Black Coaches’ Deal to Bring Dialogue, More Involvement : College sports: NCAA vows to enhance minority input in 15-point settlement, but does not address scholarship cut that started boycott talk.

An agreement brokered by the Justice Department sets a framework for increased dialogue between the Black Coaches Assn. and the NCAA, and promises to include minorities in reviewing tougher eligibility standards, scheduled to go into effect in August of 1995.

The 15-point settlement, announced Wednesday in Washington by officials from the Justice Department’s Community Relations Service, does not directly address the Division I basketball scholarship cuts from 14 to 13, which triggered the BCA’s boycott threat last January. But it does list as a goal “increased educational opportunities, particularly for Blacks and other minorities.”

“You have to remember that at the NCAA Convention, the vote didn’t mention educational opportunities, only the 14th grant,” NCAA spokesman Francis Canavan said.

“I think that has been the problem with the public’s perception of this whole matter,” said USC Coach George Raveling, a prominent BCA member. “The media might have confused the issue with the 13 scholarships because it showed us as self-serving. This has been more about employment opportunities and representation. I think the NCAA kept an open mind on the things we talked about.”

The settlement lists the broad goals of increased opportunity for minority representation in NCAA decision-making areas, increased input in committees to study requirements for athletic eligibility and increased participation by minority females in sports.

The NCAA scheduled two meetings with the BCA this summer to offer reports on its progress.

All parties expressed satisfaction with the settlement, but said the process is ongoing.

“Both sides have worked hard to reach this agreement, and will have to continue that hard work to accomplish these goals,” said Drake Coach Rudy Washington, president of the BCA.

As part of the settlement, the BCA will have a representative on an NCAA committee that will study the stricter academic requirements scheduled to begin in 1995. The entrance standards will change from a 2.0 grade-point average with a minimum score of 700 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test to a sliding scale of minimums involving the two, such as a 2.5 GPA and 700 score or a 2.0 GPA and 900 score.

The issue of academic eligibility has been a subject of ongoing debate since passage of Proposition 48 in 1983 when the 2.0-700 requirement was instituted.

That measure also allowed a nonqualified or partially qualified athlete only three years of eligibility instead of four.

In the settlement, the NCAA agreed to introduce legislation at next year’s convention to increase that to four years.

Many black coaches have called the academic requirements discriminatory. When the NCAA decided later to eliminate one year of athletic scholarship money for those the so-called Prop. 48 athletes, Georgetown Coach John Thompson walked off the floor during a Hoya game at Landover, Md., in protest.

Thompson was one of the BCA members who negotiated Wednesday’s settlement, along with Washington, Raveling, Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson and Temple Coach John Chaney.

The Justice Department became involved last January after the Black Coaches Assn. threatened to boycott some games.

The threat came after the NCAA Convention, where delegates rejected a proposal that would have restored the basketball scholarship limits to 14. The BCA said that the move served to restrict education opportunities for minorities, particularly blacks.

“The mediation process reminded us that we are colleagues engaged in a common purpose,” said Joseph Crowley, NCAA president.

“I certainly feel optimistic,” said Raveling. “We have been dealing with people like Joe Crowley and (executive director) Ced Dempsey and (presidents commission member) Judith Albino, and we think they are fair-minded people.”