THE COACH'S WIFE

Phelps (Law/Notre Dame), wife of ex-Notre Dame basketball coach ``Digger'' Phelps, pulls no punches in this intelligent, skillful account of her family's 20 years in South Bend. When Coach Phelps (whom the author refers to as ``Dick,'' forgoing the nickname her husband acquired as an undertaker's son) was told after the 1990-91 season—his 20th at Notre Dame—to resign or be fired, the news came as no surprise. The Phelpses had heard the boos over the past couple of seasons and were well aware of the ``Dump Digger'' clamor. But according to the author, Phelps's mediocre 1989-90 record of 16-12 was only a part of the problem. The trouble began, she says, when Notre Dame's longtime president, Fr. Theodore Hesburgh, retired and a new administration took over—one that emphasized winning ``at any cost.'' The ``new plutocratic regime'' measured success only by the bottom line, Phelps contends, and ignored her husband's many 20-win seasons; his value as part of the school community; and the fact that 100% of his players went on to graduate, compared to the 33% national rate for varsity basketball players. Phelps quotes the school's new athletic director, Dick Rosenthal, as boasting that he would ``schedule Digger out of a job'' with a grueling 1990-91 slate of games that included only 12 home games—and most of those played just prior to exams. On a more personal note, as the author writes of her marriage and children, she makes clear that she knew early on that she wouldn't be simply a ``lovely wife,'' a media creature who was ``trivial, irrelevant, interchangeable.'' She goes on to proffer some practical advice to the NCAA rules committee regarding eligibility, and remarks that colleges need to create an atmosphere ``in which athletes can exploit their educational opportunities as much as we exploit the athletes.'' A fine memoir-cum-defense, told from a fresh perspective. (Photographs—not seen)