The Cavalier daily. :: Thursday, April 3, 1969 :: University of Virginia Library

NOT LONG AGO there appeared in the Washington Post a
most interesting advertisement. Surrounded by a banner reading,
"We want You at the University of Maryland" were four snapshots
of leading high school basketball players that Lefty Diesell and
the University of Maryland would very much like at College Park.

The M Club and the Terrapin Club sponsored the ad and
included four revealing reasons as to why the high school athletes
should attend Maryland. One eye-catching motive stated was,
"Because ... upon graduation you will stand out in the business
community as a 'preferred graduate', the man who was able to
take advantage of Maryland's high ranking educational
standings." Another flattering paragraph read, "Because ... you
can bring exciting basketball back to the Baltimore-Washington
area ... play one of the toughest schedules in the nation under
coaches with winning records ... have added the bonus of playing
before your 'home folks' in the 14,000 seat Cole Field House ...
and help bring the NCAA Championship to its rightful place ...
the Nation's Capital."

WE COMMEND the M Club and the Terrapin Club, (although
we speculate that a certain Lefty Diesell was a prime instigator,)
for the novelty of the idea. Indeed, an advertisement for top
basketball prospects in the heralded Washington Post sounds
prestigious. Messrs. James Brown, Jim O'Brien, Floyd Lewis, and
Dave Frietag must undoubtedly have been impressed with their
snapshots and all the clever things Maryland had to say about
them and College Park, knowing that most of Washington had
seen and read the same thing.

The advertisement appeared in Sunday's edition, and by
Monday one of the four, Jim O'Brien, had committed himself to
come to Maryland. According to Mr. Chauncey Durden of the
Richmond Times-Dispatch, O'Brien had seen the ad but wanted
to come to Maryland anyway so as to play for Mr. Diesell.
(Wouldn't it be nice if it were that easy to recruit top notch
players for the University of Virginia).

SUCH IMAGINATIVE THINKING from the M Club and the
Terrapin Club is praiseworthy, and would be a welcome sight in
Charlottesville. Certainly this university's athletic facilities and
academic standings are equal if not superior to those in College
Park, Maryland. But yet we are dismayed with the end-product of
this imagination.

Just how commercial are college athletics going to be? The
large advertisement and its apparent success must only be an
indication of things to come. Perhaps a one-minute slot of prime
time tube with an appropriate jingle will better benefit recruiting.
If schools are willing to put up the funds for newspaper ads, why
not TV commercials? Colleges and universities continually cry
out against the vicious circle of recruiting and grant-in-aid
expenses, yet these same schools are willing to incur any
monetary setback to come up with a winner. Understanding that
athletic departments raise money wholly apart from the academic
bank accounts, we must sound a little bit naive to think that
some of the funds spent on recruiting could be used for academic
scholarships and the like.

IT SEEMS A PITY that top athletes have to be put on the
selling block next to new Pontiacs and tire ads. Maybe Mr. Sebo
should trot out to the Charlottesville Airport, rent himself a
one-engine plane, and trail a banner declaring the school's
courtship of grant-in-aid hopefuls. We think not. Nor would we
propose a loudspeaker truck patrol the streets extolling the
University and lauding the assets of potential Cavaliers.

The M Club and the Terrapin Club have come up with an
imaginative facet to the art of successful recruiting, and credit is
due the University of Maryland for their technique; but this
advertisement, however successful, cannot help but emphasize the
blatant commercialism of college athletics.

WE NEITHER DENY nor condemn the beneficial effect that a
successful athletic program can have on the entire community of
a university. Take Davidson's hard-court prowess or Alabama's
football kingdom — better yet, UCLA's basketball. Such
programs pay for themselves and probably a little more. But we
must question the very role of athletics in a college career.

Where does one draw the line between the college student
seeking an education and the semi-pro college athlete under so
much pressure to produce that his academic livelihood is in
jeopardy? That's a sticky question, and we do not presume to
attempt a knowledgeable answer; but furthermore, we worry that
no answer is self-evident.