'The Matador': NCAA's Shining Star

Harvard is not the last bastion of scholarship in collegiate athletics.

Some people may have forgotten this following the Harvard hockey team's NCAA championship victory April 1. Admittedly, the academic achievements of the Crimson players are as important as their accomplishments on the ice.

And the local and national media did not ignore this--focusing intense scrutiny on the lives of Harvard hockey players outside of the sport and what the "Harvard experience" has meant to them and their families.

The NCAA's tremendous commercial growth has been achieved at the cost of academic and ethical standards. Scandal is common--something as grotesque as the alleged gang rape case this week involving several Oklahoma football players doesn't even cause much commotion anymore.

For collegiate athletics, the Harvard hockey program is an refreshing as a stroll along the shore in Kennebunkport, Me. But there are other teams, other people, other stories just as invigorating for the NCAA.

Meet 18-year-old Alex "The Matador" Fernandez from Miami.

As a pitcher on the 1988 Florida state champion Miami Pace High School squad, Fernandez recorded a 14-0 record and a 0.56 earned run average while striking out 189 batters. The 5-ft., 11-in., 214-lb. standout also batted .532 with 10 home runs and 53 RBIs playing third base in games that he didn't pitch.

In his four-year high school career with the Spartans, Fernandez chalked up 24 shutouts and seven no-hitters on the road to an astounding 47-4 record and two state championships.

Fernandez was more than just another high school phenom. He was rewarded by being selected in the first round of last June's amateur draft by the Milwaukee Brewers, who offered Fernandez a $110,000 signing bonus and incentives to play professional baseball.

Fernandez was living in a dream--a dream shared by millions of children across the nation. At the age of 18, he was already being paid to play the game he loved.

Hold On, Bubballooey

But Fernandez didn't allow himself to get engulfed in that dream. Instead, he enrolled at the University of Miami and currently plays for the nation's second-ranked team.

"I wanted to go to school," Fernandez told The Sporting News. "I wasn't ready to go play rookie ball in Montana [the Brewers would have started him in Helena of the Pioneer League]. I was looking forward to pro ball, but not at 18. When I am 21, I will be more successful in making that jump."

So far, Fernandez has had no problem making the jump to the upper echelons of college baseball. Sporting an ERA under 2.00, the Matador already set the Miami freshman record for most strikeouts in a season on March 28.

Fernandez no-hit Maine March 18 and then tossed his third consecutive shutout March 22, striking out 15 batters in a 4-0 victory over Florida--the same Gator squad that had pounded out 40 runs and 38 hits in its previous two games.

Despite his current success at Miami, Fernandez made a gutsy decision to turn down a guaranteed professional contract. He was the first first-round draft choice since 1979 to turn down the major leagues.

While football's Barry Sanders, Timm Rosenbach and Bobby Humpherey and basketball's Jay Edwards are leaving school before graduation to make their riches in the professional ranks, Fernandez reflects a growing trend of high school stars who are taking advantage of NCAA baseball as an alternative to the bus rides of the minor leagues.

Roger Clemens and Mark McGwire are two prominent examples of baseball players developing their skills while garnering a college education. Neither missed a beat on the path to the major leagues.

Hopefully, Fernandez won't either. But even if he does, he will always have his education and his four years of college at Miami.

Fernandez postponed his dream of pitching in the majors, just as Harvard's Lane MacDonald and Allen Bourbeau postponed their dreams of playing professional hockey for one year to graduate from Harvard...and lead the Crimson to a national championship.

The embattled NCAA is facing a long road to recovery, but it can take heart in a few refreshing breezes like the Crimson and Alex Fernandez.