USD Men's Basketball 1996-1997

ARCHIJfCJURf 101 Continued

sports teams or other major attrac– tions with which to share the lime– light, a team situated in, say, central Kentucky need not fear fi ckle fan support. What else is there to do in Lawrence, Kansas on a Tuesday night if you're not at Phog Allen Fieldhouse watching the Jayhawks? On the other hand, notice that when the New York Knicks became perennial NBA contenders, the St. John's program suffered through a precipitous demise. Same for UCLA when the Lakers' Showtime played to a packed house at the Forum. Conversely, when the Georgetown Hoyas enjoyed massive success in the 1980s, the Washington /Baltimore professional sports tapestry never looked more drab. But it's a fine line. Schools locat– ed too far from civilization are at a severe di sadvantage. Laramie, Wyoming might be a nice place for a ski vacation, but what highly touted schoolboy would want to spend four years of his life in soli– tude there? Not surprisingly the Wyoming Cowboys haven't been to the Final Four since 1943. IT DON'T MEAN ATHING If YOU AIN'T GOT THAT RING It's a virtual truism that to be considered a dynasty, a school has to win titles, although there are a handful of schools-Purdue, Illinois, UConn and Arizona come to mind-that, year-in, year-out, play competitively only to disinte– grate come March. A true powerhouse that doesn't win championships is like a tme point guard who doesn't pass the ball.

PLAY BY THE RULES Nothing will stop the progress of

a program dead in its tracks quicker than a date with the NCAA Rules Violations

Committee. Slipping players some fast cash or conducting similar no– no's rarely pays off in the short– run; and it is completely detrimental over the long haul. UNLV was the best team in the country during the early 1990s. Unfortunately, at the same time that the team was winning oodles of games, it was playing fast and loose with NCAA rules. One pro– bationary period and three head coaches later, the Running Rebels closed out the 1995-96 season with their second consecutive los– ing record . Of course once a program achieves a certain status, even probation is not necessarily a death knell for the program. Kentucky faced probation as recently as six years ago and rose from its ashes to win the sixth CAA title in the school's history. The latest big-time program to encounter the P word is Louisville. It will be interesting to see how a school that has won two titles in the past 20 years will respond to this mar on an otherwise clean escutcheon.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION With the

notable excep– tion of UCLA, at most dynasty schools, college hoops is the only

L. JON WERTHEIM is a free– lance writerfrom Philadelphia. This is hisfifth year writing for College Hoops Illustrated.

game in town. With no other professional

Above: Jerry Tarkanian's Runnin' Rebels rode a hot streak to the 1990 National Championship, but couldn't outrun NCAA sanctions. They haven't been seen in the NCAA Tournament since 1991. Left: Even with the addition of Shaq to Hollywood, UCLA basketball should continue to thrive in a town big enough for all parties concerned.

COURTESY UCLA SPORTS INFORMATION