At some point well before I entered the University of Missouri back in the fall of 1987, money became the driving force in college athletics. It was probably in the 1970s, when NCAA television contracts were increasing exponentially, but certainly this was true by the early 1980s, when a number of big-time conferences (the then-Big Eight included) sued the NCAA for the right to sign deal with the networks directly.

These days, top football and basketball coaches (including a couple women's coaches) make more than the presidents of their universities, and just about every coach in a "revenue" sport makes more than the best-paid professor. Because of the need for more and more donations to fuel the athletics beast, collegiate athletics directors are acting more and more like professional general managers. Ron Zook was fired by Florida in the middle of this season not so much because of his not-quite Spurrieresque record but because Gator alumni weren't ponying up the bucks.

At my alma mater, folks have been trying to get a new basketball stadium built since before I was in school. Never mind that the Hearnes Center seated 13,300 (and almost never filled up, except for a handful of conference games each season) and that it was built in the early 1970s and thus could hardly be considered a relic. No, we needed a new stadium because North Carolina had the Dean Dome, and Kentucky had Rupp Arena and, by God, Missouri was as good as them.

Academically speaking, Missouri is decidedly superior to Kentucky, though not up to Carolina's standards (though I'd take the MU J-skool over UNC's fine program any day of the week). But we're not speaking academically. We're talking basketball. And there, Missouri just doesn't measure up. We love our Tigers, they were the beast of the Big Eight in the 1980s and 1990s, but they're no Carolina or Kentucky or (the horror!) even Kansas. Sorry guys. You gotta get to at least one Final Four before you even get mentioned in the same book as those programs.

But MU's relative lack of success is okay with me. We don't have to be the greatest basketball program. I'm happy when none of our players get arrested during any particular season. I do agree that it would have been nice if more than a few hundred students had been allowed to sit in the 8,000-seat bowl which provided nice views of the Hearnes Center court. I spent my five years at Mizzou rooting from the general admission bleachers up in D section, which supposedly seated 5,300 (or something like that). These weren't nosebleed seats; they were vulture seats. You had to lean halfway out of your seat to get even a glimpse of the court, and if you stood (which we did most of the time), you had to put one foot on the bleacher in front of you just to stay balanced.

Still, we didn't need a new arena. Hearnes was a great place to watch a game. But Bill and Nancy Laurie (second-generation Wal-Mart heirs) gave $25 million to build a new arena, and some other fat cats put up the remaining $50 million. The University gave the Lauries naming rights in exchange for their cash, and the Lauries asked that the new stadium be called the "Paige Sports Arena." Paige is the name of the Laurie's daughter and Paige Sports Entertainment is Bill Laurie's business venture (Paige is a family name as well as the first name of the Laurie's daughter). A lot of folks grumbled about such a "manly" place as a basketball stadium carrying the name "Paige." I don't know why anyone would intentionally choose the name "Paige" for any purpose, but that's beside the point.

What is the point is that the new Paige Sports Arena opened its doors earlier this month. About a week ago, Paige Laurie was accused of cheating at USC. Not just on a test or in a single course. Her roommate of 3 1/2 years (I wonder what happened that other half year...) claimed that Laurie paid her $20,000 to do all of her classwork. USC says the investigation is "ongoing."

Last week, the Lauries told Missouri that it could take the Paige name off the new arena. The Lauries didn't have to do that. They paid their money and they could, as many other donors have done, simply insisted that it stay or that the university refund their donation or even that the university accept a replacement name. But the Lauries relinquished their naming rights, giving the name back to the school while letting MU keep their money. I know, you're not supposed to praise people for merely acting decently, but hey, in this era of "business ethics," well, maybe we should.

So if you're Mike Alden, MU athletic director, you might see this as an opportunity to cash in a second time, the double dip to end all double dips. Hey, if the Lauries were willing to plunk down $25 million for the name, surely someone else could be convinced to throw down a similar sum, right? Why not a Commerce Bank Center or Ralston Purina Dome? The beast must be fed, after all.

If that had happened, I would have been annoyed, but not surprised. College athletics is all about money, and more money is good. But the name didn't go back on the block. Last Friday, the University of Missouri Board of Curators voted to rename the building Mizzou Arena.

Mizzou Arena doesn't roll off the tongue like, say, Faurot Field or the Columns or Jesse Hall or Brady Commons or the Donald Reynolds Alumni Center or any of the landmarks on campus, but at least it does make a nice gesture. Mizzou is the nickname of the school, of course, and so that name encompasses staff, faculty, administration and lots of other folks in addition to the students. Still, it's nice that, for once, there is a new building on campus that pays tribute, if only in part, to the students.

Hey, it's not a trend or anything. "Mizzou Arena" sounds more like name by desperate committee rather than an inspired choice. But in a time when people with money seem to think they can do anything they want wherever they want, it's nice to see the Lauries step back and be truly generous, and it's even nicer for my alma mater to put its hand back in its pocket, if only for a few seconds.

Jon Worley would not be surprised if he walked through the doors to the Commerce Bank Center the next time he attended a Mizzou basketball game in person.