INDIANAPOLIS -- The NCAA's latest academic progress report
shows money pays off in the classroom, not just on the playing
field.
Athletic programs with the biggest budgets, such as the six BCS
conferences, scored well on the latest Academic Progress Report,
released Wednesday. Those with less money did not.
Among the hardest-hit schools were those in the Hurricane
Katrina region and predominantly black colleges. Teams at
historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) accounted for
about 13 percent of schools facing punishment because of poor
classroom performance, and 13-of-49 schools receiving warning
letters came from Louisiana.
NCAA President Myles Brand said he believes money supersedes
racial or regional divides.
"It's more about low-income, low-resource schools," he said.
"We're concerned about all schools with a low-support basis, and there are a number of HBCUs in that category. We're trying to provide them with the resources to do better."
This is the first time the NCAA has sent out warning letters based on academic performance.
The NCAA compiles an APR, which measures eligibility and
retention of student athletes, for every program at every Division
I school.
Teams scoring less than 925 -- the equivalent of a 60 percent graduation rate under the NCAA's formula -- received warning letters and could face harsher sanctions over the next three years. A second offense during that time would result in a reduction of practice time or games played. A third offense would result in disqualification from NCAA tournaments.
Louisiana-based Nicholls State received the second-most warning letters in four sports: baseball, men's cross country and women's
indoor and outdoor track.
BCS teams, however, accounted for only 11 of 112 penalized
teams, and no school from the BCS conferences received a warning letter. The most prominent programs cited were Arizona's football team and the men's basketball teams at Cincinnati and Iowa State, which could all lose scholarships next year.
"If you do have more resources, I think that you do have a better opportunity," Texas Southern athletic director Alois Blackwell said after receiving five warning letters, the most nationally. "When you don't, I'm not saying you can't, but it makes it a little more difficult for you to do it."
HBCUs received more than 50 waivers, excusing them from
penalties for now, NCAA vice president Kevin Lennon said. The NCAA
did not have the figures on how many hurricane-affected schools got
waivers.
Brand praised New Orleans' Tulane University for its strong
academic performance despite Hurricane Katrina -- all seven of its
teams scored 940 or better.
"What Tulane and these other schools have been through is one
of the worst historical situations possible," Brand said. "If
Tulane can accomplish that, it's just remarkable."
Brand has committed the NCAA to helping schools improve, through planning and counseling and now with providing grant money for
academic projects. Last week, the NCAA's board of directors
approved a $1.6 million fund that would offer grants beginning next
year.
"We want to help give those schools a jump-start in those
academic areas," Brand said.
If a team's score fell under 900, it could lose scholarships
based on the number of ineligible players leaving school during the
next year. No team could lose more than 10 percent of its allotted
scholarships, so football teams would lose up to nine players while
basketball teams would lose only two.
Tennessee-Chattanooga and San Jose State were the only two
schools who received warning letters and also face the loss of
scholarships. Each were cited in football. Tennessee-Chattanooga
also was penalized in wrestling, while San Jose State was cited in
men's soccer.
Florida International's football team, which was involved in a
prominent brawl against nearby rival Miami, could lose up to nine
scholarships next year, and Georgia Southern, which won
back-to-back Division I-AA football titles in 1999 and 2000, also
faces potential scholarship losses in football.
Lennon said he expects the results will be more balanced next
year, when the NCAA drops a mathematical calculation that helped
some BCS teams this year.
Wednesday's report showed women's teams continued to perform better academically than men's teams. Women's teams averaged a
score of 970, men's teams 950. Thirteen women's teams were cited,
compared with 99 men's squads.
Although no sport averaged less than 925 over the three-year
period, football, baseball and men's basketball consistently
compiled the lowest scores and most citations.