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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Indiana To End 1-Class Tradition

Associated Press

The Indiana High School Athletic Association traded an 86-year-old tradition for trophies, voting Monday to replace the single tournaments in basketball with four separate class championships.

The 12-5 vote by IHSAA directors - academic administrators and athletic directors - reflected a feeling among their colleagues that the time had come to give smaller, generally less-competitive schools a better chance to win.

“I don’t think it will change the image of Hoosier Hysteria,” board president Phillip E. Gardner said. “I choose to think the game is bigger than the way the tournament is set up. Those who follow basketball will continue to follow basketball, boys and girls.

“Indiana’s tradition of strong basketball, I certainly hope, will continue.”

Football is the only Indiana sport contested in separate classes based on enrollment. Delaware, Hawaii and Kentucky are the only other states with single-class tournaments in basketball.

One of the most outspoken critics of the separate class proposal was Bobby Plump, the state’s 1954 Mr. Basketball from tiny Milan, the last small school to win the boys tournament.

“I’m not sure that there are many losses I’ve had that gave me the same devastating feeling that (vote) did,” Plump said.

Under the proposal approved by the board, starting in the 1997-98 season, the IHSAA’s 384 basketball schools would be divided into four classes of 96 teams apiece.

Gardner, the principal at Wes-Del High School near Muncie in central Indiana, recited the benefits of Monday’s vote: “The opportunity for more schools, more students and more communities to experience the possibility of going higher in the state.”

He added, “We said all along, the bottom line is to do what’s best for the student-athletes.”

Opponents could force a referendum among school principals by gathering the signatures of 20 principals from each of the state’s five districts within 90 days. A simple majority - 193 of the 385 high school principals - would overturn Monday’s vote.

“I think it would be appropriate simply because of the 86-year tradition,” Plump said. “I think the principals ought to vote on it.”

One voting opponent, Jennings County principal Steve Riordan, said the school’s students and fans were strongly opposed to separate tournaments. “Based upon that, based upon what I thought was best for kids, I voted to remain with one class,” he said.

IHSAA commissioner Bob Gardner said the change will be reviewed after two years.

“I don’t think anybody can sit in this seat and be a lifelong Hoosier resident and not feel a loss of tradition to a certain degree,” Bob Gardner said. “But we’re an educational institution. We’re making decisions on what we feel are the best interests of the students we serve.”