Amateurism and hypocrisy.(NCAA's enforcement of amateur standing of foreign college basketball players)(Brief Article)

Even if the team Hawaii shooting guard Predrag Savovic played with in Yugoslavia were professional, it bore no resemblance to the Milwaukee Bucks or the Houston Rockets. One of his teammates worked in a factory. One was a pig farmer. Occasionally, that guy showed up for games with swine blood on his hands.

Even if the league in Lithuania where South Carolina center Marius Petravicius played were professional, it was nothing like what we would see in the NBA. There were no seats in the gymnasium, and no tickets were sold. It cost him to play because his club had no money for expenses, and he had to commute two hours from his home.

Intending eventually to compete in college basketball, Savovic and Petravicius resisted opportunities for compensation. But the NCAA staff is examining Savovic, Petravicius and at least 60 other players, primarily Europeans, who played on club teams in their native countries, for possible violations of the organization's amateurism rules.

The central issue is an NCAA bylaw dictating that athletes who play on teams considered professional--or those playing with or against professionals--jeopardize their amateur standing.

Many schools received letters from the NCAA in July asking them to check the backgrounds of foreign-born players. Many still are in the process. The penalty facing those players: one game on the sideline for each game played with or against pros.

As the process continues, the matter becomes more contentious. Many athletes started classes with no idea what their playing status would be. The Big East Conference is working to place a discussion of this issue on the agenda for the fall meetings of the NCAA's management council and board of directors. The National Association of Basketball Coaches held a conference call last week to provide information and advice to affected coaches.

Coaches were told to be aware that some foreign leagues call themselves professional for public relations value, even if they aren't, and that coaches should learn whether players knew or had reason to know they had played with pros.