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CNN Talkback Live

Crisis in Middle East Heats Up; March Madness Hits Atlanta

Aired March 29, 2002 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ARTHEL NEVILLE, HOST: Hello everybody. Welcome to TALKBACK LIVE. I'm Arthel Neville.

Breaking news today out of the Mideast where Israeli tanks rolled into Ramallah just nine miles outside Jerusalem. Yasser Arafat's compound is there under siege. Israel says it wants to isolate the Palestinian leader. Secretary of State Colin Powell says Israel has promised it won't hurt Arafat.

Let's find out where things stand right now at this hour. CNN senior international correspondent Christiane Amanpour is in Jerusalem. Christiane, what's the latest on Yasser Arafat?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, he is being holed up inside that compound in the occupied territories there in Ramallah and surrounding the compound are Israeli tanks and armored vehicles, and not just surrounding, but they have punched through the outer perimeter of the compound and they are inside.

According to Palestinian officials who are on phone contact with Yasser Arafat, they say that the bulldozers, the army bulldozers are there, starting to demolish some of the outer buildings of the compound. Arafat apparently and some aides holed up inside two rooms. Now, from what we can gather, Arafat has been in touch with Secretary of State Colin Powell by phone and with a series of other Arab leaders. He's saying that five Palestinians have been killed during today's invasion by the Israeli army in their armored vehicles and tanks. And he is also saying that he believes that he himself is a target. Despite the fact that the U.S. and other Arab leaders say they have received assurances that Arafat himself will not be harmed or killed, Palestinian officials who are in contact with him believe that when the prime minister of a sovereign state such as Israel publicly declares someone an enemy of the state, then that is a license to kill. And they have said that they are -- some of the rooms that Arafat usually inhabits in that compound have been fired at by the machine guns on top of the tanks. And in any event, they are afraid that he himself is a target.

This, of course, comes after suicide bombings in Israel. The latest one, this afternoon, or rather Friday afternoon, in Israel, where a woman, an 18-year-old woman, went into a supermarket, blew herself up, injured many, many people and killed two others. Back to you, Arthel. NEVILLE: Christiane, if Israeli leaders are trying to isolate Arafat, what are they going to do with him?

AMANPOUR: Well, that's an interesting question. What is the strategy? The strategy that is publicly enunciated is to dismantle "the terrorist bases." We, CNN crews there, have already seen Israeli soldiers going, in some cases, house to house and arresting Palestinians in Ramallah.

But the question is while many people obviously, especially people in Israel, agree that their government reserves the right to retaliate for attacks on innocent civilians as we have seen over the last 24 or 48 hours, many others are asking what is the wisest form of retaliation. This strategy by Ariel Sharon over the last year to steadily increase military intervention has simply not worked. The terrorism has not decreased. The suicide bombing attacks have increased. So many people saying, yes, there is a need to retaliate, but what is the best way because this strategy, so far, has failed -- Arthel.

NEVILLE: I want to bring in some other colleagues at this moment. From Washington is CNN state department correspondent Andrea Koppel and CNN International anchor Jonathan Mann here in Atlanta with me. Andrea, what is the U.S. reaction at this point?

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well the reaction, Arthel, is that it wasn't a balanced statement by Secretary of State Powell. Does the U.S. want the Israeli military to pull out of Ramallah? Yes. Does it believe that the occupation that is going on right now by Israeli troops is the right thing to do? No.

But having said that, the U.S. also understands that the Israeli people have suffered three acts of terrorism in recent days. They feel under siege themselves. And just as the U.S. responded to what happened on September 11, Israel has to defend its own people. What Secretary Powell heard from Sharon today was very important. Secretary Powell said that Sharon assured him that the Israelis were not going to harm Yasser Arafat.

The bottom line, Arthel, is that the U.S. recognizes that Yasser Arafat is the only game in town. He is the elected representative of the Palestinian people. And even though the Israelis are literally going door to door inside Yasser Arafat's compound, and he is holed up in one of those offices there, the U.S. wants to ensure that nothing happens to Yasser Arafat because they want to end this. They have to end this and they need Yasser Arafat to, in order to do that.

NEVILLE: But here's the question. Yasser Arafat says he will die standing up. Israeli leaders say they are not trying to harm him. They are just trying to isolate him. So how will this end?

KOPPEL: Well, the U.S. hopes through diplomacy and they also hope that once the Israelis finish this incursion and they do believe and they're certainly pushing the Israelis to wrap it up as quickly as possible, that they will withdraw from Ramallah and that then, in a phone call, in fact, Secretary Powell today spoke with Yasser Arafat and said, you have got to act now.

We have heard this over and over and over again, Arthel, but the U.S. is quickly losing its patience. It feels that it's been delivering this message to Yasser Arafat for months and months and months and he has it within his own power to control these terrorists. They are Palestinian people, some from his own political party, the U.S. believes. And so, the ball right now -- is a trite expression -- but the U.S. believes is in Yasser Arafat's court. Once the Israelis withdraw, the U.S. hopes soon, Yasser Arafat has to arrest those responsible for recent acts of terrorism.

NEVILLE: Christiane, how much pressure can the U.S. government, at this point, put on Yasser Arafat?

AMANPOUR: Well, you know, that's an incredibly good question and we have been watching the U.S. administration, the Bush administration's response to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict over the last, more than a year that President Bush has been in office.

To be frank, most analysts believe that it has been minimal. The United States has stayed on the sidelines, completely contradicting years of established U.S. policy which is to be involved in the Middle East. It is a general consensus around the world, including the Arab world, that the only country with sufficient leverage on both sides and sufficient good offices on both sides is the United States. But this administration chose a strategic, political policy, according to analysts to stay on the outside until almost it was too late.

Experience has shown that while perhaps the U.S. administration cannot force these sides to a peace agreement, when the U.S. is involved and constantly keeping a process in motion of which there has been none over the last several months, that has been able to keep the violence to a minimum, although the violence still exists. But in this case, with no U.S. involvement until very recently or very minimal U.S. involvement, the situation between the Israelis and Palestinians has sunk to an unprecedented abyss.

So the question is what leverage does the U.S. have now and is it willing to exert all its leverage on both sides? As you know, the prognosis is not great. Vice President Dick Cheney was here a couple of weeks ago. Publicly, the U.S. asked Israel to let Arafat go to the Beirut summit. It did not work. Arafat was not allowed to go there. What are they going to be able to do? So this is a very critical moment and all countries, particularly the Arab countries which we have just come from the Beirut summit, want the United States to exert its influence and get well and truly involved in a peace process.

NEVILLE: Jon Mann, how do you see it?

JONATHAN MANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, interestingly enough, pressure on Yasser Arafat helps Yasser Arafat. The Israelis have kept him balled up in Ramallah for months. When they began the process, his popularity among his own people was declining and the Israelis made him seem like a victim. Once again today, wittingly or unwittingly, they have made seem like a victim. He is going to seem like more of a popular figure to his own people. The pictures that we are seeing out of Ramallah are going to be seen all over the Arab world. They are going to eclipse any images that we're seeing of the suicide bombing in Jerusalem. Yasser Arafat, oddly enough, wins on his worst day, and this may be his worst day in awhile, but in many respects, he's winning. If the United States tries to isolate him, pressure him the way the Israelis have pressured him and isolated him, Yasser Arafat is going to be more popular and the extremists who in his camp are going to gain a stronger hand.

NEVILLE: Let me get a caller in on this conversation right now. E. Lopez, you're on the air. Go ahead. What are your thoughts?

CALLER: My thoughts is if Israel wanted to get rid of Arafat, they would have done it a long time ago. And the bad thing about it, Arafat is killing his own people by not arresting these terrorists and those in the whole situation. There is only one thing: arrest the terrorists. Thank you.

MANN: Let me answer that. One of the things that's being said by some Palestinians, and they can't all speak freely in that community, let's be honest. They don't have the right to freedom of speech that exists elsewhere. But one thing that's being said by some academics and some people who are speaking freely is that there's essentially a kind of low-level civil war going on among Palestinians. Yasser Arafat is trying to stay in control of the situation, but the extremists are fighting him and bristling under his authority.

