Those coaches included: Jim Boeheim,
Syracuse University, Bo Ryan, University of Wisconsin-Madison,
Paul Hewitt, Georgia Tech, Ron Hunter, Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis, Phil Martelli, St.
Joseph’s University, Herb Sendek, Arizona State
University.
Certainly this group of coaches cuts
across wide swathes of the college basketball landscape and all are leaders or
up and coming leaders in the National Association of Basketball Coaches. All of
these coaches have two things in common. None currently have teams who are even
close to being ranked in the Top 10 percentile of the NCAA’s 2005-06 Academic
Progress Rate Public Report. None have better graduation rates than their female
counterparts at their respective schools.
I certainly respect the careers of all of
these gentlemen but do they have the answers on this particular
subject?
According to the NCAA’s Division I 2005-2006 Academic
Progress Rate Public Record:
·
Syracuse ranks in the
60th-70th percentile in Division I men’s basketball which means that 30-40% of
the teams competing at the Division I level have better academic progress
rates.
·
Georgia Tech ranks in
the 60th-70th percentile in Division I men’s basketball which means that 30-40%
of the teams competing at the Division I level have better academic progress
rates.
·
University of
Wisconsin-Madison ranks in the 50th-60th percentile in Division I men’s
basketball which means that 40-50% of the teams competing at the Division I
level have better academic progress rates.
·
St. Joseph’s University
ranks in the 40th-50th percentile in Division I men’s basketball which means
that 50-60% of the teams competing at the Division I level have better academic
progress rates.
·
Indiana
University-Purdue University at Indianapolis ranks in the 40th-50th percentile
in Division I men’s basketball which means that 50-60% of the teams competing at
the Division I level have better academic progress rates.
·
Arizona State
University ranks in the 10th-20th percentile in Division I men’s basketball
which means that 80-90% of the teams competing at the Division I level have
better academic progress rates. Note: Herb Sendek formerly coached at NC State
which performed respectably in the 60th-70th percentile range.
·
Tennessee State
University ranks in the 1st-10th percentile in Division I men’s basketball which
means that 90-100% of the teams competing at the Division I level have better
academic progress rates.
It is true that out of all 29 NCAA
sponsored sports, men’s basketball is the worst performing academic group in
those student-athlete groups according to these official NCAA numbers. It is
also true that the seven men’s basketball programs listed above, all perform
academically in the bottom third or worse compared to all other NCAA Division I
athletic teams. It is also true that in every case that their counterparts, the
women’s basketball teams at these same universities are superior in academic
performance by rather large margins. Just look at the scoreboard according to
the Federal Graduation Rate Trends for Division I from 1996-99:
·
Overall Graduation Rates from 1996-99 according to NCAA:
o Women’s basketball players graduated 65% of their
players while men’s basketball players graduated at a 45% rate.
·
Academic Progress Reports (APR’s) for men’s basketball
teams vs. the average for women’s basketball
teams:
o Men’s basketball players scored a 927 overall
average across their sport vs. a 960 score for women’s basketball players. Note:
The 927 score represents the worst performance in all of the NCAA among 29 NCAA
sponsored sports.
According to the NCAA Graduation Success Rates from
1996-99:
·
Syracuse men’s basketball
players graduated at a 75% rate vs. 100% on the women’s side.
·
Georgia Tech men’s
basketball players graduated at a 42% rate vs. 64% on the women’s
side.
·
University of
Wisconsin-Madison men’s basketball players graduated at a 64% rate vs. 80% on
the women’s side.
·
St. Joseph’s men’s
basketball players graduated at a 75% rate vs. 85% on the women’s
side.
·
Indiana
University-Purdue University at Indianapolis men’s basketball players graduated
at a 46% rate vs. 76% on the women’s side.
·
Arizona State University men’s basketball players
graduated at a 31% rate vs. 82% on the women’s side.
·
Tennessee State University men’s basketball players
graduated at an 88% rate vs. 100% on the women’s side.
Let’s assume that these male and female
student-athletes who play the same sport at the same universities are going to
basically the same blocks of classes taught by a similar group of professors.
Let’s assume that they practice the same amount of time at the same facilities
and are all supervised by their different but similarly competitive coaches.
On Myles Brand’s twenty-seven member
panel there is only one female who also happens to be a former women’s
basketball coach, Dr. Debbie Yow who is the Director of Athletics at the
University of
Maryland. And, by the way
the Terrapins have their own issues in men’s basketball with a Graduation
Success Rate of 18% from 1996-99 while the women…you guessed right…graduated at
a 71% clip.
So what does all of this mean and how can
the NCAA better address this issue? Based on the numbers and the history of
men’s basketball I can tell you that appointing a twenty-seven member committee
is not the answer. Twenty-seven member committees may start out with a goal of
creating the next perfect academic strategy and end up with the perfect cure for
athlete’s foot. Large committees of this sort take years to create a document
that is long on verbiage and short on practical answers. In fact, this committee
is scheduled to report its findings and recommendations in 2008! One full year
to address this issue with more long-winded rhetoric and politically correct
phrases that are thrust upon us one more time with the same old results?
Those of us who love this sport have
waited long enough for the NCAA bureaucrats and its committees to find answers.
Now is the time to act and act aggressively!
Therefore, I submit an alternative
strategy:
ASK THE WOMEN’S COACHES WHAT WORKS FOR
THEM!
Pat Summitt at Tennessee just won
another National Championship. She graduated 100% of her players in the 1996-99
evaluation vs. 18% of the Tennessee men’s players over the same period.
Geno Auriemma at Connecticut graduated 91% of his players vs.
30% on the men’s side. They both have won multiple national titles, they both
send their players to the professional ranks and they both graduate their
players! These women’s basketball coaches and their players are either smarter,
more ethical or both!
LET’S JUST ASK THEM AND FORGET ABOUT THE
TWENTY-SEVEN MEMBER BLUE RIBBON PANEL TO SOLVE THE POOR PERFORMANCE OF THE MEN”S
BASKETBALL PLAYERS!
As an outsider looking in on a sport I
once coached I can honestly say that men’s basketball has lost its collective
conscience. Money is everything and the NCAA men’s basketball members and their
coaches as a group all know it. College basketball coaches are driven to win
because winning takes care of everything…money, recruiting, job security and
even cheating!
Until the consequences of poor academic
performance, cheating and unethical behavior become more severe than losing
games, men’s basketball will face the same under-performing academic outputs and
scandals as it has faced for decades. Men’s basketball needs a cultural change.
The culture of women’s basketball is a good place to start where the large
majority of ethical coaches still hold their players accountable for their
collective behavior on and off the court. Women’s basketball still has a soul
and no twenty-seven member NCAA committee can give back to men’s basketball
their collective hoops soul. Never send a boy to do a man’s job and in this case
the ‘Good Old Boys’ are less needed than ever.
All we need to do to solve this issue is
to simply look at the success stories taking place a few offices away in every
athletic department across America. All we need to do is ask a
good-hearted women’s basketball coach for a little guidance and then do what
they do with passion, morals and ethics!
Mark Adams is a college basketball analyst on the ESPN
family of networks.