Vast majority of programs escape punishment, but next year could be different, group warns
In the heap of numbers the National Collegiate Athletic Association released last week announcing the latest academic successes and failures of college athletes, three numbers stood out: 44, 40, and 35.
Those were the surprisingly large percentages of men’s basketball, football, and baseball teams, respectively, that could face sanctions next year for failing to meet the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate requirements. In those three sports alone, more than 300 teams could be penalized next year if they do not shape up.
This year, however, the NCAA penalized just 112 total teams for their poor classroom performances. That is a tiny fraction of the more than 6,000 Division I programs.
As a result of this year’s penalties, 81 teams will lose scholarships over the next year. Forty-nine squads, including 18 of those losing scholarships, received warning letters for having repeated problems.
For the most part, the big-time programs that pour money into tutoring and other academic services for athletes avoided penalties. Twelve Division I-A football teams lost scholarships, but only one — the University of Arizona — comes from a Bowl Championship Series conference. In basketball just two big-time programs — the University of Cincinnati and Iowa State University — were penalized.
Many historically black colleges were not so lucky. Although the NCAA extended waivers to more than 50 such institutions, allowing them to avoid penalties, historically black colleges still accounted for about 13 percent of the teams that were penalized.
Myles Brand, president of the NCAA, said in a news conference last week that whether a college was historically black was not the right characteristic to focus on.
“Let’s look at low-resource based schools, a large number of which are historically black colleges and universities,” he said. To help such institutions, he said, the NCAA has set up a $1.6-million fund.
Pleased With Performance
The NCAA introduced the Academic Progress Rate three years ago to measure how well athletes are performing in the classroom and how much progress they are making.
Over all, NCAA officials said that they are pleased with athletes’ progress. Eighty-seven percent of all Division I teams met the association’s standards, and more than 40 percent of teams have improved their academic performance in the past year.
Many teams that have underperformed during the past three years have not been penalized because of a statistical adjustment the NCAA has made for teams with a small number of athletes. That adjustment will go away next year after the association collects its fourth year of data — putting hundreds more teams at risk for penalties.
That includes many men’s basketball, football, and baseball teams. This year 75 of the 112 teams that were punished came from those sports.
Football and baseball teams have shown some improvement in the past year, but the majority of men’s basketball programs have not made strides, NCAA officials said.
The NCAA recently mailed letters to the teams in danger of being penalized next year, encouraging them to develop what Mr. Brand calls a “plan for recovery.”
“The goal of academic reform,” Mr. Brand said, “is to improve classroom performance and graduate all of our student-athletes.”
TEAMS FACING PENALTIES The NCAA announced last week that 112 teams from 75 colleges had failed to meet its Academic Progress Rate requirements. Eighty-one teams face scholarship cuts. Forty-nine teams, including 18 of those losing scholarships, received warning letters for failing to meet academic standards for three consecutive years. | Alabama State U. | men’s golf | | | California State U. at Fresno | baseball | | | men’s basketball | | | California State U. at Northridge | baseball | | | California State U. at Sacramento | baseball | | | football | | | Centenary C. of Louisiana | baseball | | | men’s basketball | | | Central Connecticut State U. | baseball | | | football | | | women’s golf | | | Chicago State U. | baseball | | | Clarion U. of Pa. | wrestling | | | Cleveland State U. | baseball | | | C. of Charleston | baseball | | | Coppin State U. | baseball | | | East Carolina U. | men’s basketball | | | Eastern Illinois U. | wrestling | | | Eastern Michigan U. | men’s basketball | | | Florida A&M U. | men’s swimming | | | women’s swimming | | | Florida Atlantic U. | men’s golf | | | Florida International U. | baseball | | | football | | | men’s basketball | | | Georgia Southern U. | baseball | | | football | | | men’s basketball | | | Grambling State U. | softball | | | Hampton U. | football | | | men’s basketball | | | Idaho State U. | football | | | Indiana State U. | men’s tennis | | | Iona C. | baseball | | | Iowa State U. | men’s basketball | | | Jacksonville State U. | football | | | Lipscomb U. | baseball | | | Louisiana Tech U. | baseball | | | men’s basketball | | | McNeese State U. | men’s basketball | | | Middle Tennessee State U. | football | | | Montana State U. at Bozeman | football | | | Morgan State U. | women’s volleyball | | | Murray State U. | football | | | men’s cross country | | | New Mexico State U. | baseball | | | Nicholls State U. | baseball | | | men’s cross country | | | women’s indoor track | | | women’s outdoor track | | | Northern Arizona U. | football | | | Oral Roberts U. | baseball | | | Portland State U. | wrestling | | | Prairie View A&M U. | baseball | | | Rutgers U. | women’s fencing | | | wrestling | | | San Diego State U. | baseball | | | San Jose State U. | baseball | | | football | | | men’s cross country | | | men’s soccer | | | women’s basketball | | | Insitution | Team | Cuts | Warning | Southeast Missouri State U. | football | | | Southern Illinois U. at Carbondale | men’s indoor track | | | men’s outdoor track | | | Southern U. at Baton Rouge | baseball | | | football | | | men’s basketball | | | State U. of N.Y. at Binghamton | wrestling | | | State U. of N.Y. at Buffalo | football | | | Temple U. | baseball | | | football | | | Texas A&M U. at Corpus Christi | baseball | | | Texas Southern U. | men’s basketball | | | men’s tennis | | | softball | | | women’s golf | | | women’s soccer | | | Texas State U. at San Marcos | football | | | men’s basketball | | | men’s outdoor track | | | Texas Tech U. | baseball | | | men’s indoor track | | | men’s outdoor track | | | Troy U. | men’s outdoor track | | | U. of Alabama at Birmingham | football | | | U. of Arizona | football | | | U. of California at Santa Barbara | women’s basketball | | | U. of Cincinnati | men’s basketball | | | U. of Hawaii-Manoa | football | | | U. of Illinois at Chicago | men’s indoor track | | | men’s outdoor track | | | U. of Kansas | baseball | | | U. of Louisiana at Lafayette | football | | | men’s basketball | | | U. of Louisiana at Monroe | men’s basketball | | | U. of Maryland-Eastern Shore | men’s basketball | | | U. of Mississippi | men’s indoor track | | | men’s outdoor track | | | U. of Nevada at Las Vegas | football | | | U. of New Mexico | baseball | | | U. of South Alabama | men’s basketball | | | U. of Tennessee at Chattanooga | football | | | wrestling | | | U. of Tennessee at Knoxville | baseball | | | U. of Texas at Arlington | baseball | | | U. of Texas at San Antonio | men’s basketball | | | U. of Toledo | football | | | U. of Wyoming | men’s basketball | | | Weber State U. | football | | | Western Illinois U. | men’s basketball | | | Western Michigan U. | football | | | SOURCE: National Collegiate Athletic Association | |
http://chronicle.com Section: Athletics Volume 53, Issue 36, Page A47