Why doesn't he arrest these people? Because if he tries and takes them on, he may lose that war. There is some question not only about what he wants to do, but what he can do and what would happen if he tried something and failed. It could be much worse for him ultimately. It may put people into power over the Palestinians with whom the United States and Israel would have a much harder time negotiating.

NEVILLE: Christiane, how do you see it at this point? What is going to happen if you could pull out a crystal ball here?

AMANPOUR: Well, I think what Jonathan just said is absolutely right about Arafat's position. And paradoxically, if his ratings rise, if you like, the approval ratings of the Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon fall. Basically, the question is what is Ariel Sharon and what are Israel going to do? They have tried military offensives. Now, even before the latest suicide bombing attack that took place in Netanya on Passover eve, there were Israeli politicians and military leaders briefing the press on background that they were preparing a massive, comprehensive invasion into the Palestinian territories to try to eradicate what they call terrorism. So this has already been in the works according to what was being told to reporters.

The question is will it work. And I think that, you know, most of us who have been watching this over the last year or 18 months have seen that this kind of response so far has not worked and the Israeli people are getting more and more worried, anxious and frustrated because they also say, look, you came into office, Mr. Sharon, promising us security. Your tactics so far have given us exactly the opposite. So the question very much is what?

And, of course, all the people around who look at this situation believe that the only way that there is going to be an extraction from this situation is a political way and not a military way. Even the foreign minister of Israel, Shimon Peres, told me last week that there is no military solution to this because the Palestinians don't have an army. But what they have is 1,000, maybe more, potential suicide bombers ready to go in and do what they have been doing over the last months and certainly in the last couple of days.

And what the Arab leaders are saying, who have come out for the first time historically in more than 50 years of Israeli/Palestinian conflict, they have come out and they have collectively for the first time offered Israel normal relations in return for a withdrawal to the 1967 borders. And everybody is thinking that it's a political solution that is going to have to be worked out and that's going to have to be what eventually ends this, a political solution and not a military solution.

NEVILLE: Andrea, you heard Christiane use adjectives like worry and frustration. What would you say is the mood among the Bush administration right now?

KOPPEL: Oh, I would say it's incredibly bleak. You could see it on Secretary Powell's face during his press conference earlier this afternoon when he was talking about the sense of optimism that they were feeling just a couple of days ago. General Zinni in the region had reported back to President Bush that they had made progress and that they really felt it was within their grasp. They felt that finally they might be able to get both sides to agree not to move towards a political solution, but to stop killing one another and to agree to a cease-fire.

But right now, Arthel, the position for the Bush administration is the following: They are not quite sure yet just how much of their political capital they want to commit to this process. Some say certainly many in the Arab world that these are half measures. Yes, it was good move to send Vice President Cheney out there to really kind of get a feel for the mood of the region, to hear from the leaders themselves what is going on with the Palestinian situation and to just kind of get that face-to-face time.

But they still believe, that is the Arab world, that the U.S. is only in this right now because it wants to invade Iraq at some point, to get rid of Saddam Hussein. It knows that it needs the support of some within the Arab world. So right now, I think many Arab leaders are looking to the Bush administration to do more than just have General Zinni there. They are looking for Secretary Powell not just to get on the phone and make phone calls, but to go out to the region.

The problem, Arthel, is that, as we discussed yesterday, the Bush administration saw what happened during the Clinton administration and feels that the Clinton administration failed. It devoted too much time and the Bush administration doesn't want to make that same mistake. NEVILLE: Our thanks to Christiane Amanpour, Andrea Koppel and Jonathan Mann for joining us here. And we're going to take a break. When we come back, more of TALKBACK LIVE.

(APPLAUSE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEVILLE: Oh, boy. They call it "March Madness" and you can call Atlanta party central as the Final Four meet in the NCAA basketball tournament right here this weekend. Indiana, Oklahoma, Kansas, Maryland. As you can hear, the audience is pumped, and so are our guest coaches.

