European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 10, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 24 the stars and stripes wednesday August 10,1988 Blacks in Tennis Noah leads the Way Tymi Gerecht Stratton Mountain it. Sitting in the locker room in Lyon France Todd Nelson looked around atthe other four people in the room and was struck by the Odd similarity. There was Yannick Noah and Yahiya Doumbia and his coach and Nduka Odi Zor. I definitely noticed Nelson  Black Guys in the locker room no White  and they weren t just hanging , Doumbia and Nelson were three of the four Semi maoists Doumbi went on to beat Nelson to win the $270,000 tournament in february. Nelson recalled the scene after he upset sixth seeded David Pate Doumbia surprised no. 4 Amos Mansdorf and an other Black Roger Smith stunned no. 1 Ivan Lendl in the second round of the$602,500 Volvo International Tennis tournament. Nelson and Smith agreed that mor Blacks Are discovering Tennis and More Are doing Well on the pro tour but the also cautioned that it will be a Long time before there is any real Dent in the sport s White domination. There Are about eight or 10 Blacks inthe top 200 five years ago there were less than half that said Nelson 27, of Sandiego a seven year tour Veteran who made it to no. 58 in 1986 and now is ranked 94th. Doumbia 24, of Senegal is ranked117th Smith 24, of the Bahamas is 150th. Since the retirement of Arthur Ashe Noah has been by far the most successful Black in Tennis consistently in the top 10since 1981 and Winner of the French open in 1983. Yannick has done a lot to open doors Nelson said. You see a Guy play at a High level and you Start thinking it s possible. We All look up to Noah far More than Ashe. Yannick has More of a new Energy for that Black involvement in  but Nelson Smith and Doumbi stressed that they Don t separate Black from White while on the court. My goal is not to be the top Blac player in the world Nelson said. I Don t want to be thinking 10 year from now what i did in a White Man s sport i want to be thinking How Good did. I did t get into Tennis to break any barriers. There was no guarantee i d even make  if we do Well we do it for us Doumbia said. If it opens doors for others  but the door is bolted for most Blacks because of Money they said. Tennis is a Rich sport for Rich  try to say it in t anymore but it still is Doumbia said. You can use a soccer Ball Over Andover again you have to buy new Tennis balls after one afternoon he said. A Racket can Cost $100, Smith said and when you go to the Park if one Guy has a basketball 100 Guys can play. It the same with facilities. And How Many Blacks can afford the tour if they Are Good enough i get no support from anybody. I Payfor everything Doumbia said. It takes thousands of dollars for travel room and Board for the lesser players. That s where the doors Are limited for minority kids Nelson said. You know you re going to have a lot of  in contrast once anyone makes the major leagues in baseball or football or basketball or soccer the team pays the living expenses and salary is guaranteed. Nelson Smith and Doumbia got this far As individuals. There were no pro Grams that helped them along. All three broke from the traditional sports that tugged at youngsters in their native countries. It s such a different sport for us from our background and culture Nelson Yannick Noah ranked in the world s top 10 since 1981 said. It was not a part of growing  Nelson played baseball and football but it was fun to do something else he said. I said it s a hard game let s see if can get Good at it " Doumbia s Uncle was Senegal s National coach so he had someone to turn to for coaching equipment and  his interest ran counter to the rest of the country whose Only competitive ten Nis players came from the families of Doumbia s Uncle and his own. Smith started by hitting against a Walland from the minute i played i loved  no one in his family played. But heals was a Good High school basketball player and had to choose Between Tennis and basketball in his senior  chose a Tennis scholarship to Ohio state Over basketball scholarships to Sev eral  was very important for a lot of Blacks Smith said. He and Nelson who went to Arizona state agreed that parents of Black Tennis players probably stress education More than parents of White  every top player in the world entered the tour in his teens with Little or no time in  i think Golly if i had done that " Nelson said. But the again you have to look at the other Side. College helped me improve to the level that i could play  Mcaa interested in Bosworth revelations by Ron Jenkins j okla. A now then Caa wants to read Brian Bosworth s Book. The former sooner linebacker now playing for the Seattle sea Hawks in the nil alleged in his soon to be released autobiography that Oklahoma teammates used cocaine and steroids and committed various Mcaa violations. Chuck smrt assistant to Mcaa enforcement director David Berst said monday that All the publicity caught the Mcaa s attention. All i know about the Book is what read in the news accounts Over the weekend smrt said. We will review it to determine its accuracy As we would look at any other possible source of  the Mcaa is already investigating the Oklahoma football program for possible recruitment violations. Bosw9rth s Book entitled the Boz confessions of a modern anti hero will be released next month. In it bos Worth says players freebase cocaine on game Days. He claims one player fired a machine gun from the Balcony of the athletic dormitories steroid were As commonplace As aspirin and there were Mcaa violations ranging from extra recruiting visits to a free plane ticket. Oklahoma football coach Barr Switzer contacted at a Norman restau rant at a dinner following the Barr Switzer Golf tournament declined All comment about allegations Bosworth made in the Book. I m not going to say anything about that i m not in the Book Selling business Switzer said. Switzer said he was disappointed about Bosworth s allegations which he said had upset other Oklahoma foot Ball players he had talked to. I m also disappointed for him be cause he was a great player for Oklahoma. For him to have severed All relationships present past and future with the oui football program i jus wish it had not have happened Switzer said. Switzer said he had not read Chebook adding i Don t care  the Book Drew Little comment fro Mother Oklahoma officials on monday though basketball coach Billy Tubb said family should know better. When you Are family you Don t air your Wash out in a Book or a new spatm6r6 Aro g  in a ta3te Ovek wet fac. / wat per he said. I Don t think Bosworth is in a Posi Tion to write a Book about himself you be got to do something first before you can write a  several other Oklahoma coaches expressed similar comments off the re Cord saying they doubted the veracity of Bosworth s account of some of the events described in the Book. I have no comment that s the head coach s Job. I just coach said Bobby Proctor the sooner defensive Backfield coach. Bosworth continued his silent treat ment of the local Media in Seattle after monday morning s practice. He walked off the Field past reporters without commenting. Steve Sewell for two years bos Worth s teammate at Oklahoma and now a Denver Broncos run Ning Back said he did not see widespread substance abuse among sooner players. All that stuff May have broke Loose after i was gone Sewell told the Denver  had no idea any of that was going on but i was never hanging out with football players. I Hung around wit regular average  he said Bosworth s description of steroid use at Oklahoma was  Bosworth was suspended from the 1987 Orange bowl game after he tested positive for steroid use