Ward can play, but it won't pay
In addition to trying lacrosse professionally, U.Va. star will attend law school in Baltimore
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Jun 8, 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE - The winner of the Heisman Trophy can expect to make millions of dollars as a professional athlete.

The winner of the Tewaaraton Trophy? That's another story.

"Hopefully one day maybe players will be able to make a living playing lacrosse," Matt Ward said, but that day isn't in sight.

Ward, an attackman from Oakton, led Virginia to the NCAA lacrosse title last month in Philadelphia. At a ceremony last week in Washington, he received the men's Tewaaraton, given annually since 2001 to the best player in college lacrosse.

That same week, Ward was drafted by and joined the Baltimore Bayhawks of Major League Lacrosse, whose season began May 20. Like his teammates and other players in the 10-team league, he'll draw a modest paycheck.

"None of these guys are giving up their day jobs yet for MLL," U.Va. coach Dom Starsia said.

The MLL season lasts about three months, and if Ward were to play in each of the Bayhawks' 12 regular-season games, he'd be paid about $7,000, according to Eric Rhew, a spokesman for the team. Because Ward joined the team late, his pay will be prorated.

The top annual salary in MLL is about $18,000, Rhew said. The games are on weekends - teams practice the night before - and the large majority of MLL players have full-time jobs unrelated to the sport.

"There are only a couple of guys who could make a living in lacrosse right now," Starsia said. "That would mean maybe playing indoors [in the National Lacrosse League] and outdoors [in the MLL] and having a sponsorship deal [from an equipment company]. You almost have to get into the camp business to do this full time."

Ward, who graduated from U.Va.'s McIntire School of Commerce last month, will follow another career path. He plans to start law school at the University of Baltimore late this summer. Whether he'll be able to juggle law school and MLL in 2007 and '08 isn't clear.

"I'm going to take it one day at a time," Ward said, "but being in the [commerce] school at Virginia and also playing a varsity sport prepared me for situations like this. I'm not ready to give up a sport that's been such a big part of my life, and I look forward to playing at a higher level."

Tewaaraton, incidentally, is the Mohawk name for the early version of lacrosse that tribe played. Ward is the second player from U.Va. to receive the men's Tewaaraton.

The first was Chris Rotelli, who was honored after helping the Cavaliers win the NCAA title in 2003. Rotelli, a midfielder for the MLL's San Francisco Dragons, has been working as a sales representative for Cascade Lacrosse.
 

For PG's Bivens, next stop is U.Va.
Football prospect didn't have his name called in baseball draft
Richmond Times-Dispatch Jun 8, 2006

For John Bivens, the Major League Baseball draft was not a dream come true. And so the two-sport star from Prince George High School will head to the University of Virginia on a football scholarship this summer.

"Things happen for a reason," Bivens said last night, "and I've got a pretty good backup plan. I got a full ride to U.Va. Right now. I'm just going to work hard and get ready to go to U.Va."

Bivens, a 6-2, 210-pound senior, recently was named Central Region player of the year in baseball. If a major-league team had offered a substantial signing bonus after drafting him, he might well have chosen to immediately pursue a pro career in that sport.

But Bivens was bypassed in Tuesday's portion of the draft - the first 18 rounds - and teams, aware that he had a football scholarship waiting in Charlottesville, apparently weren't interested in wasting a pick on him in the final 32 rounds yesterday. Signing bonuses paid to late-round picks typically are modest.

"Teams know that if they took me [late in the draft], there's no way I'd sign," said Bivens, an outfielder in baseball.

Bivens, who's projected to play linebacker at Virginia, is considered one of the jewels of football coach Al Groh's incoming recruiting class. Bivens plans to play baseball at U.Va., too.

"I'm not mad or sad [about the draft]," Bivens said. "Maybe a little disappointed. That's been my dream since I was a boy." - Jeff White
 

Motion protests DA's bid for data
'Fishing' is claimed in Duke lacrosse case
Anne Blythe, Staff Writer

DURHAM - District Attorney Mike Nifong is on "a fishing expedition" in his quest for records of students not charged in the Duke lacrosse case, attorneys for one player said in court papers filed this week.
Nifong issued two subpoenas May 31. The first asked Duke University for home addresses for 47 lacrosse players and two other students; the second asked for identity card data that could track where the 49 students were in the hours before and after the alleged rape.

Thomas C. Manning of Raleigh and Robert Ekstrand of Durham, who represent Frederick Krom Jr., a lacrosse player from Summit, N.J., filed a motion in Durham Superior Court on Tuesday asking that Nifong's subpoena be quashed.

An escort service dancer alleged that she was raped at a team party that started March 13 and extended into the early hours of March 14.

Players David Evans, 23, of Bethesda, Md., Collin Finnerty, 19, of Garden City, N.Y., and Reade Seligmann, 20, of Essex Fells, N.J., have been charged in the case.

Attorneys for the accused have said their clients are innocent.

On May 15, Nifong issued a statement saying he expected no other indictments in the case.

"The district attorney is apparently on a 'fishing expedition' as it relates to Fred Krom Jr.," Manning wrote in the motion.

