[ UH VOLLEYBALL ]
Hawaii will await
NCAA hearing
This volleyball is about to return to the NCAA's side of the court.
Hawaii athletic director Herman Frazier was notified yesterday that the school's appeal to retain its 2002 men's volleyball championship will be heard by the NCAA Committee on Infractions at its December meeting. The deadline to submit the appeal is Oct. 24.
The appeal could have been heard as early as next month, but Frazier said he has been told the committee's agenda is full. Many involved in the case thought the appeal would be heard in February.
The university has retained the Overland Park, Kan., firm of Bond, Schoeneck & King, which specializes in helping schools deal with NCAA issues. The firm has been used by UH and also by Arizona State when Frazier was athletic director there.
At issue is the NCAA's Sept. 5 decision to strip UH of its first national title in a men's team sport due to use of an ineligible player. The athlete in question is two-time NCAA Player of the Year Costas Theocharidis, who participated in a professional league in his native Greece but said he wasn't paid.
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
The NCAA took away the men's volleyball title, and UH is awaiting an appeal hearing.
Frazier said he could not discuss the details of UH's defense, but did say "there are a couple of angles we are coming from."
"We will look for any edge we can have," Frazier said. "We will defend vigorously our student-athletes in this matter.
"I would hate to speculate on the situation. In these kinds of matters, you never know what will happen."
Prior to two years ago, the NCAA did not enforce a rule that has since had an impact on the eligibility of foreign athletes, including several at UH. The rule, concerning unpaid participation in a pro league, has been called unclear by some.
The rule was amended by the NCAA effective Aug. 1, 2002, some three months after the Warriors defeated Pepperdine for the championship. Theocharidis played from 2000-03.
Giving some hope that the appeal will be successful is that the NCAA considered this a secondary violation. It means the athletic department had no way of knowing or suspecting that Theocharidis had violated eligibility rules and did not lack institutional control.
Last month, Michigan became the first school in five years to win an appeal with the NCAA when the postseason ban for its men's basketball team was lifted. Michigan cited an NCAA bylaw that states, "An important consideration in imposing penalties is to provide fairness to uninvolved student-athletes, coaches."
Frazier said he was familiar with two attorneys at the law firm, both of whom formerly worked for the NCAA. He also knows one of the members of the Committee on Infractions fairly well: Gene Smith replaced Frazier as assistant athletic director at Arizona State in 2000.
Other members of the committee are: attorneys Alfred Lechner, Brian Holloran and James Park; athletic directors Paul Dee of Miami and Andrea Myers of Indiana State. Also, faculty representatives Gene Marsh (Alabama), Josephine Potuto (Nebraska), Jerry Parkinson (Wyoming); and chair Thomas Yeager, the commissioner of the Colonial Athletic Association.