All right, here we go people. Meet Rick Majerus, head coach at the University of Utah. He is in his 13th season at Utah. In that time he has never had a losing season, and his team has made eight trips to the NCAA tournament. He has written an autobiography entitled: "My Life on a Napkin: Pillow Mints, Playground Dreams and Coaching the Running Utes." Or "Utes" -- is it "Utes," coach?

All right, you know, correct me here. Get my little basketball jargon working on. All right.

Mike Jarvis is head coach at St. John's University. He has led St. -- hey, that's right, give him some love.

(APPLAUSE)

NEVILLE: He has led St. John's basketball team to two NCAA tournaments, and remains the all-time winningest coach at Boston University. Yay everybody, come on.

(APPLAUSE)

NEVILLE: All right.

And last but not least, Lute Olson is the head coach of the University of Arizona Wildcats, where he has held court for 18 years. He has taken the Wildcats to 18 straight NCAA tournaments. He is just one of 33 head coaches in NCAA history to win 600 or more games. Wow!

Welcome. What a fun show this is going to be. Welcome to all of you.

And we'll put you right on the spot: predictions; who's going to win? Who's going to take the championship?

COACH RICK MAJERUS, UNIVERSITY OF UTAH: Well, I'm going to let Lute pick that first, then play off of him because, you know, if I really did know I'd be in New York picking stocks. But, you know, it's tough...

NEVILLE: I'll take those tips too, by the way.

MAJERUS: Not from me, you won't, or you'll be dressing like I am.

NEVILLE: Is that what happened, coach? You know, I wasn't going to mention anything about it, but I was wondering.

MAJERUS: I thought it was ESPN radio, to tell you the truth. I forgot where the hell I was coming.

NEVILLE: You are allowed however you're dressed.

MAJERUS: Thank you.

Well, I don't know. I really -- I think Maryland will win it. That's all I'm going to say. I just feel that -- having been there the year before -- Lute can speak to that. I've only been to one of these.

Will you do back-to-backs, or...

COACH LUTE OLSON, UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA: No, '97 -- we've been '94, '97 and last year.

MAJERUS: Yes, I think it is an advantage, though, having been there the year before and coming away a little hungry. I like Maryland's stoicism when they cut the nets down to get here. You know, the other teams were sort of a sense of relief when they got it -- when they got to this place.

Maryland is hungry and wants to win it.

NEVILLE: So you're going with Maryland?

MAJERUS: I'm going with Maryland.

NEVILLE: OK, Coach Olson.

OLSON: Well, I really think this one is more up in the air than any for a long time. Maryland and Kansas, I think, will be a great game. And it's going to be tough to pick a winner. We played both of them.

NEVILLE: Oh, come on! Come on!

OLSON: We played both of them, and we beat Maryland and we lost to Oklahoma, so...

NEVILLE: Don't try to weasel your way out of this.

OLSON: Well, and we lost to Kansas also. So we played three of the four that are here.

But I tend to agree with what Rick is saying. Until kids have been in the Final Four, they have no clue of everything that they have to go through. And the fact that Maryland has the same team back, basically, that they had a year ago, I think that gives them a tremendous advantage. But on the other hand, you take that -- the winner of that game, and they may have put a whole lot of emotion into that game and may be in trouble on Monday.

I think whoever wins the other game, the Indian and Oklahoma -- I think the winner of that one will win the title.

(APPLAUSE)

NEVILLE: Well, the Indian fans, they're back there cheering. OK, so I'll let you slide with that answer because you're going with either Indiana or Oklahoma.

OLSON: Yes, yes.

NEVILLE: Now I didn't tell you this was multiple choice. I said just one. Just one. You don't get multiple answers here.

OLSON: Well, if Coverdale were healthy, then I think that one would be more of a toss back. The Indian fans love me anyway. I was at Iowa nine years, so -- but I think Oklahoma will win that.

NEVILLE: OK. Coach Jarvis, your turn.

