Nancy Lieberman wrote last month that one coach was behind the scenes pushing the NCAA to act on male practice players. I suggested that it might be Tara VanDerveer.

TV recently spoke with P-I columnist Dick Rockne. While she doesn't support an outright ban, she suggests that there should be some regulation placing a limitation on guys in practice.

Stanford uses men in practice, but only in limited amounts. She thinks that some other teams are using men too much -- "I think it's the overuse of male players that's the problem and not the use."

TV is a legend of the game, and her opinion on this (or any) issue carries a lot of weight. It would be nice to hear more. Does she really know how other teams use their practice players? What are some examples of the abuse that concerns her? What sort of limitation would she support?

One thing we've learned in the last few weeks is that different teams use their practice player differently -- different numbers for different amounts of time, and for differet purposes. (And some teams don't use them at all.)

Stanford's limited use might be a good way to go... but is it right to force that system on everyone? If Tara's system for practices is best, she can use that as part of her recruiting pitch, and if players agree, they can choose Stanford over other schools. Do we really need a NCAA rule mandating Stanford-style limitations?

Different coaches and players have different preferences. Why should everyone have to do things the same way?