Posted on: Monday, July 9, 2001

Foreign players' status concerns UH

• Ferd Lewis: Rainbows sweat out notice of another NCAA go-around

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

Rainbows guard Predrag Savovic, left, played in a top-level league in Yugoslavia. Advertiser library photo

Hawai'i men's basketball coach Riley Wallace may have been in Illinois on his family's annual summer vacation last week, but his concerns were still in Manoa.

"You're always concerned for your players until you know for sure what's going on," Wallace said.

He was referring to the NCAA's recently-issued memorandums to athletic directors across the nation identifying specific Division I men's basketball players from foreign countries and their eligibility issues. UH officials have not yet received any inquiries from the NCAA, but with nine foreign players on this year's roster, Wallace said it is probably just a matter of time.

In particular, the NCAA is hoping to learn more about players from Europe, the leagues they play in before coming to America, and whether they are compensated for playing in those leagues.

The Rainbows have five players from Europe: All-Western Athletic Conference guard Predrag Savovic and forward Bosko Radovic from Yugoslavia, forward Mindaugas Burneika from Lithuania, center Haim Shimonovich from Israel, and incoming junior forward LucArthur Vebobe from France.

If the NCAA cites any of those players in its memorandum, UH must respond with information to determine if that player is eligible. UH compliance coordinator Daniel Arakaki said on Friday that he had not yet received any letters from the NCAA, but expected at least one this week.

Savovic was already being scrutinized after he was mentioned in an investigative article that appeared in the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News the week that Hawai'i was in that city for the NCAA Tournament. The article accused several foreign players of holding professional status before enrolling at NCAA schools.

Savovic has admitted competing in a top-level league in Yugoslavia, but not as a paid player. He played one season at Alabama-Birmingham before transferring to UH.

"He's been cleared at UAB and by us," Wallace said. "We think he's OK, but it's up to the NCAA."

Wallace said he is also anticipating the NCAA to inquire about the basketball pasts of Burneika and Radovic. Neither, however, played in top-level leagues like Savovic.

"The background information we have on Mindaugas and Bosko is clear," Wallace said. "I'm confident both those guys are OK."

According to an NCAA release, Division I basketball programs need to pose the following questions about the teams or leagues that foreign players come from:

• Does the team recognize or promote itself as a professional (or semi-professional) sports organization?

• Is the team directly supported or sponsored by a team that recognizes or markets itself as a professional (or semi-professional) team?

• Is the team a member of a league that recognizes itself as a professional (or semi-professional) league or is directly supported or sponsored by a team or an organization that recognizes or promotes itself as a professional (or semi-professional) league?

If the answer to any of those questions is yes, "all members of the team would jeopardize intercollegiate eligibility." But as Wallace said: "If they stick to those exact rules, a lot of players across the nation will have to sit out."

Shimonovich served a 22-game suspension last season for participating as an unpaid player in a top-level league in Israel.

"Through the years, they've never really enforced it," Wallace said. "Haim is the first one I know of that lost time for playing in one of those leagues."

The NCAA sent two representatives to Europe recently to learn more about some of the leagues there, a move Wallace said is "probably a good thing because they can see that it's a different system over there."

Vebobe, who played on France's junior national team, has yet to enroll at UH, but Wallace does not foresee any background problems with him.

In any case, Wallace said the NCAA's scrutiny of foreign players has already affected the Rainbows' recruiting. He said they recently had to turn away another player from Israel because he played in a league similar to the one Shimonovich played in.

Hawai'i assistant coach Jackson Wheeler, who recruited Burneika and Vebobe, is concerned about the future of foreign basketball players merely seeking an opportunity to play in America while receiving a college education.

"It's hard to say what's going to happen until all the decisions come down," he said. "But it's definitely going to change the recruiting scene."

You can reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8101.