On Sunday's ESPN "Outside The Lines": Former CSUN women's hoop coach Abraham back in the witness chair

Former Cal State Northridge womens' basketball coach and L.A. Sparks assistant Michael Abraham, once sentenced in 1998 to 18 months in federal prison for his role in a crack cocaine conspiracy charge (link here to 2006 Daily News Q-and-A), is the founder, director, and coach of one of the country's most successful AAU girls' basketball programs, Portland, Ore.-based Team Concept (story linked here from the Portland Oregonian).

Starting this year, Abraham cannot coach from the bench at any NCAA-certified tournament because he is a felon who served time in federal prison. A change in NCAA policy this year prohibits anyone convicted of a felony from coaching in NCAA certified girls tournaments. This means Abraham must be in the stands or on the sidelines while his team competes.

Shelley Smith reports on the story as part of Sunday's ESPN "Outside The Lines" (6 a.m., ESPN, repeated at 9 a.m. on ESPN2).

"I make sure if there's a guy with a felony, my kids aren't going to play for him. I just think they need positive people around and positive role models around them," says Chris Morrison, an AAU coach who also coaches girls basketball at St. Anthony's High in Long Beach. "If they sold drugs and been convicted of those things, what is that telling the kids that you're coaching?"