Just when you thought the wise spring decision by the NCAA Board of Directors -- to allow in-season exempt events such as the Maui Invitational, Preseason NIT and Coaches vs. Cancer to continue on through at least 2005 -- was set in stone, along comes another threat.

Coaches like Rick Majerus might not be getting an in-season trip to Maui much longer.(Allsport)

This time it is the what seemed to be benign 2-in-4 rule that prohibits teams from competing in more than two exempt events over a four-year period. On Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Columbus, Ohio, a consortium of tournament directors will file for an injunction against the rule, claiming it restricts trade and threatens the existence of the events.

"When they put the moratorium in place, they were really slapping high fives behind their backs and saying, let's see how the 2-in-4 treats them," said Lee Frederick of the Milwaukee-based Sport Tours Inc.

Frederick argues that the rule effectively stops teams from competing and will force tournaments out of business, because there will not be enough teams to play in them in years three and four (2002, 2003) of the rule.

"We have a mathematical model constructed by an economist in Cincinnati that shows if you have 325 teams and most of them take their two games in the first two years, there are no teams left for the next two," said Frederick, who has joined with competitors Worldwide Basketball out of Cincinnati, the Gazelle Group from New Jersey and Dorna Sports Promotion of Virginia in filing the injunction.

"What we are saying is the NCAA is a monopoly, it can manipulate their members and restrict trade," said Frederick. "With 20 to 25 tournaments in the open market, the 2-in-4 rule squeezes down the teams to practically nothing. I think there will be 63 teams next year for 26 events. We won't be able to survive."

NCAA spokesperson Jane Jankowski said that until the injunction is filed and reviewed by the association's general counsel, the NCAA cannot comment on it.

In the past, the NCAA's position here has been steady, but its reasoning cloudy and inconsistent. It has argued the need to restrict missed class time despite the fact that most of the events take place over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

It has argued it wants to create competitive balance, even though almost everyone views these events as the only reasonable way for low- and mid-major programs to get a fair shake on a neutral court against college basketball's heavyweights.

Despite an impassioned argument from the NCAA's Management Council, made up largely of conference commissioners, a different proposal that would have pretty much eliminated the tournaments was knocked down this spring by the board of directors, which consists of school presidents.

What is clear is that the NCAA wants to control all the revenues from games involving its member institutions, which is a somewhat understandable position. Events such as the ACC/Big Ten Challenge are ideal for the NCAA. And while those are good events for lining conference coffers and getting good games and big exposure for top teams, they do not work for everyone. Needless to say, there is little demand for a Trans Atlantic/Big South Shootout.

"The NCAA wants the whole pie on all the game," said Frederick. "They want all the money."

The assault on in-season events, however, is penny-wise and dollar foolish. We've argued these points before, but the in-season events are valuable commodities for NCAA teams in terms of marketing, exposure and competitive balance.

The events are popular with players, coaches and fans and the fact the injunction request will include testimonials from coaches at all levels should tell you exempt events are good for the game for the following reasons:

• Exposure: With the careers of top players growing shorter, the chance to show off the best and brightest in November marquee matchups is critical to the sport. Curbing the amount of big name games in Hawaii and Alaska, plus events in huge media markets such as New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, makes no sense. Those events were the envy of even professional sports leagues, and with TV networks flirting with replacing some college games with an NBA contract, college basketball needs all the marquee events it can get.
• Competition: With the NCAA selection process already severely slanted to protect tournament revenues of major conferences through reliance on flawed statistical formulas and bought victories, the exempt events are the final opportunity for all schools to get a fair shake. This isn't even about Valparaiso beating Ohio State or Austin Peay winning the Top of the World Classic; it's about the tremendous benefit schools such as Utah, Massachusetts and Tulsa received in building national contenders through exempt events. Each of those programs scored huge victories in November that built their programs.
• Postseason: Jack Powers at the National Invitational Tournament has made it clear he needs the funding from the preseason NIT to fund the postseason NIT, the nation's oldest postseason tournament and still a valuable experience for 32 teams.
• Experience: Go ahead and try to find a college coach or player who thinks exempt games are bad for the game. From Bob Knight on down, every coach enjoyed the early competition and the chance to take student-athletes to environs such as Alaska, Hawaii or New York.

Frederick says the ruling on this injunction will be critical to the existence of most exempt events following the 2001-02 season. While some of the top events will likely make it, the valuable, lower-tier tournaments probably won't.

"If the injunction goes through and the judge agrees with us, then hopefully the NCAA will come to us and negotiate," said Frederick. "We've asked to negotiate before, said take the 2-in-4 off and we'll do this. But they have said no. Hopefully we can come back to the table. But if this doesn't go through, then I think we are sunk."

All college basketball fans should hope for the injunction.

Building in Houston

While his first year as coach of the Houston Cougars hardly went smooth -- a 2-7 start en route to a 9-20 final record -- it isn't difficult for Ray McCallum to find a bright side.

Houston won four of its last five regular season games, finished a somewhat respectable 6-10 in Conference USA play and clearly gelled as a team down the stretch. It is at least something to build on.

"It wasn't a banner year by any means, but we look at the positive finish because we won six games in Conference USA where they won two the year before," said McCallum, who built a mid-major power at Ball State before succeeding Clyde Drexler at Houston. "That is the most important part of our season and we are going to put an emphasis in getting better in Conference USA and moving up there."

