Notre Dame Names Athletic Director

Notre Dame, seeking to restore its once pristine image, has named Kevin White, who comes from Arizona State, as its new athletic director.

White will be the first Notre Dame athletic director to report directly to the university president in a shake-up of the department prompted by the school’s first NCAA probation. That resulted from the relationship between a booster and more than a dozen players.

Former athletic director Mike Wadsworth resigned under pressure last month after a tumultuous five years that included a downturn in the football program, flirtations with joining the Big Ten and former assistant football coach Joe Moore’s age-discrimination lawsuit, which the university lost.

Rev. Edward A. Malloy, the school’s president, then declared he would assume control of the athletic department, a responsibility that executive vice president E. William Beauchamp had for 13 years. White, 49, was the athletic director at Tulane when he helped resurrect a basketball problem that had been disbanded for seasons because of a point-shaving scandal. He dealt with a point-shaving scandal at Arizona State.

White reorganized Arizona State’s fund-raising structure, pulling various independent booster groups into one organization, the Sun Angel Foundation, which he brought under university control.

He also linked the amount of contributions groups and individuals make to the university to the benefits they receive. The move boosted Arizona State’s annual giving from $1.8 million in fiscal year 1997 to an anticipated $6 million in 2000. It helped him turn a $2.97-million deficit into a surplus of more than $1 million during his first two years in Tempe.

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The NCAA swimming and diving championships, scheduled to start Thursday at Indianapolis, are embroiled in a legal battle with 14 swimmers from Hawaii. The swimmers, disqualified from competing in the national championship because of questionable times, have asked a Honolulu judge to stop the event.

The swimmers’ attorney, Eric Seitz, claims the NCAA improperly disqualified the swimmers because of problems in their times and records submitted by the university. He says the NCAA also hasn’t allowed them to appeal or to try to correct the perceived problems.

A ruling is expected today.

The Hawaii men’s relay team has been ranked among the top three nationally all season.

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Nevada Las Vegas will replace Texas on Hawaii’s football schedule and will play the Rainbows Dec. 2 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu. Texas, scheduled to play at Hawaii Sept. 2, pulled out of that game last week. Texas is required to pay a $100,000 for canceling the game. . . . Former California coach Keith Gilbertson, who was Washington’s offensive line coach last season, has been promoted to offensive coordinator by Coach Rick Neuheisel. Gilbertson replaces Karl Dorrell, who last week accepted a job as receivers coach for the Denver Broncos.

Pro Football

The Arena Football League continues to face labor problems, with 10 players filing an amended class-action antitrust complaint in federal court in Newark, N.J.

After the 2000 season was canceled and then reopened last month, a players’ union formed. But the amended complaint claims the union is a sham, alleging that the AFL owners have attempted to coerce players into forming a union against their will in order to extinguish players’ rights under antitrust laws.

The suit names all active AFL owners as defendants, plus Frank Murtha, a player agent who claims to head the new players’ union, the AFL Player Organizing Committee (AFLPOC).

The 10 AFL players have also filed charges before the National Labor Relations Board, asserting that the AFLPOC has operated in blatant violation of federal labor laws by being supported and financed by the AFL owners.

The amended complaint includes five new player plaintiffs who seek to represent a class of former and current AFL players. The amended complaint also names three additional defendants--the owners and operators of the expansion Carolina Cobras and Los Angeles Avengers, and Murtha.

The Dallas Cowboys announced that they have agreed to terms on a four-year contract with free-agent free safety George Teague. The signing assures the Cowboys of keeping their safety tandem of Teague and Darren Woodson intact.

Strong safety Rodney Harrison agreed to restructure his contract and extend it two years through the 2005 season, basically making him a San Diego Charger for life.

Exact financial details weren’t available, but an NFL source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the deal would average $4 million a year beginning this season. Harrison had been under contract through the 2003 season, at an average of about $3 million a year.

Miscellany

Former U.S. coach Steve Sampson has been offered the job of coach of Costa Rica’s national team, the U.S. Soccer Federation said. Sampson, who quit after the Americans finished last in the 32-nation field at the 1998 World Cup, met last week in Los Angeles with Hermes Navarro, president of the Costa Rican Football Federation.

Lisa Leslie had 31 points and 10 rebounds as the U.S. women’s national team, preparing for the Sydney Olympics, beat the Brazilian All-Stars, 87-79, at Santo Andre, Brazil.

The U.S. won two titles at an international freestyle wrestling tournament at Querertaro, Mexico. Mike Mena won the gold in the 119-pound division, beating Canadian Mikhail Japaridze; and Melvin Douglas won at 213 pounds, defeating Switzerland’s Rolf Scherrer.

Scottish CART series driver Dario Franchitti, who suffered pelvis fractures and brain contusions in a February training crash, was cleared to resume racing in time for the March 26 season opener.