The last time the University of Hawaii men’s basketball team went to the NCAA Tournament, Predrag Savovic was awarded its Art Woolaway Most Outstanding Player award.

But its MVNP —- most valuable non-player — that 2001-02 season was Richard J. Evrard.

Evrard didn’t possess much of a jump shot, but the 6-foot, 2-inch, then-44-year-old attorney’s background as a former NCAA enforcement officer and legislative official helped UH salvage enough of Savovic’s eligibility, amid a 10-month NCAA inquiry into foreign players, to open the way for a 27-6 season.

Now that the NCAA investigators are getting reacquainted with UH again 12 years later, you wonder when the school will bring Evrard and his firm — Bond, Schoeneck & King — off the bench again. Or summon one with similar experience and expertise.

UH’s Office of General Counsel is overseeing the case, and Monday it wasn’t acknowledging plans to seek assistance. The question is: Why not?

Of course the OGC isn’t publicly acknowledging there even is an NCAA investigation. This while elsewhere in Manoa the stress surrounding the NCAA inquiry is palpable. What began as an inquiry into an altered document concerning a UH basketball recruit in January has broadened. The NCAA lengthened its list of interviewees and is said to have requested voluminous material beyond the initial scope of investigation.

The gumshoes from NCAA headquarters are said to be posing the kind of questions — benefits, practice hours, foreign players, etc. — that make you think they are putting a lot more under the microscope than whether a number was added to a financial document.

They are precisely the kind of queries that, should they lead to action, usually bring more than a slap on the wrist.

Which is why, when the NCAA comes knocking, the big boys and girls of college sports, Oregon and Ohio State among them, invariably turn quickly to firms that specialize in dealing with the NCAA.

As the money in college sports has taken off and the price of perdition has risen, firms with former NCAA staffers, such as Bond, Schoeneck & King, The Compliance Group of Lenexa, Kan., and Ice Miller of Indianapolis, have found a growing market as advocates and advisors.

Small wonder since they have a history with the NCAA, know its limitations and staff and, in many cases, have helped write rules the NCAA seeks to hit their clients over the head with.

Michael Glazier of the Bond firm, for example, has been nicknamed the "Cleaner" for an ability to help clients shed mud and address failings.

Their services, however, don’t come cheap. UH said it paid $33,000 for help in 2001-02. Oregon and Louisville shelled out many times more, but in the end barely got their knuckles rapped.

When the time comes that the NCAA shows UH its cards and you want to know how serious the school is about addressing them, see who it runs in to play defense.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.