NCAA Denies JV Player Prize

At least he had the satisfaction of knowing he made the shot.

During halftime of last Saturday's Harvard-Princeton men's basketball game at Briggs Cage, freshman Steve Brown--vying for the "Bermuda Shoot" prize--sank a basket from mid-court. The reward Brown expected was two tickets for spring break vacation to Bermuda.

Brown, however, learned last Sunday that because he is a JV basketball player, and the award was given at a Harvard-sponsored function, he could not collect the tickets.

What came between the freshman and a Bermuda tan were NCAA regulations concerning intercollegiate athletic "extra benefits" and "amateurism."

"The extra benefits rule basically prohibits athletes from receiving anything extra that other students could not receive," NCAA Legislative Assistant Maureen E. Devlin '81 said.

As for the NCAA's rule on amateurism, Devlin said that no Division I and II athletes can win prizes from contests involving athletic ability, or else the student-athlete becomes a professional player and cannot participate in NCAA competition.

If Brown were to accept the tickets, he would lose his eligibility to participate in intercollegiate sports for the rest of his college career, Devlin said.

Harvard Director of Athletics John P. Reardon, Jr. expressed frustration with the NCAA regulations.

"To have little rules on every single thing makes for a lot of violations no one pays attention to," said Reardon, a member of the NCAA Board of Trustees. "Those paying attention to these rules sometimes think they are ridiculous. [Brown's situation] raises the fundamental issue of whether the NCAA overlegislates sports."

Reardon said that universities and the NCAA should be more concerned with the moral character of a school's coach and athletic director, rather than "lots of little violations most people don't pay attention to."

Brown, a prospect for next year's varsity basketball team, said he has decided not to collect the prize. The prize is sponsored by a local travel agency.

"It was just fun to make the shot," Brown said. "I felt that there might be some problems with the rules. Right after I shot, I started thinking about it. It was just a fun thing."

To participate in the "Bermuda Shoot," spectators at Briggs fill out entry forms in the back of game programs. Three individuals are selected randomly from the entrant pool for a chance to shoot a basket from mid-court, said Sports Information Director Frank Cicero.

The officials will discard an entry if they know it is filled out by an intercollegiate athlete. Apparently the officials who selected the entries did not realize Brown was a member of the JV basketball team, Cicero said.

Associate Director of Athletics Patricia H. Miller said athletes were not warned not to fill out the forms, although they will be from now on.

Earlier this year the "Bermuda Shoot" prize was withheld from senior Mark Blasetti, a varsity football player, for the same reasons that prevented Brown from receiving his tickets.

Devlin said that Blasetti's case is under review by the NCAA, since he had already completed his college athletic career before he had won the shoot, and therefore was not concerned with eligibility for further athletic competition.