European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 23, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday March 23, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 23 commentary Mcaa confusing crime and punishment the caller wanted to confirm that Walter Berry would show up to receive his College basketball player of the year trophy. All reasonable expenses airfare hotel meals would be paid. We re afraid to let him go anywhere Katha Quinn sports information director at St. John s University said half jokingly. If he were a senior it would be no problem but Well have to Check with the  such is the confusing state of crime and punishment in College athletics that schools Are reluctant to let players do anything without checking first. And for Good reason. Indiana All american Steve Alford was suspended for one game after posing for a Charity fund raising Calendar. Colorado state place kicker Steve Deline nearly lost his last year of eligibility when the Mcaa discovered he had taken a horseshoeing course at another school and considered counting that time against him. Berry is not unique. Underclassmen have won awards before. North Carolina did t hesitate to let Michael Jordan Fly to Seattle to pick his up in 1984, although the school checked with the Mcaa first. But then none of Jordan s teammates had been suspended for half a season starting with the Mcaa tournament for taking what some people considered an innocent trip. Now with the Mcaa loudly proclaiming its intention to crack Down on serious Rule violations that is exactly what happened to St. John s and 6-foot-11 freshman Center Marco Baldi. No wonder Quinn was cautious. The irony of Baldi s troubles from St. John s Point of View is that the Mcaa saw no problem with the eligibility of Michigan state s Scott Skiles who has had three scrapes with the Law in the last two years including drunk driving and marijuana Possession charges. Skiles will be serving time in jail for violation of his probation on the marijuana charge after the tournament. His eligibility for the tournament however was not questioned. Baldi s was. The things Skiles were arrested for involve criminal statutes said Doug Johnson director of legislative services for the Mcaa. The Mcaa covers athletic participation. It is not against Mcaa rules to drive drunk. We have no jurisdiction Over him in those mat ters. We can Only hold him responsible for what our legislation  Baldi s Case however was covered. The italian National who played his High school Ball on Long Island had met with Mcaa investigators last january. It seemed a routine inquiry athletic director Jack Kai ser said. At the time it was my impression that this was part of an ongoing program of interviews. It did t seem out of line. We cooperate always. Marco an swered All their questions and that was  not quite. Further inquiries were made in february Johnson said. The answers indicated possible  the violation involved a trip Baldi made last june to his Homeland for a tryout with his National team. Part of the trip was paid for by Simac Baldi s italian club team and part was paid by the italian federation. He could have accepted a ticket from the federation but not from Simac Johnson said. The ticket was part of the  e on the Day the St. John s team left for califor Nia and the opening round of the tournament Kaiser was notified that the Mcaa staff thought Baldi was ineligible. I was shocked to say the least he said. I went through the material and As far As i was concerned he was  at that Point the Case was turned Over to the Mcaa administrative committee chaired by Jack Davis of Oregon state president of the Mcaa. Our Job is to interpret legislation Davis said. The ques Tion was whether or not the student was professionalized. We had to Rule on what he could receive from an outside Amateur  after considering the material submitted to it the committee supported the Mcaa staffs position that Baldi had stepped Over permissible boundaries. He was declared ineligible. All institutions Are responsible for certifying the eligibility of athletes. We advise them and remind them that using ineligible players could cause them to forfeit games and Money later on. We Tell them to be careful be sure. What we did was warn St. John s and  one of the others apparently was Louisiana state which was asked on the eve of the tournament to document the eligibility status of Center Jose Vargas. Some questions had been raised Over his play in a developmental league in the dominican Republic. When coach Dale Brown told three of his players that Vargas status was being questioned they threat ened a Boycott saying in effect if Vargas did not play they would not play. Seven hours before leu s tournament opener against Purdue Vargas was cleared by the school if not by the Mcaa. If there is a question of an athlete s eligibility and an institution chooses to play him they Are playing him at their own risk Johnson said. Asked if schools other than St. John s had heeded the Mcaa s warning on players with questionable eligibility Johnson said no  the staff does not declare players ineligible he continued. The institution does. Then they Appeal for restoration of eligibility to the eligibility  that s semantics Kaiser said. O St. John s petitioned for a review of Baldi s Case by the eligibility committee chaired by Olav Koll vol athletic director of Lafayette College. The committee s decision was that Baldi s ticket indiscretion required 16 games on the sidelines. It floored me