Small World

What is a big college? According to the N.C.A.A., which decides such matters as far as sports are concerned, Centenary College in Shreveport, La., is a big college. Centenary has 1,103 students. What is a small college? Southern Illinois University, in Carbondale, 111., is a small college; it has 25,000 students.

Make sense? Not to Centenary, which has to play Southern Illinois in basketball next week--and can hardly be elated at the prospect. Not to Louisville, the No. 2-ranked major college team in the U.S., which got beaten by Southern Illinois 53-50. Not to Wichita or to St. Louis, both of which are "big," and both of which have lost to Southern Illinois. Not to Texas Western's defending N.C.A.A. "University Division" (big college) champions, who have been defeated only twice this year--once by Southern Illinois. And certainly not to Southern Illinois. The N.C.A.A. classifies the Southern Illinois Salukis-as "small college" because they play less than half their games against "big" schools. As a result, the Salukis are ineligible to play in the N.C.A.A.'s University Division post-season tournament, and they are ignored by the big-college ranking polls-- even though they are, says Wichita Coach Gary Thompson, "one of the five best teams in the country." The answer is to go big by scheduling more major-college teams, but that is easier said than done. "Nobody wants to get beaten by a small college," explains Saluki Coach Jack Hartman, 40--and that is exactly what anybody foolhardy enough to play Southern Illinois can expect.

White Gloves. The Salukis have lost only two games this season: by two points to Southern Methodist, by four to Louisville in a double overtime at Louisville--a loss they later avenged at Carbondale. Last week they polished off Abilene Christian (58-55) and Steubenville (77-46) to run their record to 13-2.

Despite their record, the Salukis look more like toy poodles on court than lean, tall hounds. The tallest man on the team is 6-ft. 8-in. Center Andy Kukic, and he can easily see over everybody else's head. The only pro prospect is 6-ft. 3-in. Guard Walt Frazier, a brilliant dribbler and passer who has been playing all year with a dislocated toe, still is averaging 16 points a game.

The lack of height and individual stars does not bother Coach Hartman, a one-time Oklahoma State football quarterback who went to Southern Illinois from Coffeyville, Kans., Junior College in 1962, has since compiled a record of 91 wins and 35 losses. Dour, methodical, Hartman is no advocate of run-and-shoot basketball; he prefers a deliberate, patterned game--slow down play, hold the ball, wait for "percentage" shots. As a result, the Salukis rarely embarrass their opponents: they are averaging only 67 points a game, and five of their victories have come by three points or less. On the other hand, they are rarely embarrassed themselves --which is just what Coach Hartman is after. "Some day," he says, "a perfect ball game is going to be played, and I want it to be my team that plays it."

* A nickname Southern Illinois adopted from a breed of Egyptian hunting dog because Carbondale is located in an area of the state locally known as "Little Egypt."

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