Contact: John Chandler,
818/677-2130
john.chandler@csun.edu

Acting Women's Basketball Coach Named

Abraham, 39, of Northridge was relieved for now as head women's basketball coach and placed on paid administrative leave from his university job on Wednesday after the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced his arrest on a drug charge.

"The university's decision will provide a smooth transition for the women's basketball program, because Judy Brame has coached the team in the past. And this also will give Coach Abraham the time necessary to focus on his personal issues," Bubb said.

Bubb made the announcement after he and Vice President of Student Affairs Ron Kopita conferred with CSUN President Blenda J. Wilson on the matter, and she approved the actions being taken by the university.

Brame, the No. 2 administrator in the university's Athletic Department, will assume the coaching assignment immediately and is expected to remain in that capacity until the issues involving Coach Abraham are resolved.

Brame, 58, originally coached CSUN's women's basketball team for eight seasons, from 1974 when she joined the university to 1979, and again from 1980 to 1983. During that period, she achieved a win-loss record of 101-89. Brame became senior associate athletic director in 1995.

Abraham, who is paid $67,000-a-year, had coached the women's team and worked at CSUN since June 1995, most recently under a two-year contract that runs through May 1999. He was about to start his fourth season at the university.

Prior to CSUN, Abraham worked at Oregon State from 1991 to 1995, serving as associate head coach of women's basketball. Prior to that, he worked as an assistant in the women's basketball program at Cal State Long Beach for six seasons.

He has a total of 21 years of coaching during a career that began in 1978. During that span, Abraham has had 15 of his former players go on to play professionally in Europe, the women's American Basketball League and the WNBA.

The women's basketball team is now in its second week of practice and has its first exhibition game scheduled on-campus for Sunday, November 8. The team, which plays in the Big Sky Conference, last year had an overall win-loss record of 14-14 and tied for third place.

University athletic administrators planned to meet Wednesday afternoon with the 13 members of the women's basketball team to alert them of the situation, and to assure them that they will continue to receive the university's support and guidance of an experienced coach.

Additional inquiries about the matter involving Coach Abraham should be directed to the FBI's public affairs staff in Westwood, (310) 996-3342, or the U.S. Attorney's Office in downtown Los Angeles. The university will have no additional comment on the matter for now.