Appeals to come from WAC reps

Steve Carp

Wednesday, Sept. 2, 1998 | 11:13 a.m.

The eight schools leaving the Western Athletic Conference have agreed to have its representatives who serve on various NCAA committees resign those posts.

Some of those individuals, however, aren't ready to accept that.

UNLV tennis coach Larry Easley is in the final year of a six-year run as chairman of the NCAA tennis committee. He's not about to step aside just because a bunch of presidents said he should. Besides, UNLV is still in the WAC for this year. Wouldn't the WAC want some representation?

"I was so ticked off," Easley said Tuesday. "There's so much politics involved. I've been involved in collegiate tennis for 34 years. If the other coaches thought I was trying to manipulate things, don't you think I wouldn't be serving?

"Certainly, I was caught in the middle," Easley said. "It was strictly a punitive measure on the WAC's part. But I didn't take it personally. I mean, I didn't think that anyone was out to get me.

"When UNLV left the Big West (in 1996), I didn't give up my appointment. And it's really not a WAC position. The NCAA championships committee appointed me, and they appointed me before UNLV joined the WAC. As long as I was at a school, I'd keep my title."

Easley received a call from athletic director Charlie Cavagnaro last week informing him of the resolution agreed upon unanimously by the 16 WAC presidents and that he would be asked to step down from his NCAA post. At the same time, Cavagnaro and president Dr. Carol Harter urged Easley to stay on, since his appointment came from the NCAA and it came before UNLV joined the WAC.

"They told me that in my case, it wasn't the WAC's call to make," Easley said. "The NCAA wrote to (WAC commissioner) Karl Benson to tell him that.

"It was nice of Charlie and Dr. Harter to support me. I'm not a politician. I'm just a tennis coach who is trying to help his sport. I have no agenda other than to see the college game grow."

Benson said it's not Easley that's the problem, but the fact an agreement was made by the departing eight schools and the attempt to deviate from it.

"I don't question Larry Easley's integrity or his ability to fulfill his obligations and responsibilities to the NCAA," Benson said. "It's not a matter of whether the WAC nominated him or the NCAA nominated him. It's a matter of a very unique set of circumstances (the WAC's breakup). Is it appropriate for someone from the departing eight schools to be placed in a position where there could be a conflict of interest?"

Easley, who recently was named to the Intercollegiate Tennis Coaches Association men's operating committee, said he'd like to finish what he started, that being overseeing the postseason championships for men's and women's tennis at all three divisional levels.

"I've been there five years," he said. "I'd like to finish it out."