Posted on: Thursday, April 12, 2001
Savovic case gets an assist
By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Writer
Yesterday was the opening of the basketball letter of intent period and the University of Hawai'i's first signing was . . .
A 6-foot-2, 44-year-old attorney?
Richard J. Evrard isn't your usual "signee" but, then, this isn't your typical off-season for the Rainbows. Not when, a month after their appearance in the Midwest Regional, the NCAA enforcement division is still making calls, asking questions.
Not when so much rides on the NCAA being satisfied with the answers it receives.
Enter Evrard, a former NCAA enforcement staffer, and his firm, Bond, Schoeneck & King. They're high-powered specialists in infractions cases with very close ties to the NCAA, and they've been retained to assist the school's General Counsel with the eligibility case of Predrag Savovic.
Savovic, the Rainbows' most outstanding player and leading scorer this past season, had his eligibility questioned on the eve of the NCAA Tournament in an article by the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News.
As part of its investigation of foreign athletes, the newspaper claimed Savovic was one of at least five players on U. S. college teams with "professional backgrounds."
Under NCAA rules, a player does not have to accept money to be considered a pro. Merely playing in a league with players who do receive payment can render a player professional in the NCAA's eyes.
At issue, according to the Daily News, was Savovic's participation with a Yugoslavian team in the Korac Cup, which the paper said is open only to professional teams.
At risk, should the assertions hold, is more than UH losing its top returnee to what should be a promising 2001-2002 team. There's UH's — and the Western Athletic Conference's — share of six years of NCAA Tournament money. There's the prospect of the NCAA, in wake of freshman Haim Shimonovich's case and last year's review of an anonymous complaint, deciding to send a team to look under all the rocks at UH.
Which is why UH has called upon the firm whose Web site proclaims, "successfully appealed for restoration of eligibility for more than 100 student-athletes" and "unequaled results" in representing schools with NCAA issues.
In the burgeoning sports infraction industry, Evrard's group has emerged as the go-to firm handling an NCAA Most Wanted list of miscreants: Minnesota, Fresno State, etc.
For a substantial sum, they've received the benefit of counsel from a well-connected firm whose office manager, Michael S. Glazier, is the golfing buddy and former college roommate of David Berst, the NCAA's chief of staff.
The Rainbows need a point guard and power forward, but given what is potentially at stake, legal muscle as insurance isn't a bad addition.