COACH MIKE JARVIS, ST. JOHN'S UNIVERSITY: Well, the only thing I want to say is that Coach Olson, not only is he a great basketball coach, but he's also a great politician. And, you know, when he decides to stop coaching, he's definitely got a career in that.

But I'm going to have to -- I'm going to have to do something I don't want to do because, see, we're all friends with all of those guys.

NEVILLE: Absolutely.

JARVIS: And no matter who we pick, there's going to be three guys that are going to be upset with us.

But as you said, this is not multiple choice. So I am going to say this. I'm going to go out on a limb and I'm going to go for the underdogs. Being from New York myself, I'm going to go for the underdog. And I think the underdog still is Oklahoma.

(APPLAUSE)

NEVILLE: OK, they're happy back there.

Listen -- and by the way, before we go to break, just tell all the coaches who are mad at you, tell them, you know, tell them to call me. E-mail me, because I made you do it. I made you go with a choice, OK, so you can blame me.

JARVIS: OK, that will help us.

NEVILLE: OK, good. Now we have to take a break right now. But when we come back, I want to know how coaches convince kids that college is better for them than the NBA. Whoa.

We'll be back in a moment. Don't go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEVILLE: Atlanta is so ready for this Final Four madness that has taken over the city.

Welcome back everybody. We're talking with college basketball coaches Rick Majerus, Mike Jarvis and Lute Olson. Welcome back to all of you.

And here's something that's interesting. I mean, how great is the pressure on these kids to go to the NBA?

You're all smiling; who wants to tackle it?

OLSON: Well, the pressure is great for them to go. And a lot of times it has to do with family needs and that type of thing.

But I guess from an NCAA standpoint, I think those -- I think the kids, the four years or two years or three years that they can have in college, they would look back on the rest of their lives as one of the best times in their lives.

And I think it's a real mistake for them to get ahead of themselves. There's plenty of time to work, plenty of time to make money. I just don't think that they should be jumping without having gone to college or one year in college, I don't think it's a good situation for the kids at all.

NEVILLE: Coach Majerus, do you want to add something?

MAJERUS: Well, I've got five guys in a league, and all of them could have gone early. Andre Miller leads the NBA in assists right now. He's a lot better player. But he's a lot better person, a lot better off. He graduated, got his degree. He has self assurance, he has emotional maturation. He has leadership qualities.

And what Lute referred to earlier, he had a good time. He enjoyed that. You know, you make a deal with the devil; you get the big ride, you got the money. But you know what happens, is you lose that time period in your life. You never live your own age.

And then when you get to the NBA, you are sort of a forgotten man those teams to a certain extent, because it's hard to fit in initially.

Even guys like McGrady and Kevin Garnett, those guys that have gone out early, it takes time to acclimate to that league. Kwame Brown, last year's first pick in the draft, playing with the Wizards, I saw him the other night in Salt Lake. He goes for 12 minutes. He's just another guy out there that is going to take three or four years. And he would have been better. Tim Duncan: Those two words speak to all of it, in my estimation, maybe the second-best player and most classy guy in the NBA. And I just feel that you are better off staying in school. And, in my case, the players have all been the beneficiary of that.

(APPLAUSE)

NEVILLE: Exactly.

Do the NBA players respect those guys coming straight out of high school, or leaving college early?

JARVIS: I would say that the majority of them probably don't have the same amount of respect for them as they do for somebody who has been in it for a long period of time.

And, you know, one of the biggest problems for the kids, and they're kids, when they go into the NBA is that they are now living with men. And half the places that most of the people can go, they can't even go because they are not old enough to. So, what happens is, they end up spending a lot of time continuing to play children's games, while the men are off doing their thing.

NEVILLE: Bob, your question or comment.

DAVID: How you all doing?

NEVILLE: David, excuse me. Obviously, I can't read today. It clearly says David.

DAVID: OK.

How you all doing? I just wanted to know, when your team is down, what do you all do to keep them focused and to stay in the game to keep them motivated? What is your primary goal as far as keeping the team focused instead of giving up and quitting when it seems like all hope is gone? What do you all use to keep your team focused?

NEVILLE: Who wants to answer that?

