Wallace unruffled by Savovic report

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

The only "sources" Riley Wallace believes are his own.

Wallace, head coach of the University of Hawai'i men's basketball team, was not concerned about recent published reports that star guard Predrag Savovic could be ruled ineligible for the entire upcoming season.

"I would be shocked if he did (miss the entire season)," Wallace said. "I question how somebody can say that he would. That's the only negative thing I've heard concerning the matter."

Instead, Wallace said there is a groundswell of support among his colleagues opposing the NCAA's ongoing investigation of the eligibility of foreign basketball players. Because of that and the possibility of lawsuits by the foreign players, he believes the NCAA may soften its stand on the issue.

"Everybody is saying they talked to this source and that source, well I talked to my own source and he said (the NCAA is) going to have a meeting in the next couple weeks to discuss what was going to be done," Wallace said. "The guy I talked to said there was going to be some changes that could help these (foreign) kids because there have been so many heavy complaints."

At a National Association of Basketball Coaches meeting last week at Las Vegas, Wallace said several "big-name" coaches spoke out against the NCAA's targeting of European players who may have participated on teams with paid professionals prior to enrolling in an NCAA school.

"Every coach I talked to was against what the NCAA is trying to do," Wallace said. "And a lot of them made their feelings known. That's only going to help us and the other teams with foreign kids."

Last month, the NCAA sent letters to 52 schools questioning the eligibility of players from foreign countries.

UH received two letters — inquiring about Mindaugas Burneika of Lithuania and Bosko Radovic of Yugoslavia — and was already conducting its own investigation on Savovic, who is also from Yugoslavia. In addition, UH officials discovered that incoming recruit LucArthur Vebobe, who is from France, could eventually come under NCAA scrutiny.

UH officials are expected to mail paper work to the NCAA tomorrow regarding the basketball histories of all four players.

It is believed that Savovic and Radovic each played in nine games with pros, Vebobe six and Burneika zero. All four said they were not paid to play in Europe. UH set a precedent last year when Haim Shimonovich was ruled ineligible for 22 games — one for each game he played with professionals in Israel.

"These kids are not being given a fair shot," Wallace said. "(The NCAA) has to look at the big picture. Some of these guys were only playing in those leagues because those are the only ones they could play in."