Graduation rates Disqualifying NCAA Tourney Teams

[damuts222]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=4843006

  Above is a story that I agree with. Not only basketball but football players should have to do this as well. This is why the NBA should allow high school kids to be drafted, some kids aren't made for school.

 The Harvard of the Midwest won't have to worry about this though

[CrazyEcho]

Most high-major D-1 (note, not all) basketball players are not at school to learn anything, but instead to play basketball.  Their careers are mostly (note, not all) likely to be basketball related (playing overseas/coaching).  The school work they complete is with the help of tutors in hand-picked classes with professors that are basketball friendly.  I wish there were minor-league basketball so that high-major D1 basketball players would have to stop pretending to be students. 

[damuts222]

 Europe is pretty much the stepping stone for these players to the NBA. David Stern should have never have made the rule, because players like a John Wall (just an example) will go to school for a year prior to leaving for the NBA because they are almost forced to.

 Yet there are many schools where the thought process of making it to the NBA is not worth it. The last several years more and more Europeans are being drafted before college players because of the team concept overseas. Alot of players are told how good they are and are led to believe everything their told, they are still college kids, but do your work to fall back on something.

[77ncaachamps]

Damuts has a point. Now that Europe will allow recently graduated American students to play for them, what's the incentive really to play for an NCAA team?

Of course, I'm referring to those who have the ability and can get more money abroad playing a sport they enjoy than working at Burger King.

And as it pertains to non-college grads, should the college be held liable if a student decides not to finish? Should the college be held liable if a student transfers out and doesn't finish?

From a PR point of view (Dept. of Education-ally speaking), it's admirably idealistic.
From a marketing, economic, non-student centered point of view, it's selfish.

A good point someone had made in the comment area was that this may lead, eventually, to inflated grades and graduation rates.

[Benny B]

I also agree with what Arne Duncan is saying, but implementation of some sort of cut-off to qualify for post-season play definitely won't be as easy as simply establishing said threshold.

Nevertheless, you can't be a student-athlete unless you're a student.  Too many people in this country believe sports are more important than education, and the NCAA - by turning the other way while some programs willingly recruit individuals who have nearly zero chance of graduating - perpetuates this belief.  I don't know the exact stats, but my understanding is that today's elementary students in the US are being crushed by Japan, China, Korea and India on math and science ability - not surprising considering that many parents would rather their child know how to throw a football rather than be able to understand the simple physics of a perfect spiral.

If you want to make your living in sports, you shouldn't be forced to attend classes with students who actually care about why they're there, and if you want to make a mockery out of higher education by recruiting an athlete with a third grader's intellect, then you deserve to be left out of post-season play.

There's a certain irony in how your average Billy Bob Redneck lives and breathes the local university's colors (although he himself didn't graduate high school), but never misses an opportunity to complain about how "all 'dem foreigners" are getting the good jobs.

[ChicosBailBonds]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=4843006

  Above is a story that I agree with. Not only basketball but football players should have to do this as well. This is why the NBA should allow high school kids to be drafted, some kids aren't made for school.

 The Harvard of the Midwest won't have to worry about this though

I disagree with the statement in the article that it will fix the problem in a hurry.  More than likely, it will cause schools to inflate grades in a hurry to keep athletes eligible.