While Houston lost big forward Alton Ford, who declared for the NBA Draft after only one season and 10.8 points and 5.8 rebounds a game, Houston should be better next season. Four of its top six scorers return, and point guard Kevin Gaines, a Michigan transfer, becomes eligible. The returning players include starters George Williams (13.5 ppg, 7.3 rpg), a 6-8 junior, and Dominic Smith (12.6 ppg, 3.9 apg).

Moreover, everyone should be more comfortable with McCallum and his style of play and practice. After two seasons of Drexler's laid-back, player's-coach system, McCallum had to change some attitudes and expectations in year one.

"I think the players are going to feel more comfortable because it was a different style and a different system," he said. "The way we did things was different from the way they did it in previous years. The guys have had a year with me and we have key guys returning. I think that will really help."

McCallum thinks Williams, a talented Houston native, has the chance to have a bang-up season, especially with more offense available in the wake of Ford's departure.

"With Ford out of there, he is going to have some room to operate," said McCallum. "We played (Williams) at the three last year, and I think that helped him. We may play him more at the four. He has the skills to go outside. Hopefully that will pose a problem for our opponents."

McCallum is working on trying to find a recruiting niche in the crowded Texas market that includes established Big 12 powers, Texas Christian (now in Conference USA) and Bob Knight up in Lubbock.

"I think we're trying to bring back the great days, trying to educate kids about our past tradition and being a part of bringing it back alive," said McCallum. "The opportunity to come in and play is there at a very good basketball league. And that is what we are trying to stress, especially with Texas kids. We are in Conference USA, which is an outstanding basketball league."

And one McCallum hopes he can begin to impact as soon as next winter.

News and notes

• Want to know the program quickly becoming the best at recruiting Southern California's talent rich Inland Valley? Try the unlikely Texas A&M. Aggie coach Melvin Watkins has a good relationship with Inland Warriors traveling team coach Elvert "Kool Aide" Perry and may now lead for highly regarded 6-7 wing Antoine Wright this week. Wright, who hails from San Bernardino, Calif., but plays at Lawrence (Mass.) Academy, is also considering interest from Arizona, Connecticut, Miami (Fla.), Virginia and North Carolina. If he becomes an Aggie, he'll feel right at home in Texas, with forwards Keith Bean (Fontana, Calif.) and Larry Scott (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) on the A&M roster. Then there is Aggie recruit Bradley Jackson, a 5-10 junior college guard from Torrance, Calif., which is closer to the Pacific but still Southern Cal. A&M was crushed by injuries last season and finished a disappointing 10-20, but the Aggies have plenty of talent on the roster, proving Watkins can attract good players to College Station. Even ones from far off Southern California.
• Lebron James, the super junior from Akron (Ohio) St. Vincent-St. Mary should expect to see plenty of NBA scouts in the stands this winter. Although NBA rules prohibit a player from entering the draft until his high school class has graduated (2003 in James' case), the gifted 6-7 wing has been contradictory enough in his discussions of challenging that rule and turning pro after his junior season that NBA teams feel compelled to check him out. "There seems to be a chance he could come out, so I'll head down there," said an Eastern Conference scout. There is also very little early interest in the high school Class of 2002, which lacks the great height of the 2001 -- four 6-11 and taller lottery picks.
• No question fans in Memphis are excited to see top freshman guard Dajuan Wagner of Camden (N.J.) this season, but word out of summer pickup games is that 6-8 junior college recruit Chris Massie is the best player in the Tigers' gym.
• Two programs that are absolutely thrilled with the development of early commitments are Syracuse and Michigan State. Both offered scholarships to known, but not heavily hyped players last winter and now are sitting pretty. For the Spartans, the obvious perimeter skills and desire to improve have pushed 6-10 Rochester (Mich.) big man Paul Davis possibly into the top 10 nationally. Syracuse watched as 6-7 swingman Carmelo Anthony of Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill displayed the skills to be considered a National Player of the Year candidate. If either player was still on the market, there would have been fierce local and national recruiting battles. Instead Jim Boeheim and Tom Izzo spent the summer concentrating on other recruits.
• Central Michigan coach Jay Smith has gotten plenty of success out of Detroit Country Day players, with stars David Webber and Mike Manciel on the current roster. No surprise then that Smith quickly picked up a verbal commitment from the high school's latest well-regarded prospect, 6-4 guard Kevin Nelson.
• The Kentucky-Indiana game, traditionally held the first Saturday of December in either Louisville or Indianapolis, will take place Dec. 22 this year because of a scheduling conflict. CBS wanted to broadcast the Louisville-Kentucky game, the homecoming of Rick Pitino, on Dec. 1, moving that game from its previously scheduled Dec. 29 date. But Louisville balked at the move and now the Pitino-returns-to-Rupp matchup is back to the 29th and the Indiana-Kentucky game can't move because the Hooisers filled that date in the interim.
• How important of a recruit is 6-8 Shavlik Randolph of Raleigh (N.C.) Broughton? North Carolina coach Matt Doherty spent the final evening of the live recruiting period at Michael Jordan's Flight School watching Randolph work as a counselor, just to make an impression. That's just part of a trend of the Tar Heels, whose staff was as aggressive and hard working on the recruiting trail as any in the country. Clearly Doherty is leaving nothing to chance in keeping North Carolina among the nation's elite.

Dining with Dan

Next time you are in Indianapolis, or its greater metropolitan region, be sure to stop by the Slippery Noodle Inn. This isn't our first recommendation of the Noodle, which has been operating as a tavern in one form or the other since 1850 (during prohibition they brewed whiskey in the basement), and it won't be our last. In a downtown that continues to spring to life and adds all sorts of trendy places, it's the Noodle that remains king.

The National Notebook will return Aug. 15.