Thank you, David.

OLSON: Well, I think that's one of the things that athletes learn early in their competitive career, is that, from very early on, it's approached from the standpoint: Don't ever give up. Always keep fighting to get the job done.

And we have various motivational means at our disposal the following day in practice if we don't feel that they gave it a good effort.

NEVILLE: Oh, motivational means?

(LAUGHTER)

OLSON: Oh, yes, yes.

NEVILLE: And that would be code word for what? OLSON: Well, it wouldn't have anything to do with running sprints or anything like that. But we just encourage them to be competitive to the end, regardless of whether you are winning or losing.

NEVILLE: So, let's see. They have a bad day, bad game, bad practice, suddenly the wheels in your car are shinier than they ever have been before.

(LAUGHTER)

OLSON: Yes. And the kids will play a little bit harder, too. Have you found that, Mike?

JARVIS: Amen.

OLSON: Yes.

NEVILLE: I have to take a break. I want to hear your thoughts, definitely, when we come back. But I do have to take care of some business here.

And when we come back: The NCAA defines players as student athletes, but the graduation rate for the Final Four men's teams averages only 32 percent. Just how much student is in the athlete?

We'll talk about that next.

(APPLAUSE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEVILLE: Final Four fever is hot, hot, hot, hot, hot. And welcome back.

We are talking with college basketball coaches Rick Majerus, Mike Jarvis and Lute Olson.

And before we went to break, we were talking about the statistics of the graduation rate for the players. And the last four teams in the Final Four averages 32 percent. That's not good.

What's going on here?

OLSON: Well, the interesting thing is that, if you check all athletes at all Division One schools -- I'm not just talking basketball now -- I'm talking all sports -- there's a higher graduation rate for the athletes than there is for the regular student in this country. And that's a very unknown...

NEVILLE: Well, that's not good.

OLSON: Well, no, we are not talking about 32 percent with that.

The biggest problem that we face in basketball are the number of kids who come out early. For example, with us last year, we lost a sophomore and two juniors. There's no way in the world that they can have graduated in that length of time. So, I think basketball is very different, because you are talking about a lot of kids coming out early. You are talking about, once they complete their senior season, the agents want them to drop classes immediately, go with the personal trainer to...

NEVILLE: I bet the agents graduated from college.

OLSON: Well, some of them did, but that's a big part of the problem.

So, the only way that you are going to get basketball players through is through summer schools and to make sure that they finish their degree in 3 1/2 years. And that's not an easy thing for any student to do.

JARVIS: Most of the kids -- in fact, with the way the rules are set up right now, they throw those numbers at you, only 32 percent. Most people think that, "Wow, there's something wrong here."

And the reality is, is that all of the kids who are playing, in order to play, in order to be eligible to play have to be on time for graduation. So, as Lute said, those numbers tell a lot of -- those numbers are not really, really factual. So the kids are in school. They are on time for graduation.

If, indeed, you know, the law or whatever it was were to keep them in school, then those numbers would be so much higher than they really are. And the other thing is, a lot of the statistics that are used do not take into account youngsters who may transfer, youngsters who maybe came from junior colleges. So, a lot of the numbers that you get are not really accurate.

NEVILLE: So, are you saying the NCAA criteria for graduation is a little off here?

And, Joanne, I know you are standing by on the phone. I'm going to get you in this conversation very shortly.

Go ahead, Coach Majerus.

MAJERUS: Well, the compilation of statistics doesn't take into account four or five categories: No. 1, Prop 48 kids. Like Andre Miller, who plays with the Cavaliers, has his degree. He's listed as a nongraduate for us because he -- and I don't know why they don't do that. You would have to ask the NCAA.

NEVILLE: So, he has his degree?

MAJERUS: Yes he does. Yes, he does, ma'am. He has his degree.

NEVILLE: But he is not listed as...

MAJERUS: One of my doctors was a Mormon boy, Larry Kane (ph). He sent a letter to the NCAA, said, "It's interesting to know that I'm board certified and a practicing surgery, but you have me listed as not having a degree," because, when they go on a Mormon mission, there's a certain time frame. So, if you don't graduate within that time frame -- I don't know if that's five or six years -- you are listed as a nongraduate.

