USF Escapes Academic Penalties

[bullwark]

From Brett McMurphy and Adam Emerson

Linkhttp://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/may/05/usf-escapes-academic-penalties/?news-breaking#

TAMPA - The University of South Florida's efforts to overhaul its academic support for student-athletes persuaded the NCAA to withhold penalties the school would have faced in its latest progress report.

USF had faced the loss of scholarships this school year because of the weakened academic performance of its football and baseball players. But the NCAA decided to waive any sanctions, provided players on those teams showed progress for the 2007-08 school year.

Each team fell below the cutoff that measures success in the NCAA's newest academic progress report of Division I schools, set to be released today. USF, however, "implemented several academic initiatives, which the institution asserts has had a positive influence on the team's academic performance," according to NCAA documents the university released Monday to The Tampa Tribune.

Early last school year, the university revoked much of the discretion coaches had in recruiting athletes with poor grades and test scores by forming a faculty committee charged with vetting academically risky prospects before admitting them. The school's undergraduate studies division also took oversight of the Athletic Department's academic support network of tutors and advisers.

USF Provost Ralph Wilcox increasingly has made improving the academic progress of student-athletes a priority, and he said he was pleased the NCAA recognized the university's reforms.

"We have a responsibility to provide the support and programs to assure their academic success," said Wilcox, who helped reform athletic programs plagued by scandals at the University of Memphis and the University of Houston before coming to USF in 2002.

The NCAA's Academic Progress Report (APR) calculation measures eligibility and retention of student-athletes and is based on reforms the NCAA adopted several years ago to improve the success and graduation rates of student-athletes.

USF athletics officials say they're on track to meet the NCAA's conditions. The football team, accounting for its performance from the 2007-08 school year, must score at least a 937 on a 1,000-point scale and the baseball team must reach 945. If they don't, they face the loss of scholarships.

The football team's most recent score is 917, which is based on academic performance and retention from the previous three school years. USF Senior Associate Athletic Director Bill McGillis said the team is on track to score as high as 945. The baseball team's current score of 923 could reach as high as 950, McGillis said.

"We're already excited about the improvements we're starting to see," said Amy Haworth, USF's associate athletic director for academics.

This year, each team fell below the NCAA's 925 threshold, which equates roughly to a 50 percent graduation rate.

The football team also fell below the 925 mark last year, but until now colleges and universities have escaped punishment because of a margin of error known as the squad-size adjustment.

The NCAA has now lifted that adjustment because it has four years' worth of data with which to judge a team's academic performance. That means that dozens of schools could face the loss of scholarships.

Of USF's eight men's sports teams, six  baseball, basketball, cross country, football, soccer and track  had APR scores below the Division I average in each sport. USF's women's sports teams fared better. Cross country, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and volleyball failed to meet the Division I average.

USF's most successful program  on and off the field  was softball. The Bulls, who on Sunday won the first Big East regular-season title of any USF sport, had a 997 APR.

That academic ranking placed USF's softball program among the nation's top 10 percent in the sport.

"I'm proud of both accomplishments," Coach Ken Eriksen said. "Winning on the field tastes a lot better right now, because we're also winning off the field."

The University of Florida's men's basketball team had a 919 APR but was not penalized because it met one of the five NCAA exceptions. The Gators' volleyball team had a perfect 1,000 score. Florida State's APR information was not provided by the school.

"This recent Academic Progress Report shows that our student-athletes are accomplishing their most important mission  receiving a degree from the University of Florida," Florida AD Jeremy Foley said.

[I_Bleed_Green&Gold]

Link to article:http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/may/05/usf-escapes-academic-penalties/

Thats great news.  Sounds like the administration had very good foresight in implementing those changes. 

That new policy is directly responsible for Justin Green not being able to sign with us on Natl Signing Day  .  But I really think that this will be a positive for USF in the long term. 

Sounds like Dwayne Difton wouldn't be able to come here even if he wanted to.  LOL Just listen to that dummy talk. He "basically" sounds "like" an idiot.

http://flavarsity.rivals.com/video.asp?section=fbrecruit&pkey=&vidtype=amp&vidid=3322

[IncrediBULL]

There was a lot of grief when we lost that one player on signing day due to the academic policies, but as you can see if we don't do it it could hurt the program in more severe ways.  We have to have guys who can excel on the field AND in the classroom.  Sanctions suck, and we should do everything within our power to avoid them.

[RicanBull]

Link to article:http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/may/05/usf-escapes-academic-penalties/

Thats great news.  Sounds like the administration had very good foresight in implementing those changes. 

That new policy is directly responsible for Justin Green not being able to sign with us on Natl Signing Day  .  But I really think that this will be a positive for USF in the long term. 

Sounds like Duron Difton wouldn't be able to come here even if he wanted to.  LOL Just listen to that dummy talk. He "basically" sounds "like" an idiot.

http://flavarsity.rivals.com/video.asp?section=fbrecruit&pkey=&vidtype=amp&vidid=3322

Like, i think, like, i just basically, like, lost like, 15 IQ points by like, basically like, listening to him.

[Triple B]

Sounds like Dwayne Difton wouldn't be able to come here even if he wanted to.  LOL Just listen to that dummy talk. He "basically" sounds "like" an idiot.

http://flavarsity.rivals.com/video.asp?section=fbrecruit&pkey=&vidtype=amp&vidid=3322

Is there a problem with his grades are you just making that "informed" decision based on the inteview? Sounds like a high school kid not real used to talking to the media ...

[I_Bleed_Green&Gold]

Sounds like Dwayne Difton wouldn't be able to come here even if he wanted to.  LOL Just listen to that dummy talk. He "basically" sounds "like" an idiot.

http://flavarsity.rivals.com/video.asp?section=fbrecruit&pkey=&vidtype=amp&vidid=3322

Is there a problem with his grades are you just making that "informed" decision based on the inteview? Sounds like a high school kid not real used to talking to the media ...

To me the terms "sounds like" doesn't mean it is a fact.  "Sounds like" means that it is my opinion based on what i've heard come out of his mouth.  I'm sorry but the kid seemed pretty comfortable with the media but sounded like he didn't have much of an education.  IMHO. 

[Triple B]

Sounds like Dwayne Difton wouldn't be able to come here even if he wanted to.  LOL Just listen to that dummy talk. He "basically" sounds "like" an idiot.

http://flavarsity.rivals.com/video.asp?section=fbrecruit&pkey=&vidtype=amp&vidid=3322

Is there a problem with his grades are you just making that "informed" decision based on the inteview? Sounds like a high school kid not real used to talking to the media ...

To me the terms "sounds like" doesn't mean it is a fact.  "Sounds like" means that it is my opinion based on what i've heard come out of his mouth.  I'm sorry but the kid seemed pretty comfortable with the media but sounded like he didn't have much of an education.  IMHO. 

LOL ... OK ... Maybe you should offer your services to our coaching staff. They can provide you with minute long interviews of all the guys we're recruiting and you can let them know which ones are the "dummies" so they can quit wasting their time. I'm sure they'd appreciate the assistance.

[Mama_Bull]

Progress reports could mean tougher penalties for teams

Associated Press

Updated: May 6, 2008, 4:05 PM ET

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INDIANAPOLIS -- College teams that consistently underperform in the classroom are getting hit harder by the NCAA.

Schools Facing Tourney Bans

The list of schools and teams that have posted two consecutive scores of less than 900 on the NCAA's academic progress report. A third consecutive score under 900 next year would ban the teams from postseason competition.

(Listed in alphabetical order)

• California State-Fresno -- men's basketball

• California State-Sacramento -- football

• Centenary -- baseball, men's basketball

• East Carolina -- men's basketball

• Florida International -- baseball

• Hampton -- men's basketball

• Indiana State -- men's tennis

• Jacksonville State -- football

• Louisiana-Lafayette -- men's basketball

• Montana State-Bozeman -- football

• Morgan State -- women's volleyball

• Murray State -- football

• New Mexico State -- men's basketball

• New Orleans -- baseball

• Oral Roberts -- baseball

• San Jose State -- football, men's cross country, men's soccer

• Southern -- football

• Temple -- football

• Tennessee-Chattanooga -- football, wrestling

• Texas-Arlington -- baseball

• Texas Southern -- men's tennis

• Weber State -- football

Nearly 150 college teams face possible scholarship losses next season and 26 others are in danger of being banned from postseason play if they don't improve next year.

