Knight Commission News
Knight Commission to meet June 17 to discuss academic reforms, penalties for major rules violations
The Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics will meet June 17 in Washington, D. C. to discuss academic reforms and penalities for major rules violations. The meeting will include discussions of the NCAA Academic Performance Program; recommendations to improve the academic performance of basketball players; and, trends in NCAA violations and recommendations to revise the penalties for major rules violations.
The NCAA recently announced that 218 teams at 123 institutions will be sanctioned for failing to meet minimum academic benchmarks established as part of the Academic Performance Program. In 2001, the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics advocated that teams be ineligible for postseason competition if they failed to graduate at least 50 percent of their athletes. Although the current benchmarks are lower than those advocated by the Commission, the Commission has supported the full implementation of the NCAA’s program since its adoption in 2004.
During this meeting, the Knight Commission will receive a report on the program’s administration and impact. Of particular interest to the Commission is the process that allowed nearly 70 percent of teams with scores under the minimum benchmark to avoid penalties. Also, the Commission will consider academic enhancement proposals from a group of basketball coaches and administrators. The Commission will also hear a report from current members of the Division I Committee on Infractions on trends in major rules violations and possible changes to the penalty structure.
The Knight Commission will welcome three new members at this meeting: Sarah Lowe, former University of Florida women’s basketball athlete; Sonja Steptoe, former Time and Sports Illustrated journalist and Christopher Zorich, former football All-American at Notre Dame
Controversy swells over offering athletic scholarships to eighth and ninth graders
William “Brit” Kirwan, chancellor of the University of Maryland system and co-chair of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, called on colleges and the NCAA to end the practice of offering scholarships to students as young as the eighth grade. “I find the practice appalling, quite frankly,” Kirwan told the USA Today. “I certainly hope the NCAA will step in and put a stop to it. I certainly will voice my objection to (NCAA President) Myles Brand and others at the NCAA.” Kirwan’s comments come in response to the recent action by University of Kentucky men’s basketball coach Billy Gillispie, who offered a scholarship in the last week to eighth-grader Michael Avery from Lake Sherwood, California and ninth-grader, Vincent Zollo, from Greenfield, Ohio.
NCAA issues penalties and waivers for APR failures
The NCAA announced that 218 teams at 123 Division I institutions will be sanctioned for failing to meet the minimum academic benchmarks measured by the NCAA’s Academic Progress Rate (APR). Sanctions included loss of scholarships, reduced practice time, and a potential of post-season bans if poor APR performance continues. According to the NCAA, about 3.5 percent of 6,272 teams received penalties. This is up from last year, when 2 percent of teams were penalized. However, the number of teams receiving penalties was much less than the projections indicated last spring as a result of increased scores that met the minimum benchmarks, the NCAA’s administration of waivers for certain cases, and mitigating factors, such as granting relief for teams that demonstrate measurable improvement and other criteria.
Bowl Championship Series keeps status quo, rejects playoff
The Bowl Championship Series (BCS), which matches the final regular-season’s top two NCAA Division I-A college football teams in a championship game separate from its Orange, Sugar, Fiesta and Rose bowls, will not change its current format at least for the next several years. This decision was reached on April 30 by the commissioners who manage the BCS. Two of the commissioners requested a consideration of an alternate format, which would have built a four-team playoff into the current five-game structure. However, according to the USA Today, the lack of endorsement of any changes assures that the current system will remain in place through at least the 2013 season. In 2014, the Big Ten and Pac-10 contract with the Rose Bowl expires.
NCAA Basketball Academic Enhancement Group considers restructuring summers
The NCAA’s Basketball Academic Enhancement Group met on April 25 and discussed a variety of proposals aimed at improving the academic performance of men’s basketball players. The group is working toward enhancing off-season access by coaches to incoming players as the best chance to direct young players toward an academic setting; many of the players instead place basketball above academics as their college priority. In a press release from the NCAA, the group’s discussions have also included: the timing of the playing and practice season, high transfer rates between schools, the high rate of change of head coaches, and the culture of youth basketball.
NCAA honors sport teams for academic progress
On Friday, the NCAA issued a press release acknowledging the academic success of 712 Division I athletic teams that finished among the top 10 percent in Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores of all squads in their respective sports. Although the total number of teams publicly recognized dropped by 17 percent from 839 teams last year, 192 institutions had at least one team finish among the top 10 percent of all schools in their sport. Overall, 11.4 percent of the 6,272 teams were honored.
While graduation rates for men’s basketball have consistently ranked near the bottom of all sports, eight of this year’s 65 men’s basketball tournament teams were among the 33 teams on the list. Notably, Kansas, which won the men’s basketball national title this year, and North Carolina, the winner in 2005, both were honored for their high APR scores. Xavier, which lost to UCLA in the regional finals, made the list in men’s basketball as did tourney darling Davidson. Perennial power Duke and Illinois, which lost to North Carolina in the 2005 title game, also made the list.
Recent NCAA Financial Report Indicates Schools Relying More Heavily on Institutional Subsidies
The NCAA released results of a three-year study of revenues and expenses in athletics departments. The data indicate only 16 institutions achieved positive net revenues over expenses over the three-year period studied. Generally, institutions are relying more heavily on institutional subsidies to balance growing budgets. The proportion of revenue from institutional subsidies at schools classified in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) grew from 19% in 2004 to 25% in 2006. In the Football Championship Subdivision and at institutions without football, over 75% of revenues are derived from institutional subsidies.
COIA calls for closer monitoring of college athlete’s courses
According to the NCAA, The Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics (COIA) has issued a statement in response to recently published reports by the Ann Arbor News that college athletes at the University of Michigan were being “clustered” in less-challenging academic programs and allowed to enroll in independent-study courses as a way to improve their grade-point averages. COIA calls upon athletic departments to more closely monitor the courses taken by college athletes at their institutions. It is also reiterating its appeal for universities to adopt a proposal to collect data on enrollment and grading patterns of student-athletes.
[ Visit Knight Commission News archive ]
[ Visit the White Papers Archive ]