OLSON: Five years.

MAJERUS: Then the ones that Coach Jarvis alluded to earlier.

But the whole thing could end with just -- and I would be very much a proponent of this rule. Save for the kids who went early to the NBA -- because that's a special category and that isn't applicable to but 2 percent of the kids playing college basketball, OK? Save that small, infinitesimal percentage, you can only give as many scholarships as you have players graduate.

Now, if you had that simple rule in, all this would be over with. I'm a big proponent of that rule: as many scholarships as players graduate.

NEVILLE: That's right. That's right.

OK, Joanne from Georgia, you are on the air. What are your thoughts or what's your question?

CALLER: Yes.

I just want to say I think that -- I think these kids need to realize that education is a little more important than the brass ring or the NBA, or whatever. And I just really think that that's something they should focus on, is education more so than worry about, "What kind of money will I be making when I get into the NBA?"

NEVILLE: All right, Joanne, thank you for those comments.

And, Len, what are your comments?

LEN: Well, I have a comment and a question.

First, I want to say I cannot believe that none of you picked the best team in the country this year, the Kansas Jayhawks. Rock, chalk, Jayhawk.

But my question is, do you have to do anything special to prepare for playing in a dome after being used to just playing in regular arenas all season?

OLSON: Well, there's a huge difference in terms of the background, the background that kids face in shooting. And it is a big adjustment. That's one of the reasons why, in our scheduling, we play two or three games, in the nonconference schedule, in large arenas for exactly that reason. But it does affect shooting. And, normally, I think shooting percentages are going to be down when you are playing in a big dome.

NEVILLE: Well, I have to take a break. More fun, we have more people lined up for questions for the coaches. And I'm sure you have some questions, so go ahead and e-mail me. Make the phone call. You know how to do it.

And we'll be back with more TALKBACK LIVE after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEVILLE: "Go, Jayhawks" the sign says. I see you up there, you Jayhawks fan. I see you. "Go, Terps." Everybody is cheering for their team.

Welcome back, everybody. It's Final Four Friday here on TALKBACK LIVE.

And, Coach Majerus, I need to talk to you about something, because you mentioned Andre Miller a couple times. He played for you at Utah, right?

MAJERUS: Yes, he did, yes.

NEVILLE: OK, but here's a guy from South Central L.A. I need to know, what did you do to convince him to come from South Central L.A. to go to Utah?

MAJERUS: I told him he could eat with me.

(LAUGHTER)

NEVILLE: Because you had to be really good to pull that off.

MAJERUS: Well, you know one thing about Andre's mom -- and she was the spearhead of the whole deal is, they were concerned about academics and graduation. And our record speaks to itself.

Everyone has a record. Every university has a president and an athletic director. And their job is to monitor the coach. And it's unconscionable if the program is run and the venue is conducted without the student athlete in mind. When that happens -- the Utah Jazz are convened for one purpose: to win, to make money and to win. We are collegiate institutions. We represent the university. We're a small part of the university. And the players should graduate. And that's just the way it should be.

So, again, I go back to my simple rule. You can only give out as many players as -- you can only give out as many scholarships as you have players graduate. You put that rule in and, trust me, it will all be OK within three or four years.

NEVILLE: Right. That's right.

(APPLAUSE)

NEVILLE: I want to bring up an e-mail right now that should spark an interesting conversation from Jay in Iowa. He says: "With the amount of revenue that these student athletes bring to the universities, why are we not paying these kids?" Who would like to tackle that one?

JARVIS: I will.

NEVILLE: Go ahead, Coach Jarvis.

JARVIS: Well, first of all, most people would say that we are paying them. We are paying them with an education that would include room, board, books, tuition and fees.

And, once you start asking the question about pay, most people -- I mean, it just automatically brings -- it brings an end to the discussion, because, if you paid one athlete that was on scholarship, you would have to pay them all. And most schools would tell you that they couldn't afford to do that.

