National Association Of Intercollegiate Athletics

The airplane may have landed at Orange County's John Wayne Airport early Wednesday afternoon but the Concordia basketball team remained above the clouds. That is what winning the first National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics championship will do. The Eagles became the first Southern California team to win the nation's oldest tournament with their 88-84 overtime victory over Mountain State (W.Va.) Tuesday night in Kansas City, Mo.

Vic Shealy has repeated family history all the way to the NAIA national championship football game. But today, Shealy will try to make his own history. In 1972, fourth-year Coach Victor Dalmouth Shealy II led Carson-Newman College of Jefferson City, Tenn., to its first visit to the NAIA playoffs before losing in the championship game. His 11-year-old son, Victor Dalmouth Shealy III, was a ballboy for that team.

The NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament gets underway today at Tulsa, Okla., with a distinct Southern California flavor. Of the 32 teams, five are from California--that's more than any other state--and four of those are from the Golden State Athletic Conference. Azusa Pacific (26-5), Biola (27-7) and Westmont of Santa Barbara (26-5) spent much of the season ranked in the top 10. But all lost in the GSAC tournament earlier in March.

The Azusa Pacific men's track and field team won the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics outdoor championship Saturday. And most of it didn't happen on the track. Azusa Pacific, which won its 10th title in 12 years, scored 82 points to beat Central State of Ohio by 16 points, and 79 of the points came from field events or competitions that included field events.

MARCH MADNESS: College basketball takes center stage this month, with most attention on the NCAA men's tournament, starting March 19. . . . But another tournament features a local team with the best chance nationally: Christ College Irvine's women. Wednesday, the Eagles take a 25-4 record to Jackson, Tenn., for the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics tournament opener against Wayland (Tex.) Baptist.

The NAIA suspended the Central Washington University men's basketball team from participating in the national tournament for two years, citing payments to players in the last three years.

James Chasteen, president of two Alabama colleges, was named executive director of the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics. Chasteen, 51, is president of Athens State, an NAIA school, and John C. Calhoun Community College.

Chaminade University, the small college in Hawaii with a reputation for toppling big basketball programs, will drop its membership in the National Assn of Intercollegiate Athletics and compete in only the National Collegiate Athletic Assn.'s Division II. The switch will take effect after the 1989-90 school year, according to Chaminade's athletic director, Mike Vasconcellos. Chaminade has held a dual affiliation in the NCAA and NAIA.

With the exception of football, the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics has always operated under a one-division format. But that will be changing next year. The NAIA will be forming a Division II, with scaled back competition, for baseball, men's and women's basketball and women's volleyball, starting as early as fall, 1990. Currently, football is the only NAIA sport with a Division II.

The National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics has toughened academic requirements for student athletes by requiring a 2.0 grade-point average and proof of degree work. Athletes must meet two of three requirements in order to play as freshmen: a score of 15 on the ACT test or 700 on the SAT test; an overall high school grade point average of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale; and graduate in the top 50% of his or her high school graduating class. The requirements go into effect in the fall of 1989.

The airplane may have landed at Orange County's John Wayne Airport early Wednesday afternoon but the Concordia basketball team remained above the clouds. That is what winning the first National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics championship will do. The Eagles became the first Southern California team to win the nation's oldest tournament with their 88-84 overtime victory over Mountain State (W.Va.) Tuesday night in Kansas City, Mo.

Caleb Gervin has watched Louisville basketball through older, more mature eyes. Sure, the Cardinals played in the NCAA tournament and Rick Pitino is their coach. And he knows nothing can replicate the atmosphere of Freedom Hall. But there isn't any longing for what once was. These are days that Gervin says are worth much more. And they are far from the glare of NCAA Division I basketball. "Some of the mistakes I made at Louisville, I left those there," he says quietly, yet with conviction.

By virtue of its glossy 33-2 record, Azusa Pacific earned the No. 2 seed in the 32-team National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletic men's basketball tournament and will begin first-round play today against Edward Waters College at Tulsa, Okla. The Cougars have won a school-record 19 consecutive games. Led by sophomore guard Caleb Gervin and junior forward John Bourne, balance is the key to the Golden State Athletic Conference as seven players average between 8.9 and 14.5 points.

The NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament gets underway today at Tulsa, Okla., with a distinct Southern California flavor. Of the 32 teams, five are from California--that's more than any other state--and four of those are from the Golden State Athletic Conference. Azusa Pacific (26-5), Biola (27-7) and Westmont of Santa Barbara (26-5) spent much of the season ranked in the top 10. But all lost in the GSAC tournament earlier in March.

Vic Shealy has repeated family history all the way to the NAIA national championship football game. But today, Shealy will try to make his own history. In 1972, fourth-year Coach Victor Dalmouth Shealy II led Carson-Newman College of Jefferson City, Tenn., to its first visit to the NAIA playoffs before losing in the championship game. His 11-year-old son, Victor Dalmouth Shealy III, was a ballboy for that team.

The Azusa Pacific men's track and field team won the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics outdoor championship Saturday. And most of it didn't happen on the track. Azusa Pacific, which won its 10th title in 12 years, scored 82 points to beat Central State of Ohio by 16 points, and 79 of the points came from field events or competitions that included field events.

MARCH MADNESS: College basketball takes center stage this month, with most attention on the NCAA men's tournament, starting March 19. . . . But another tournament features a local team with the best chance nationally: Christ College Irvine's women. Wednesday, the Eagles take a 25-4 record to Jackson, Tenn., for the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics tournament opener against Wayland (Tex.) Baptist.

James Chasteen, president of two Alabama colleges, was named executive director of the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics. Chasteen, 51, is president of Athens State, an NAIA school, and John C. Calhoun Community College.

The NAIA suspended the Central Washington University men's basketball team from participating in the national tournament for two years, citing payments to players in the last three years.

In the grand scheme, maybe it's better that almost no one knows where Southern California College is located. Take the college's brochure, for example. Nowhere is there a photograph of the campus. There are plenty of shots of students walking on the beach, golden sunsets and even a panoramic view of the Newport Beach area. So just where is Southern California College? It's a question often asked SCC basketball Coach Bill Reynolds. "People in Costa Mesa don't even know we're here," he said.