UW and UL Should Be Banned from the Tourny

[TallTitan34]

At least according to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan....

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan pushed a proposal Wednesday to bar men's college basketball teams from postseason play if they fail to graduate 40 percent of their players, an idea that didn't go over well with the NCAA and coaches preparing for March Madness.

The men's basketball teams that would barred from postseason play this year if Duncan's idea were adopted: Maryland (8 percent graduation rate), California (20 percent), Arkansas-Pine Bluff (29 percent), Washington (29 percent), Tennessee (30 percent), Kentucky, Baylor (36 percent), Missouri (36 percent), New Mexico State (36 percent), Clemson (37 percent), Georgia Tech (38 percent) and Louisville (38 percent).

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/tournament/2010/news/story?id=5004089

[MUBurrow]

I like the idea, but then you would have to remove the ban on going straight from high school to the nba.

[CrazyEcho]

At least according to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan....

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/tournament/2010/news/story?id=5004089

It's a huge point of pride for me that we graduate so many of our players.  I have to believe that helps as a selling point during recruiting.  

It's hard for me to imagine, however, having graduation rates that low.  Shouldn't they be able (in a worst case scenario) put the players in the easiest majors in the school and hand pick professors they know are "athlete friendly."  They should have past exams and different things from each professor (not to mention tutoring) that could really help the students.

[Brewtown Andy]

Somebody needs to tell Mr. Duncan what the general graduation rates are at those schools.

[Henry Sugar]

Speaking of Arne Duncan, I was reading a profile on him a few weeks back.  Anyways, he was talking about when he was growing up as a kid and dealing with another player that was being recruited to play big time basketball.  I'm paraphrasing the quote, but it was something like, "this guy was being recruited by some big time programs, like Marquette".  MU was the only school he mentioned.

I thought it was kind of cool that he thought of MU as a big time program.

Feel free to keep political comments out of it.

[ThePatton]

If this is anything like Football's graduation rates, things that hurt your team are when a player quits the team, transfers, or goes to the NBA. Those players enrolled but didn't graduate. That's why I'm not as worried about UW's graduation rate of the last 4 years. We've had 5 transfers and 1 leave early to the NBA draft.

However, having a 100% is really quite incredible, I never really had a rooting interest in the big east but that's as good of reason as any. After today of course, good luck and lets have a good game guys!

[Hards Alumni]

If this is anything like Football's graduation rates, things that hurt your team are when a player quits the team, transfers, or goes to the NBA. Those players enrolled but didn't graduate. That's why I'm not as worried about UW's graduation rate of the last 4 years. We've had 5 transfers and 1 leave early to the NBA draft.

However, having a 100% is really quite incredible, I never really had a rooting interest in the big east but that's as good of reason as any. After today of course, good luck and lets have a good game guys!

Transfers do not hurt your graduation rate.  Leaving early does not hurt graduation rate.

afaik

[ThePatton]

I was thinking of the APR (Academic Progress Rates) where those things to apply. Although, this link doesn't specify if they do or not. I've seen previous studies where they transfers and people leaving early hurt, I've seen them where they don't, and I've seen them where they only hurt if they're not on track to graduate in 5 years.

It's all relative, but having 100% is impressive. You guys should be proud of your university.

[TDawg1313]

These are results from before Romar was even our coach. Since Romar has been here (8 years), we have graduated 19 of 23 players.

[Keelsmeals]

Didn't he say something similar around football bowl season too?

Duncan is citing the GSR, which does not include transfers or leaving early for the NBA. It's based on a 6 year time frame from when the student-athlete enters the institution. That 6 year time frame also means the current graduation rates do not include the players that are actually playing in the tournament this year - their 6 year time frame isn't up yet. The APR accounts for the current players and does penalize institutions who have players who transfer or go pro, but it's not as bad if the players are academically eligible when they leave.

And because it was mentioned, the overall graduation rates for those institutions for roughly the same cohorts:
Whole student population at D1 institutions: 62%
Maryland: 79%
California: 88%
Arkansas-Pine Bluff: 30%
Washington: 75%
Tennesee: 59%
Kentucky: 59%
Baylor: 73%
Missouri: 68%
New Mexico State: 42%
Clemson: 77%
Georgia Tech: 77%
Louisville: 42%
Marquette: 77%

Here's the NCAA response, which is partially cited in the ESPN article:
http://www.ncaa.org/wps/portal/ncaahome?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/ncaa/ncaa/ncaa+news/ncaa+news+online/2010/division+i/ncaa_statement_duncan_graduation_rates

[Halfbrain11]

These are results from before Romar was even our coach. Since Romar has been here (8 years), we have graduated 19 of 23 players.

I'd guess two of the four who didn't graduate are Spencer Hawes & Nate Robinson who both left early for NBA.  Who are the other two?