I'm a proponent of the fact that -- I really believe that our kids do not have a full scholarship. And that's the direction I would like to go in. I would like to see our young men and women that are playing on scholarship receive a full scholarship, which would include a monthly stipend to help pay for some of the cost of living that goes on. It doesn't have to be a lot. It could be $25 a week -- and also have in their scholarship at least one round-trip ticket home.

Our youngsters go and play for the university during Christmas or Thanksgiving time. And we've got to come back to the school. And they can't go home for vacation like most kids. And there are scholarships, academic scholarships that are much more complete than the scholarships we offer our kids. So, I would like to pay them, but I would like to pay them in that way.

(APPLAUSE)

NEVILLE: OK, thanks, Coach.

And, Juwan (ph), is it?

JUWAN: I have two questions. I want to know, is there a lot of pressure on college coaches to push their players professionally and academically? And is it right for these college kids that can hardly read or write but can play ball, so you all take them, and when you are done using them, they are just left out on the street?

JARVIS: Well, first of all, let me respond to that.

And I know that there are a lot of people that probably feel that's what happens. But I can tell you this. And I can speak for the three guys that are sitting up here and the majority of the people that are in coaching, especially the guys that are our age.

We got into coaching and into sport because it was education. And most of us started out as teachers, myself as a high school teacher. Most of us went into it because we wanted to try and make a positive difference and get kids not only to use their athletic talent, but to get an education, and then be able to go out and be productive citizens. The majority of the people who coach do just that.

The few people that you might see that sometimes are glamorized just like hoodlums are the exception. So, most of us care more about where our kids end up than we do about how many games we win, even though the reality is that, if we don't win, I wouldn't be sitting up here on this show. And neither would Coach Majerus or Olson. So, we've got to win, but I will tell you this: that most of us are in the business to make sure our kids win. And our kids will win if they get an education and they use that education.

(APPLAUSE)

NEVILLE: OK, thanks a lot, Coach, for those comments.

And we have to take a break right now, but we will be back with more fun after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEVILLE: Well, it's all about basketball. It is all about basketball here today on TALKBACK LIVE. Welcome back.

OK, Lee, what are your thoughts?

LEE: I have a two-part question.

No. 1, I believe that if an underclassman doesn't sign with an agent, he is allowed to test the waters and come back. Is that good? And does it impact recruiting, if that happens, if a player leaves it in limbo like that?

OLSON: Well, I don't think they should have any contact with agents, because, in my opinion, that's a huge problem that we face.

(APPLAUSE)

OLSON: So, I think they should be able to test the water, but I don't think they should be able to have an agent, which is the way it is now.

NEVILLE: Do you have another question, Ryan?

RYAN: I do.

First, thank you, coaches, for taking time to answer questions.

As I think of the four coaches that are in the Final Four right now, none of which have won a national championship, and I look at you three -- and, Coach Olson, I know were you able to win a national championship -- do you believe that a coach needs to win it all to validate their coaching career?

OLSON: No, definitely not. I think, in the long run, it's how your players that have played for you feel about you. And I think -- I put a lot more stock in what my peers in the business think of me than what somebody else thinks about whether you have won a title or not.

NEVILLE: OK, Mike?

MIKE: Coach Jarvis, you alluded to the fact that politicians are running this country. And, at some point, do you intend to be a politician? And, if you do, Coach Jarvis, how would you handle the Arafat situation?

NEVILLE: You have 30 seconds, Coach. So there's your out.

JARVIS: Well, I think I already answered that.

I would hire the best people I can, just like we have right now. And I would listen to them and probably go along with what they say. And you know what? We are all politicians, whether we want to admit it or not. And some of us just get paid for it, that's all.

NEVILLE: Oh, you know what? This hour went by too fast.

Coach Jarvis, Coach Olson, Coach Majerus, thank you so much for being here. This was so much fun. What a treat to have all of them.

And thanks, also, to our fan-filled audience and to you at home, of course, joining us today.

I'm Arthel Neville. I'll see you again on Monday at 3:00 Eastern. Have a great weekend, everybody.

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