The NCAA's annual academic progress report was released Tuesday. It showed more than 700 teams fell short of the mandated cut score.

But only 218 were penalized with warning letters, potential reductions in scholarships and practice time and warned they face possible postseason bans. Some were granted waivers by the governing body.

Thirty-six teams were assessed two penalties and three schools had more than one team make the list twice -- Alabama-Birmingham in men's basketball, football and men's golf; San Diego State in baseball and football; and San Jose State in baseball and men's basketball.

When a team does not improve, the punishments can become harsher with three consecutive scores under 900 leading to a postseason ban. A fourth consecutive offense would prevent them from competing at the Division I level.

Schools already facing a possible postseason ban include football teams at San Jose State, Southern and Temple, and men's basketball teams at New Mexico, Centenary and East Carolina.

Money is becoming a more notable factor in academic success or failure. According to the report, 180 teams cited low resources as the reason for their poor scores, while 253 teams said they were hurt by the departures of academically ineligible players. Teams can cite more than one explanation for scores when filing the report with the NCAA.

This year's result also show the largest Division I schools, those in the Bowl Championship Series conferences, performed relatively well.

Eighteen BCS teams were penalized, eight in men's and women's basketball and two in football. Of those, only four teams -- Kansas State, Purdue, Southern California and Tennessee -- made the NCAA men's basketball tournament and all four could lose up to two scholarships next season if a player leaves school while academically ineligible.

Also making the list were traditional powers like the LSU baseball team and Tennessee men's swimming team.

Tennessee and West Virginia, which each had three teams on the list, were the only BCS schools with more than one team penalized. Each school had three teams make it - West Virginia in men's soccer, wrestling and women's rowing and Tennessee in men's basketball, men's swimming and baseball.

Women continue to outperform men, with a four-year average of 969 compared to 951.

Historically black colleges and universities, which last year had a disparate percentage of the low scores, fell more in line with the national averages this year. Eleven teams, 4.3 percent of the overall total, at eight historically black schools were penalized. The national average was 4.0 percent.

The most recent report includes scores from the 2003-07 academic years. An athlete earns one point for remaining academically eligible each semester and another point each semester they remain at the school, accumulating a maximum of four points each year. The scoring is altered slightly for schools on a quarters-based calendar.

Over the past four years, the scores improved slightly in 26 of the 29 sports measured by the NCAA, with decreases shown only in men's ice hockey, men's swimming and water polo.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=3383981&campaign=rss&source=NCFHeadlines

[Carolina_Bull]

Among BCS schools, USF was one of four schools to own a "worst 10" APR ranking in both football and mens basketball.

Per Brett's blog:  http://sports.tboblogs.com/index.php/sports/related/C127/

I'm not going to mince words.  That's fu*king pathetic.

[Mama_Bull]

It's only a short term problem due mainly to moving from C-USA to the Big East:

From Greg Auman:

The school received a conditional waiver from the NCAA in football and baseball, and did not face any potential sanctions in men’s basketball because it had no “0-for-2†athletes, meaning a player who becomes ineligible to compete and does not return to school. To avoid penalties that could include a reduction in scholarships next season, the football score for the 2007-08 school year must be 937, while the baseball score must be 945. USF senior associate athletic director Bill McGillis said both sports are projected to exceed those mandated scores after a review of spring grades...

Largely because of heavy turnover during the transition from Conference USA to the Big East, USF’s football score remains the lowest among the eight teams in the Big East, while the men’s basketball score is second-lowest among the 16 schools in the conference, ahead of only Cincinnati.

http://blogs.tampabay.com/usf/2008/05/bulls-face-no-p.html