2 TOP ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT OFFICIALS AT CSUN RESIGN

Paul Bubb And Judith Brame Step Down After Admitting They Knew Of
Allegations Of Coach's Drug Use

NORTHRIDGE--The two top officials in the Cal State Northridge
athletic department resigned Tuesday, one week after women's
basketball Coach Michael Abraham was arrested in the campus gymnasium
and charged with intent to distribute crack cocaine.

Paul Bubb, the athletic director for three tumultuous years, stepped
down under pressure from President Blenda J. Wilson. Judith Brame
resigned as associate athletic director and acting women's
basketball coach, although she will remain a tenured professor.

Wilson said that an interim athletic director will be chosen within a
week and that a search will begin for a permanent
replacement.

The drastic action comes on the heels of admissions by Bubb and Brame
that they knew of allegations by players two years ago that Abraham
was using drugs.

Neither Bubb nor Brame informed Wilson of the charges.

After the coach's arrest, Bubb and Brame denied any knowledge of
suspected drug use by Abraham until the players who made the
allegations came forward in recent days.

"I respect the personal responsibility [Bubb and Brame] have taken,"
Wilson said. "They believed their effectiveness was diminished because
of the severity of the incident and the fact that they had previously
known of allegations and did not report them." The events of the past
week are merely the latest in a long string of athletic department
crises under Bubb, the most serious of which was a university decision
to eliminate four men's sports in June 1997 to free up funds for
women's sports, a decision reversed two months later after public protests.

Bubb, 41, appeared Tuesday night at a meeting of the university's
11-member advisory board on athletics and in an emotion-filled voice
read a prepared statement: "As information about Michael Abraham has
been reviewed over the past week by the university, my judgment has
been questioned. . . . While I found some of the issues the
student-athletes brought to me to be true and I addressed those issues
with Coach Abraham, I did not have information presented to me during
my review which could confirm drug use by Coach Abraham.

"I have given my best to the university and leave confident in my mind
that the decisions I have made as athletic director were in the best
interest of the department and the university." Brame, 58, spent the
morning in her office and said in a statement: "Because I care deeply
about Cal State Northridge athletics and my effectiveness in this
area, I have concluded that it is in the best interest of the program
for me to resign my administrative responsibilities." Wilson acted
quickly after an internal investigation was completed Tuesday. She met
with head coaches at 7:30 a.m., spoke with the women's basketball team
in the afternoon and announced the resignations to the advisory board.

"For me, the reality of drugs in our society is the most damaging and
evil thing our democracy is facing," she said. "This is a serious
matter and the entire university community is experiencing pain." The
head coaches expressed to Wilson a variety of concerns about
leadership in the athletic department, firming her resolve to oust
Bubb. She addressed three issues with them, the coaches said: * She
asked if they had known of Abraham's alleged involvement with drug
trafficking before he was arrested. All said they were unaware of his
involvement, although one coach told her that Abraham's former
assistants probably had known.

Wilson asked how the image of the athletic department could be
improved in the wake of the arrest. Most of the coaches said they
would volunteer to submit to random drug testing.

"If we are going to conduct drug-testing [on] our student-athletes, we
ought to be willing to do the same thing," said Bobby Braswell, men's
basketball coach. "We need to let the community know we have nothing
to hide." Wilson concluded the meeting by asking for "blind support"
on whatever decisions may be forthcoming, and the coaches agreed.

"This is tragic that things had to end up this way," Braswell said.
"At a time we are trying to establish a Division I program, we need
things to be heading into a positive direction.

"Although I am very appreciative of Paul hiring me into this position,
I understand his decision and Judy's decision to step down and do what
is best for the athletic department. People need to know we are still
here and still operating." Wilson said she already has received faxes
and phone calls from candidates for the job of athletic director.

"We need a strong leader who can bring us together as a team," said
Michael Rehm, athletic director for development. "We need to do this
swiftly." Wilson said she is allowing the women's basketball team to
decide whether to hire a new head coach or promote one of the current
assistants--Frozena Jerro, Karon Howell or Tara Harrington. Jerro has
one year of experience at Northridge and the others are in their first
season.

Bubb was hired by Northridge in August 1990 as director of athletic
fund-raising. He was hired as athletic director in April 1996 after
assuming control on an interim basis nine months earlier following the
resignation of Bob Hiegert.

Before coming to Northridge, he worked in fund-raising capacities at
Drake University in Des Moines and the University of Southern
Illinois-Carbondale.

Brame came to Northridge as women's basketball coach in 1974 and, with
the exception of 1979-80, served until 1983. She was women's athletic
director from 1978 to 1987, associate athletic director from 1987 to
1993, and senior associate athletic director since 1994.

She held various coaching roles at UC Davis and Cal Poly Pomona before
coming to Northridge.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry