{image1} A few weeks ago the "almighty" NCAA Board of Directors passed the Academic Progress Rate. This is a bill that directly links graduation rates to scholarship availability (the rate is roughly based on 50 percent graduation rate over a five-year period). While the idea behind the bill is one of genuine thought, it further proves how far out of the loop the board is from daily activities going on college campuses all across the country.
It is surprising that this ruling barely made a ripple in the sports talk pond.
The nuts and bolts of this new ruling are as follows:
* The Academic Progress Rate (APR) is based roughly on a 50-percent graduation rate over a five-year period.
* The APR will be based on the number of student athletes on each team who achieve eligibility and return to campus full time each term.
* The program applies to every men's and women's sport.
* Teams that fall under a minimum APR will lose scholarships when players who are academically ineligible leave the school.
* Confiscated scholarships can't be re-awarded for a year.
* There is a 10-percent cap on the number of scholarships teams could lose.
* Historical penalties will be more severe and directed at schools with continued problems; they are yet to be approved.
* Consecutive years of falling below certain academic standards would lead to recruiting and further scholarship restrictions. A third straight year could lead to being banned from preseason or postseason games, and a fourth would affect Division I membership status.
To preface this, there is absolutely no way the NCAA can govern every member's programs, nor should they try. In reality, many existing rules actually hinder athlete's development. Rules such as the number of hours that a team can practice during the week or when a coach can and cannot have contact with his players.
The fact of the matter is that as far as academics go, college athletics is more about baby sitting than it is about having a place in higher learning. Only rarely do colleges get caught for academic fraud -- like the University of Minnesota in 2001. The reason why they don't get caught is because the allegations have to be so ridiculous to be even brought to the NCAA's attention.
This new "rate" will only encourage what is already occurring on campus everywhere. While painting with a broad brush, but believe me when I say that, if you want help, all you have to do is ask. The better you are the better and more extensive the help.
There is no chance a major football or basketball program will allow one of its current players to fall though the cracks if it meant that it would cost them a scholarship. This may be the only bright spot of the program. No longer can a program treat athletes like they are just another number. This will force many administrations to keep an eye on their athletes, not just reload them.
On the other hand, this could completely backfire -- like a scene out of "Friday Night Lights." In the state of Texas (at the time the book was written) their policy was that each student had to pass each of his/her classes to be eligible to play. In turn, the Dallas school district decided to implement its own grading policy where attendance and participation were counted heavily into the grade. Basically, they made the grade ambiguous so their top players wouldn't have any problems passing their classes.
Don't think for a second that top football or basketball players in the country don't get preferential treatment in the classroom. Many programs have their own academic programs set up in order to get their least bright or laziest players through the system. This ranges from simple tutoring to more extensive means of support.
This is not to say there aren't many players that are good students, because each team is loaded with them. Who this rule is going to affect are those on the bottom rung of the academic ladder.
The threat of taking scholarships away from a team is only going to make coaches and administrations more desperate to make sure their players get through the system --whether the student athlete has earned it or not. Is it worse for a player to fail or for a player to receive what they haven't earned?
Another problem with the rate is how it deals with players who leave early for professional sports. Most basketball and baseball players do not play their four full years and complete their degree. It is not hard to understand that when a player realizes his future is in the NBA or NFL that he doesn't exactly break the binding of his textbooks.
Duke University is a great example. Is Duke going to be punished for the Elton Brands and the Luol Dengs of the world? Would Coach K have to lose a scholarship because his players are too talented? Does this even make sense? The rule says only illegible players who leave are the ones that will be counted against. But like previously stated, what incentive did Luol Deng have to go to class for his second semester after he declared for the NBA draft?
Lastly, and most disturbing, this will affect kids that haven't had the greatest situation growing up in high school. Will coaches have to shy away from a kid that may not qualify because the chances of that player graduating will be less?
College is supposed to be a place of opportunity for kids to make something of themselves. The fact of the matter is that athletics are the only way that many kids find themselves on a college campus. The kids that grew up in a one-bedroom apartment with five siblings and virtually no chance at succeeding are going to be the ones that suffer.
Athletics gives them a chance to get out. It provides a chance to concentrate on them alone, not on being a parent to his siblings. These are the types of kids that could get passed over because a basketball coach may not want to chance one of his valuable scholarships.
This idea is one that is rooted in smart people trying to do good things. The idea is to make academics more important in college athletics, but the opportunity cost of that could be so much greater than they ever could imagine.
As fans, we all know that as soon as you talk about how a coach is doing a good job graduating his players it means he is about to get fired for not winning. That will not change, nor will the hypocrisy of the multi-billion dollar NCAA and its need for tougher academic requirements on athletic programs.
