracuse (14-3), Connecticut (18-2), Missouri (15-2), Massachusetts (16-3), Purdue (17-3).