Illinois fires football coach
■ OUSTED: Lou Tepper
compiled a losing record in
his five seasons on the job
By Matt Kelley
Tne Associated Press
CHAMPAIGN, 111. — Lou Tep
per took pride in running a clean
program at Illinois and in his play
ers’ high graduation rate and civil
ity.
In the end, those qualities
couldn’t overshadow two straight
poor seasons for the Fighting Illi
ni, and Tepper was fired.
“It became a question of com
petitiveness,” athletic director
Ron Guenther said at a news con
ference Tuesday. “We had all the
elements. We just weren’t win
ning games. This is not a business
decision. Ultimately, this is about
winning games.”
In a statement Monday, Tepper
said, “Our philosophy has been to
educate by promoting academic
achievement, positive social be
havior, racial harmony and hard
nosed winning football.” Tepper
said he was “sorry that we have
not had more success on the field
this season.”
Tepper, 51, is 25-29-2 in five
seasons at Illinois.
He said he disagreed with the
decision, but will remain coach at
Illinois (2-7, 1-5 Big Ten) in the
Illini’s final two games — Satur
day at Minnesota and Nov. 23
against Wisconsin in Champaign.
Minnesota coach Jim Wacker
also will be in a countdown situa
tion. He announced today he is
leaving after five losing seasons,
but will coach the last two games.
Purdue’s Jim Colletto and Indi
ana’s Bill Mallory are the other
Big Ten coaches who are leaving.
Guenther praised Tepper’s
“class and dignity” in announc
ing the firing Monday.
“Unfortunately, we have not
been as successful on the field as
we would expect, and we feel a
change in leadership is necessary
at this time,” Guenther said.
Tyrone Washington, a safety
who played under Tepper from
1992-95, said he respected the
coach.
“It’s a shame it had to go down
like this,” Washington said.
“Things just didn’t work out for
him.”
Illinois lost its first three games
by a combined score of 116-11,
lowering already dismal atten
dance at Memorial Stadium. The
Illini played before an average of
more than 16,000 empty seats in
Champaign this year, including a
crowd of 54,000 in the 69,000
seat stadium for last week’s 48-0
loss to No. 2 Ohio State.
Topper’s replacement probably
will make more than the $286,342
Tepper made as coach, members
of the university’s Board of
Trustees said.
“We’re aware that coach Tep
per was probably in the middle or
lower end of the pay scale among
his counterparts,” said board
Chairman Thomas Lamont.
LSU admits to NCAA violations
■ CONTROVERSY: The track team will
voluntarily reduce its number of scholarships
By Guy Coates
The Associated Press
BATON ROUGE, La. — After denying for two
weeks there were NCAA violations involved in
LSU’s scholarship scandals, athletic director Joe
Dean now admits to one.
The admission came after a letter was sent to Dean
by the state, asking that he certify that there were no
violations, legislative auditor Dan Kyle told the
House Education Committee Tuesday.
In a letter dated Monday, Dean acknowledged
there was a “secondary” violation and that the
NCAA will allow LSU to voluntarily reduce the
number of scholarships in the track program.
NCAA rules don’t allow athletes to accept a spe
cial chancellor’s scholarship, Kyle said. The student
receiving the scholarship was a walk-on athlete in
the track program, he said.
Dean couldn’t be reached immediately for com
ment.
Rep. Buddy Shaw, R-Shreveport, lauded Kyle, say
ing that if Dean had not been sent a letter “we would
not have known” about the violation.
“You are right,” said Rep. Carl Crane, R-Shreve
port. “We would have never known about this if Dr.
Kyle hadn’t asked for certification.”
Kyle gave the committee information two weeks
ago saying that “one or two" athletes had received
scholarships from the chancellor’s Incentive Award
program.
That program, geared for minority students in
need, became a source of embarrassment for LSU
when a university audit showed most of the scholar
ships were given to white students and a large num
ber of them went to a certain fraternity.
The chancellor’s assistant, who was associated
with that same fraternity, handed out the scholar
ships. He apologized and resigned. A week ago,
chancellor Bud Davis resigned over the flap.
During that time, Dean said in a news release and
later at the Press Club of Baton Rouge that there
“were absolutely no NCAA violations.” Dean also
chastised legislators who indicated there might have
been violations.
The athletic director said last week the NCAA
rules are complex and that legislators should have
called him before making such comments.
Minnesota coach to leave after season
■ RESIGNATION: Jim Wacker
is one of four coaches in the
Big Ten who will not return
next season
MINNEAPOLIS — After five
losing years as Minnesota football
coach, Jim Wacker is leaving at
the end of the season.
“I think it’s time for this pro
gram to have new leadership; I
think it’s time to hire new peo
ple,” Wacker said at a news con
ference. “I have no doubt this ad
ministration’s going to pick the
best person for the job. And
they’re going to get it done. It’s go
ing to turn.”
Wacker is one of four coaches
in the Big Ten who won’t be back
next season. Indiana fired Bill
Mallory; Purdue coach Jim Collet -
to announced his resignation; and
Monday, Illinois fired Lou Tep
per.
Wacker said he told the players
this morning at an emotional
meeting. He was seen leaving in
tears.
“Let’s just say it’s a tough,
tough day,” Wacker said at the
news conference. “I came in five
years ago with high expectations
and dreams. I had no doubt at this
time we would be at the top of the
Big Ten and Rose Bowl champi
ons. The main reason it didn’t
happen is the guy you’re looking
at right here. It just didn’t hap
pen.”
Wacker has said he wanted to
end the season with at least six
wins to make his fifth season a
winning one. The Golden Go
phers are 3-6 and on a six-game
losing streak following a 45-28
loss Saturday to Wisconsin; two
games remain.
Wacker told friends Monday he
wanted the Gophers to be able to
hire a new coach by Dec. 1, the
Saint Paul Pioneer Press reported.
He said it was a tremendous dis
advantage when he was hired in
late December 1991 and couldn’t
assemble a staff until after Jan. 1,
the newspaper stated.
Wacker, who is 15-38 in his
fifth season, has a mandate to win
five games this season. When he
signed a two-year contract exten
sion just before the final game of
1995, it included the stipulation
that he would resign if he didn’t
win at least five.
Meet: Joint practice session next for Ducks
■ Continued from Page 7
perienced rowers instead of eight.
However, both the men and
women’s races in Washington
this weekend featured an eight
man entry from Oregon.
The Head of the Lake meet is
the most prestigious head race on
the West Coast and featured
squads from Stanford, Gonzaga
and Washington. The men fin
ished 15th out of 16 boats, while
the women placed 10th out of 12.
Although the places were lower
than those at last week’s Portland
Loop, “We had a much better row
than last week,” Holmes said,
“and our margins were much
closer.”
Both races were won by Wash
ington, which competes at the
NCAA level and is a fully-funded
program. While the Ducks hus
tled to find enough rowers for two
boats, the Husky’s men’s team
featured 125 freshman.
Next up for the Ducks is a joint
practice session with Oregon
State this Saturday. The novice
boats from each school will also
have a competition. Following
that, the Ducks will hibernate un
til spring, when the new season
starts. Spring races are 2,000 me
ters, as compared to fall’s 5,000
meter contests. Practice sched
ules will be adjusted accordingly,
with rowers doing sprint work
outs three days a week and run
ning on off days.
Come race days, the Ducks
hope to be on a level with crews
from Western Washington, Puget
Sound, Portland Lutheran and
Oregon State.
Interface Listen Ud1
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