COMMENTARY : Why Does Valvano Still Have His Job With the Wolfpack?

What was the line on the Maryland-N.C. State game Wednesday night?

Just wondering.

Of course, when the N.C. State basketball team is in the building, you find yourself wondering the strangest things.

If there’s any truth to the old saw about the relationship between smoke and fire, then N.C. State would be well advised to trade in the team bus on a fire truck, and the team mascot ought to be a Dalmatian.

Smoke is not just in their eyes. It’s everywhere.

Jimmy V, the coach, says his team is having trouble staying focused amid all the turmoil. Maybe that’s not a bad thing.

In the recent past, some deserving undergrads were apparently focusing on money their agents were slipping under the locker room door.

And weren’t those betting slips tucked inside their Nikes?

Ah, college basketball. Youthful enthusiasm. Large and loud crowds. Large and loud boosters. Illegal payoffs. And the odd accusation of point-shaving. It brings a tear to your eye, does it not? Yes, smoke will do that.

I’m serious: What was the line Wednesday night?

Here’s a better question: How does Jim Valvano keep his job? And a follow-up: Does he have compromising pictures of someone important tucked inside his Nikes?

The latest allegation against N.C. State is, of course, that the team shaved points during the 1987-88 season. This would be the big one. This would be the smoking gun. It’s not that Valvano might have been personally involved--hey, the kids supposedly got $1,000 per game; that’s chump change for the president of JTV Inc.--it’s that the alleged fixing of games happened on his watch. But, what didn’t happen on his watch?

Jimmy V is supposed to preside over a basketball program, not a free-for-all. At N.C. State under Valvano, we had the unhappy meeting of a school that wanted to win, particularly in basketball, at any reasonable cost and a coach who is driven, at the usual costs, to succeed. Jimmy V has always looked out for himself. He didn’t mind that Chris Washburn, whom he recruited, scored 470 on his college boards. And he didn’t mind when Washburn got himself in trouble, not so long as there were games to be played. Don’t worry, Chris, pick you up at jail at 7.

It’s gotten worse from there. The program is presently on two years’ probation for six major violations. Valvano was the coach and the athletic director, and yet he says, as surely as Ron Reagan did on the Poindexter tapes, that he never knew of a single rule being broken.

He didn’t know all the money with which an agent was filling Charles Shackleford’s pockets, either.

And the point shaving, my gosh, what do we think he is?

What do we think he is?

First, let us discuss Jimmy V’s good points beyond his obvious coaching abilities:

--He’s funny.

--He’s very funny.

--He’s a laugh riot.

So, why not get Jay Leno to replace him?

Jimmy V may not be a crook, but, if he isn’t, the guy is a master at always knowing precisely when to look the other way. That’s when he wasn’t out of town doing a TV show. If that many things go wrong at a program over which you’re in charge, you’re to blame. It’s as simple as that. And having led a team to a national championship doesn’t make you any less culpable.

The State squad that won it all was the little team that could. Now, Jimmy V is the little coach that shouldn’t. He says he wants to be part of the solution. A little late, Jimbo.

Go do your TV show. Go do your radio show. Give your motivational speeches. Make all that money you always dreamed of making. But, understand, there’s more to it than that.

His program is a disaster. The only one in worse shape that I can think of is Illinois, where they’re readying the blindfolds and cigarettes in advance of the NCAA firing squad.

Speaking of firing, what are the folks at N.C. State waiting for? Haven’t we reached the part of the game where you’re no longer allowed to pass go?

We know we’ve reached the point where a person identified as a former N.C. State player goes on ABC-TV and, with his voice and face obscured, tells of fixing games. Maybe it’s not true. Certainly, people are innocent until proven guilty. But, for Valvano, it doesn’t really matter so much whether or not players actually fixed games. What matters is that from what we know of Valvano’s program, the idea of an N.C. State player shaving points is perfectly believable.

The most unbelievable aspect of the entire mess at N.C. State is that Valvano remains the coach, even while academic types are studying the situation. This is not rocket science or medieval literature. It’s a simple ethics lesson, which N.C. State and Valvano have, in combination, failed miserably and continue to fail every day Valvano keeps his job. And you know what, it was an open-book test.