The motion argued that student records are privileged under federal law and struck out against Nifong's handling of the the case. The motion described the rape investigation as "an investigation of sorts."

Nifong had not shown that the information could not be obtained other ways, said Manning, contending that it was "abhorrent" to seek the information through "the shield of a judge's chambers" and subpoenas.

Nifong could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Manning said in his motion that Nifong had no legal basis for using "the subpoena power of the court to 'poke' around in" the personal affairs of Krom and his family.

"Specifically, the district attorney must demonstrate that the disclosure of the protected and privileged material serves the end of justice," the motion states.

Krom's father, reached at the family's home in Summit, N.J., declined to comment on the motion or how the investigation has affected his son.

On Wednesday, Bill Cotter, a lawyer representing Finnerty, filed a motion asking that his client be permitted to waive his appearance in court June 22.

 

Holland defends Stokes' moves
Eight ECU players pushed to transfer
Jaymes Powell Jr., Staff Writer

Quinton Goods said he's not angry or bitter, but the former East Carolina basketball player said he was utterly shocked when Pirates coach Ricky Stokes informed him in March that, after he was recruited by ECU, his services were no longer desired.
Goods wasn't the only one. This spring, Stokes told eight Pirates they were no longer wanted and should move on.

Because of the roster blowup, the Pirates will have back only four players next season.

"I was very shocked," said Goods, who is transferring to Charleston Southern and has to sit out a year after averaging 1.2 points as a freshman at ECU. "I was recruited by the coaches, and me being a freshman, I didn't have a shot to prove myself."

The Pirates were 8-20 in Stokes' first season, and Stokes decided to examine the roster and tell underperforming players if they no longer fit.

"We evaluated the entire program, and we had a chance to visit with each player and looked at their goals and objectives and tried to help them find the best place possible," said Stokes, who arrived at ECU last season after a stint as an assistant at South Carolina. "It was a mutual thing."

Goods, however, said losing his scholarship after one season at ECU was not a mutual agreement. And the Charleston Southern coach, Barclay Radebaugh, said the Pirates did not help Goods land at his new school.

"I didn't get any warning," Goods said. "I kind of knew it was going to happen for the older guys. But I didn't know I was going to end up leaving. Basically, they didn't think I was going to be able to play. In my best interest, they told me to leave."

Leaving the school after conversations with Stokes were Goods, Josh King, Tom Hammonds, Tyronne Beale, Jonathan Hart, Japhet McNeil, Nick Mattone and Jeff Robinson.

McNeil has entered the NBA Draft after averaging 4.3 points as a junior.

NCAA spokeswoman Crissy Schluep said ECU has the right not to renew a scholarship.

"An athletics scholarship should be considered a one-year contract that can be canceled for any reason, including athletics performance, at the conclusion of the year," she wrote in an e-mail. "There is no automatic annual renewal of a scholarship."

ECU athletics director Terry Holland, who coached Stokes at Virginia, said Stokes told him of his intentions and the athletics director agreed.

"What [Stokes] talked to me about was that most of our kids were having a tough time meeting expectations, on and off the court, and most of them were talking about transferring. They weren't as committed as he needed his players to be," Holland said. "[Stokes said] he was going to sit down and have a good heart-to-heart with all of them and tell them where they stood."

Although Holland said he supported Stokes' decision, he acknowledged that essentially erasing most of a roster is a rarity in NCAA Division I athletics.

"To have it happen at this level is unusual, but if you go back and look at when Jeff Lebo took over at Auburn, the same thing happened there," Holland said. "A transition period usually does result in a good number of transfers. This is an unusual number, but Ricky is being unusually honest and frank with the players."

Auburn spokesman Chuck Gallina said four players transferred after former North Carolina player Lebo arrived but that they were not encouraged to leave.

"We lost four starters," Gallina said. "[Lebo] would have liked to have had them back."

ECU faculty representative David Dosser said he believed that the transfers were mutual decisions and that nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. He said no player had come to him with any grievance.

Eckerd College coach Tom Ryan, who said he landed King without assistance from ECU, said he first heard from other coaches during late winter that ECU planned to get rid of much of its roster.

"I was in shock," said Ryan, who said hearing about a couple of players leaving is common.

Though most of the jettisoned ECU players were recruited by former coach Bill Herrion, who declined to comment, Goods was recruited by Stokes. Holland played down the chances of other ECU players on struggling teams having their scholarships go unrenewed.

"Can a coach take away a scholarship strictly for performance reasons? Technically, they probably can," Holland said. "I don't think this is performance-driven, it's a matter of who does [Stokes] want on his team. A coach has every right to make that decision."

Holland also said the basketball decisions in no way prevented any player from returning to school at ECU.

"These guys don't want to come back and not play basketball at East Carolina. They want to come back and play basketball. They can't do that," Holland said. "They can come back to East Carolina, but it'll be Ricky's decision who plays on the basketball team."

As for Goods, "Everything is working out well," he said. "I'm using it as motivation. I thank those [ECU] coaches for giving me a chance."