Kaiser exclaimed. We have to make a judgment As to the severity of the violation Kollevoll said. We try to reflect on previous cases and see if this Case is similar. There is no set pattern. The staff has a log of previous cases. You try to make a  the eligibility committee has wide berth in setting penalties. We Are restoring eligibility not taking it away Kollevoll said. We could have confirmed the administrative committee s finding and kept him out permanently. We took one game for every two he had played illegally. We could have taken one for  the penalty was arrived at with the stroke of logic Johnson said. I Don t think they were lenient Kaiser said. The kid made an inadvertent mistake. It was a technicality. Obviously there was no intent on the boy s part or the club s part or the National team s part to break the  St. John s will Appeal although the urgency of that Appeal was eliminated when the redmen reduced to eight players by Baldi s suspension lost in the tournament s second round to Auburn. Kaiser has gathered additional material in Baldi s defense material that would have been impossible to assemble on the Short notice he had when the Mcaa first notified him of the problem. My position still is he was and is eligible Kaiser said. Kollevoll offered some Hope for St. John s. More often than not appeals have changed our ruling he said. However Kaiser was hardly consoled. He s missed two games he said. How do you get that Back you Don  the associated press pacers teaching Tisdale a lot about Aba by Hank Lowenkron Indianapolis a Wayman Tisdale has t turned the Indiana pacers into an Aba Power but the team has turned its Rookie All american into More of a player. I m mighty proud of myself with the Progress i be made. I did t think i d be this far. I am Able to shoot the outside shot now the former Oklahoma Star said. At the Start of the year i was just out there waiting for it to be blocked. I also had a lot of learning to do about what you could do in the Aba without drawing a  Tisdale became Indiana s Consolation prize when it Drew the no. 2 pick behind the new York kicks in last year s seven team Patrick Ewing lottery. Through the pacers first 70 games he averaged 14.5 Points and was shooting just Over 51 percent 434-844 from the Field. He was the team s third leading rebounded averaging 7.2 per game. Those figures have come despite Early season foul troubles that limited him to less than 30 minutes of playing time per game. Indiana coach George Irvine thinks tis Dale s numbers would have been More impressive if stalled contract talks had t kept Tisdale away from Rookie Camp. He just did t understand what it takes to be in the Aba said Irvine whose team is battling Chicago and Cleveland for the a photo Wayman Tisdale. 14.5 Points 7.2 rebounds last playoff spot in the Eastern conference. Last year the pacers won Only 22 games. When he reported he said he was i shape to play in the Aba but after two Days he came in and said coach i m really sore. I be never run this much. I be never been through anything like this that s be cause rookies Don t know what this league s about. I think it s very difficult for a Rookie coming into the league and you compound that when you have to go from playing one position in College to another in the pros. And when you miss training Camp it is very difficult to reach your potential Irvine said. First of All when he came to training Camp he was pretty much out of shape. He s lost about 25 pounds. He s improved but he still has a Long Way to go before becoming a legitimate Forward in this  Tisdale agrees. I was t at All in shape because i just did t realize what was necessary he said during a recent interview. I had never seen a pro practice and i did t know what it takes. It was a big adjustment for me to just learn the pro  at Oklahoma where he was a three time All american the 6-foot-8 Tisdale was used in the Post and usually was Able to overpower his opposition. He was the big eight s All time leading scorer 2,661 Points and its third leading rebounded 1,048 despite passing up his senior year to join the Aba. A Schoolboy Star at Washington High i Tulsa Tisdale arrived at football Happy Oklahoma and led the sooner into then Caa tournament three consecutive years. He was the Only freshman Ever to make All american and he played for the Gold medal winning . Olympic Basket Ball team at the 1984 los Angeles games. Then came the pacers who have been More accustomed to losing than winning. It s Tough to adjust very hard Tisdale said of the losses. Once you be played As Many games As i have now you realize the important thing is just to keep playing hard. A few months ago i was very Down. We had some bad losing streaks. But now we be been doing better. You can see it in our faces in the locker room As we travel and on the court. We re relaxed smiling and we know we can make the  Herb Williams meanwhile has become Tisdale s role Model. He s the Type of Forward i want to be come the Rookie said. He knows the in Side game and can shoot from the outside. We talk about playing against other for wards and when i m on the Bench i concen trate on watching Herb at both ends of the  says his Mentor tis has developed in Many ways. He s not fouling As much. He had to make the big transition in his play ing style. He s a willing student. But he s got to catch on to the Way the Aba is played. It s something every Rookie goes through. You re All this and ail that in College and then suddenly you find out you re just another