Group Wants NCAA to Move Regional

College coaches want the NCAA to move the 2002 South Regional from Greenville, S.C., because the state flies the Confederate flag and refuses to make Martin Luther King’s birthday a permanent holiday for state workers.

Jim Haney, executive director of the National Assn. of Basketball Coaches, said Friday his group supports the Black Coaches’ Assn. in calling for the change. The NCAA selection committee said it will monitor the situation closely.

George Raveling, who spent 22 seasons as coach at USC, Iowa and Washington State, said if the site selection committee had “some people who look like us, and came from the same environment as us, maybe they would have been sensitive to this issue and not make that decision.”

The Confederate flag has flown above the South Carolina statehouse since 1962 when it was raised to commemorate the Civil War centennial. It represents the state’s history and heritage to supporters but slavery and discrimination to opponents.

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Indiana freshman George Leach has sued the NCAA, claiming the governing body arbitrarily denied him eligibility this season after he fell 10 points short of the required SAT score to play.

The lawsuit asks the judge to declare the 6-foot-11 player a full qualifier and issue an injunction prohibiting the NCAA from applying and enforcing its test score requirements.