Friday, November 2, 2001
The mood at the Hawaii men's basketball tip-off banquet last night was cautiously optimistic. Savovic still waiting
for rulingVebobe likely to sit 2 or 3 games,
Savovic still being investigated
By Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comJust hours before the Rainbows and their boosters met at the Stan Sheriff Center, the NCAA's Board of Directors upheld the recommendation by its management council regarding foreign players. The decision was to withhold athletes who competed in first-tier professional leagues overseas from a maximum of 20 percent of the number of pro contests played or eight games, whichever is less.
The ruling affects two Hawaii players: senior Predrag Savovic and junior Luc-Arthur Vebobe. Vebobe's penalty will likely be 2.2 games, but there is still no determination on Savovic, the Rainbows' leading scorer last season.
"What does it do to me?" Savovic asked Rainbow coach Riley Wallace after yesterday's teleconference call.
The answer is that no one knows yet.
Wallace, UH athletics director Hugh Yoshida and school counsel Jan Gouveia were to meet today to decide on a course of action. Wallace's position is that nothing will change; he believes Savovic should not miss any games.
"There are no differences in the facts we will again present to the NCAA," said Wallace. "There are no changes in our strategies. Savo did not knowingly play with pros, had no contract, no agent and did not get paid. We've said all along he shouldn't sit out any games."
Wallace said it was unclear how many games the all-conference guard was involved in and that documentation from the league itself was poor.
The numbers were clearer for Vebobe, a native of France. He was pulled up from a second-tier league and participated in 11 games.
"We asked about the 0.2," said Wallace. "They haven't decided yet."
Yesterday's action changes the existing policy of the reinstatement subcommittee, which specifies that student-athletes who participated in first-tier professional competition in a foreign country would be withheld from one intercollegiate game for each professional game played.
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
