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NCAA News Archive - 2007
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Opinions
The NCAA News
Bracky Bratt, assistant director of athletics for compliance
Mississippi State University
Jackson Clarion-Ledger
“The Academic Progress Rate is already affecting the way we recruit, so going from 14 to 16 core courses will be just another component. This has made us look at academic evaluations just as much as athletic evaluations. The additional core courses will give you a truer picture of where a kid is academically.”
Jamie Mitchell, football coach
Itawamba Agriculture High School (Mississippi)
Jackson Clarion-Ledger
“If you don’t identify those kids who are prospects in their ninth- and 10th-grade years, it can be impossible to get them academically eligible. You have to understand the 48H form and know which classes are core courses. I feel like if we identify these kids early enough, we can make sure they can do what it takes to be eligible.”
Steve Sell, football coach
Aragon High School (California)
San Francisco Chronicle
“Some people have guessed that there’s going to be 30 percent (of prospective student-athletes) who don’t qualify that would have qualified last year. On the other side, a kid who might not be a (Football Bowl Subdivision) prospect might be one because he’s a qualifier.”
David Ortega, director of compliance
University of California, Berkeley
San Francisco Chronicle
“There’s going to be an effect and there are going to be more kids at junior colleges because of it.”
Pete Richardson, football coach
Southern University, Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge Advocate
“The mission of a lot of historically black colleges is to give a lot of the lesser an opportunity to go to school. We’re going to get a higher-risk individual, especially from the inner-city schools.
“But then the standards are important, but you also have to realize some (student-athletes are) behind.... I can just see this start to escalate unless you get some things in place to try to help them out.”
Bobby Bowden, football coach
Florida State University
Columbia (South Carolina) State
“(The NCAA) took the presidents and they spent years and invested millions of dollars and said, ‘OK, if he gets an 820 (SAT score) and 2.5 (grade-point average), for the most part, he can succeed in college. Now, who are we to say, ‘Wait a minute, no, no, not this school, they can’t (be admitted and succeed). That’s where I have a problem.”
Phil Hughes, president
National Association of Academic Advisors for Athletics
The Associated Press
“Degree completion has always been relevant simply so a head coach can say to a recruit and his or her parents, ‘Yes, our kids graduate.’ When graduation rates started coming out, it became more relevant. And now with APR, it is going to be even more relevant.”
Jim Rost, director
Student-Athlete Enhancement Center
Middle Tennessee State University
Athletic Business
“The paradigm of my profession for years was, ‘We’ll provide (student-athletes) some support and if they take advantage of it, great.’ Well, I feel the NCAA has put it on us to take it to another level from a dedication perspective. We just don’t leave the office at 4:30 because it’s 4:30. I was here until 9 o’clock every single night last year to make sure things were running the right way.”
Mike Hamilton, director of athletics
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
The University of Tennessee Daily Beacon
“It is a balance. We do have an obligation to put the best team on the field. Winning is typically what we are judged by most. But as it relates to academics, we are in the education business and we’ve got an obligation to try to have our student-athletes either get their degree or be significantly along that road by the time they finish their tenure here, and be able to come back if they leave in good academic standing.”
Terry Whiteside, faculty athletics administrator
Middle Tennessee State University
Athletic Business
“We now have a culture in which we’re going to graduate these kids. When I met with all the teams at the beginning of the year, I tell them, ‘At Middle Tennessee, we expect you to win. But we demand that you graduate.’ Our goal is to walk across that stage at graduation with a diploma in one hand and championship rings on the other. You can do both.”
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The NCAA News
Academic standards
Bracky Bratt, assistant director of athletics for compliance
Mississippi State University
Jackson Clarion-Ledger
“The Academic Progress Rate is already affecting the way we recruit, so going from 14 to 16 core courses will be just another component. This has made us look at academic evaluations just as much as athletic evaluations. The additional core courses will give you a truer picture of where a kid is academically.”
Jamie Mitchell, football coach
Itawamba Agriculture High School (Mississippi)
Jackson Clarion-Ledger
“If you don’t identify those kids who are prospects in their ninth- and 10th-grade years, it can be impossible to get them academically eligible. You have to understand the 48H form and know which classes are core courses. I feel like if we identify these kids early enough, we can make sure they can do what it takes to be eligible.”
Steve Sell, football coach
Aragon High School (California)
San Francisco Chronicle
“Some people have guessed that there’s going to be 30 percent (of prospective student-athletes) who don’t qualify that would have qualified last year. On the other side, a kid who might not be a (Football Bowl Subdivision) prospect might be one because he’s a qualifier.”
David Ortega, director of compliance
University of California, Berkeley
San Francisco Chronicle
“There’s going to be an effect and there are going to be more kids at junior colleges because of it.”
Pete Richardson, football coach
Southern University, Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge Advocate
“The mission of a lot of historically black colleges is to give a lot of the lesser an opportunity to go to school. We’re going to get a higher-risk individual, especially from the inner-city schools.
“But then the standards are important, but you also have to realize some (student-athletes are) behind.... I can just see this start to escalate unless you get some things in place to try to help them out.”
Bobby Bowden, football coach
Florida State University
Columbia (South Carolina) State
“(The NCAA) took the presidents and they spent years and invested millions of dollars and said, ‘OK, if he gets an 820 (SAT score) and 2.5 (grade-point average), for the most part, he can succeed in college. Now, who are we to say, ‘Wait a minute, no, no, not this school, they can’t (be admitted and succeed). That’s where I have a problem.”
Phil Hughes, president
National Association of Academic Advisors for Athletics
The Associated Press
“Degree completion has always been relevant simply so a head coach can say to a recruit and his or her parents, ‘Yes, our kids graduate.’ When graduation rates started coming out, it became more relevant. And now with APR, it is going to be even more relevant.”
Jim Rost, director
Student-Athlete Enhancement Center
Middle Tennessee State University
Athletic Business
“The paradigm of my profession for years was, ‘We’ll provide (student-athletes) some support and if they take advantage of it, great.’ Well, I feel the NCAA has put it on us to take it to another level from a dedication perspective. We just don’t leave the office at 4:30 because it’s 4:30. I was here until 9 o’clock every single night last year to make sure things were running the right way.”
Mike Hamilton, director of athletics
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
The University of Tennessee Daily Beacon
“It is a balance. We do have an obligation to put the best team on the field. Winning is typically what we are judged by most. But as it relates to academics, we are in the education business and we’ve got an obligation to try to have our student-athletes either get their degree or be significantly along that road by the time they finish their tenure here, and be able to come back if they leave in good academic standing.”
Terry Whiteside, faculty athletics administrator
Middle Tennessee State University
Athletic Business
“We now have a culture in which we’re going to graduate these kids. When I met with all the teams at the beginning of the year, I tell them, ‘At Middle Tennessee, we expect you to win. But we demand that you graduate.’ Our goal is to walk across that stage at graduation with a diploma in one hand and championship rings on the other. You can do both.”
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