Academic reform

Paul Hewitt, head men's basketball coach
Georgia Institute of Technology
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Discussing the contemporaneous-penalty structure recently implemented in Division I:

"We're talking about recruiting 'better prepared student-athletes.' We're talking about not recruiting potential early departures for the NBA. When you close your eyes and think about those groups of people, what faces do you see? You see black faces.

"Socioeconomically, they may come from a situation that the school isn't as good. If you look at the early departures from college basketball, if you look at the kids who left, 95 percent of them happen to be black. I don't think there's anything wrong with a young man changing the course of his life to better his and his family's point in life. Everybody who works is always looking to advance himself up.

"I worry that we are going to come back in five years and say, 'You know what, the intentions here were great, but these rules proved to be very discriminatory.' "

Cheryl Levick, director of athletics
Saint Louis University
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"I think (the new penalty structure) gets to the bottom of the problem very quickly. I think you'll be hearing, 'Well, what's their APR?' instead of their graduation rates. I do think this piece of legislation requires every coach in every sport to sit up and look at their sport and know they can be hit personally. It will affect their recruiting and their ability to distribute financial aid. So I like it. I think it's a good start."

Basketball proposals

Roy Williams, head men's basketball coach
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Morris News Service

Discussing legislative proposals that would increase coaches' access to players:

"We're college coaches, and yet we're restricted with the amount of time we can spend with the players. It's hard to have a meeting with your team (because of NCAA time restrictions) and yet we're responsible for everything. One of the ironic things is, after you recruit a kid and he goes in the springtime to an all-star game, we can't go watch him play, but we invite the NBA in to come in and steal (him). Then we sit back and say, 'Oh gosh, that's really sad that that happened.' I think if we did have more access, it would be good for college athletics, because that's what it's all about."

Oliver Purnell, head men's basketball coach
Clemson University
The State (Columbia, South Carolina)

"The access to players is a fly ball, it's obvious. We're supposed to be accountable for these guys. If they have a problem, the coach is the person people look to be accountable. So if you're gonna be accountable, then you need more access.

"We're supposed to mentor them. We're supposed to help them grow not only on the court, but off the court. We're responsible for them graduating. So the more access we have to them, the better we can accomplish those things."