Article on Whaley

[Rob Kouba]

Problems in college sports, and a Whaley of a tale 
Dave Hickman 
913 words 
8 July 2003
Charleston Gazette
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P1B 
English
(Copyright 2003) 
IS IT JUST me or are things getting worse in college athletics these
days, not better. The NCAA's presidents get together and preach about
regaining control of what has become one of America's largest, most
profitable industries - Division I sports. They call it presidential
control, the theory being that the tail has wagged the dog far too long
and it is high time the dog fought back. 
We're not talking about the Atlantic Coast Conference here, although a
case could be made that its unseemly raid on the Big East could be
Exhibit No. 1. Truth be told, that was a case of the free market form of
presidential control. 
It may not strike anyone as the kind of control academicians should be
exercising - i.e., building an even bigger, more powerful athletic
machine - but at least it was the presidents doing the deed. 
No, what we're talking about now is the continuing lack of control many
college presidents still exert in the day-to-day workings of their
athletic departments. While on the one hand demanding restraint and
control over sports run amok on the NCAA level - a problem so immense
that it would take years to correct - so many of these same pillars of
academia turn a blind eye when it comes to the simple things they can
control. 
At St. Bonaventure, the president signs off on admitting a basketball
player with no credentials other than a welding certificate. 
At Georgia, Jim Harrick is given yet another chance to run a clean
program and fails. 
At Fresno State, even now the basketball program is paying for the sins
of Jerry Tarkanian, who was hired despite a lifelong aversion to playing
by any set of rules. 
To steal a line from Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese, welcome to
the world of presidential control. Surely someone is going to take a
stand, right? 
Well, the line in the sand apparently won't be drawn in Cincinnati.
That's where last week one Robert Whaley arrived for the start of summer
workouts. 
You remember Whaley, right? 
In the summer of 2001, a jury found itself deadlocked on whether or not
he had raped a 13-year-old girl seven months earlier and a mistrial was
declared. Prosecutors decided not to retry the case. 
This is the same Whaley who, while denying he raped a 13-year-old,
admitted the night was a bit fuzzy because he had been drinking and
smoking pot in his room with three other girls that night. 
This is the same Whaley who was described by one doctor at his trial as
"homicidal.'' 
And then this winter - near the end of a two-year hitch at Barton County
Community College - it is the same Whaley who was charged with two
felony counts of aggravated battery when he used a baseball bat and a
table leg as weapons in a fight. 
Oh, but the felony counts were reduced to a pair of misdemeanors, to
which Whaley pleaded no contest. That got Cincinnati off the hook from
its own rules that ban athletes who have been convicted of a felony from
competition. 
Phew, that was a close one. 
And so it allowed Whaley, a 6-foot-10 center, to arrive in town, where
he was immediately photographed for a Cincinnati newspaper signing an
autograph on the back of a 7-year-old boy. It allowed him to be
embraced, literally, by coach Bob Huggins. 
"He gave me a big hug and said: 'Welcome. It's about time you got here,'
'' Whaley told the Cincinnati Post. 
And, most importantly, it allowed him to begin working out with the
Bearcats, who needed a 6-10 post player in the worst way. Forget that
they actually went out and got one in the worst way. Ah, now that is
presidential control. 
Then again, maybe Robert Whaley is a changed man. You've got to give the
guy a second chance, right? And a third. And a fourth. Gale Catlett was
ready to do it two years ago, but when he couldn't figure out how to get
the guy into school without paying his own freight - he couldn't give
Whaley a scholarship because he wasn't academically qualified - Whaley
was never heard from again. 
He'll be heard from in Cincinnati, though. One way or another. While he
serves probation for the charges stemming from the baseball-bat assault
at junior college, Whaley will write a letter each month to the court.
He will pay the more than $4,000 in medical bills for his victims. Oh,
and he'll probably be the Bearcats' starting center and sign even more
autographs on the backs of adoring little boys. 
"I just think it's one of those ordeals that everybody goes through,''
Whaley said of his litany of misdeeds. 
Of course it is. These are the normal troubles all teen-agers go
through, right? 
Well, here's hoping Robert Whaley's troubles are all behind him. It
would be nice to see the guy turn his life around, even if all the prior
evidence points to that as being hopeless. 
If he doesn't, well, at least Cincinnati gave the poor kid a chance. If
the guy implodes, who knows, maybe it will be Huggins who takes the hit.

But fear not, Bearcats. Maybe your president will hire Tarkanian. 



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