Arizona’s Stoudamire Cleared To Play In Ncaas
The NCAA on Tuesday restored Arizona guard Damon Stoudamire’s eligibility for the NCAA Tournament, but teammate Ben Davis remains ineligible.
The school declared both players ineligible Saturday because of violations of NCAA rules, then appealed Monday for reinstatement.
Stoudamire, an All-American who helped Arizona reach the Final Four last season, was ruled ineligible for violating a rule concerning gifts - his father apparently accepted an airline ticket from a sports agent.
“The penalty for that ineligibility is to sit one game,” athletic director Jim Livengood said.
That suspension, the NCAA said, was served when he sat out Saturday’s game against Arizona State.
Davis, who received plane tickets, cash and other gifts worth about $3,000, also sat out the game, a 103-98 double-overtime loss to the Sun Devils.
Stoudamire will play when the fifth-seeded Wildcats (23-7) begin tournament play Thursday against No. 12 seed Miami of Ohio (22-6) in the opening game of the NCAA’s Midwest regional in Dayton, Ohio.
Stoudamire practiced with the team Tuesday before it left for Dayton. Davis, ruled ineligible for the rest of the season, did not.
The NCAA’s eligibility committee, made up of Division I school representatives, will hear an appeal on Davis by telephone today. A decision is expected by the end of the day.
Take a T-O, Dickie
They finished the regular season as the hottest team in the country, winning the Pac-10 and sitting atop both wire-service polls with a 25-2 record and a 13-game winning streak. But there are those who doubt that UCLA is for real. Among them is Dick Vitale, who predicted the Bruins would lose in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Bruins forward Ed O’Bannon heard about Vitale’s Selection Sunday comments.
“Those guys are on the East Coast and they have no idea what we do over here each day,” O’Bannon said. “We don’t pay any attention to Dick Vitale. If we did, we would be 0-27. I mean, that’s why he’s announcing games instead of coaching them.”
Eustachy spurns UNLV
Utah State basketball coach Larry Eustachy signed a long-term contract to remain head coach of the Aggies.
Eustachy opted for long-term security over a comparatively lucrative offer from UNLV, Aggies’ athletic director Chuck Bell said.
“Utah State could not compete with UNLV from a monetary standpoint,” said Bell, “but I’d put the quality of life here in Logan up against anywhere in the world.”
Eustachy, 39, has been mentioned in connection with jobs at several schools, and he talked with UNLV officials last weekend.
News reports say the Rebels offered him as much as $400,000 a year. The Salt Lake Tribune reported Tuesday that Eustachy was making $125,000 a year at USU, which included his salary and a shoe contract.
“You really can’t put a price on happiness,” Eustachy said. “I’ve never been happier in my life and that all starts with the people I work for and the community I live in.”