National Collegiate Athletic Association

NCAA News Archive - 2010

back to 2010 | Back to NCAA News Archive Index

Jan 15, 2010 11:27:14 PM

ATLANTA – Division I needs to do something to improve the preparation of men's basketball players entering its institutions, and the membership heard at Friday's issues forum several ways that outcome could be achieved.

Several members of the Basketball Academic Enhancement Group took the opportunity to fully explain its "retention model-summer school" proposal, which would require institutions to assess incoming men's basketball student-athletes to identify those who need an academic "head start" and then require those student-athletes to enroll in six hours of summer school (and pass three hours) to be eligible for competition in the fall semester. Institutions would set their own criteria for the assessment.

The recommendation also included additional summer access for skill development with coaches and a life skills requirement aimed at helping students learn how to succeed academically, socially and athletically at college.

The plan has received some resistance from members who judged it too expensive or simply an excuse for coaches to get more practice time. Panelists argued that neither position is valid.

"We know with the economic downturn, we're not in a position to do this right now. We need to do it," said Army athletics director Kevin Anderson, a working group member. "We need to find the resources and make sure we are committed to supporting student-athletes and be committed to them in the classroom as well as on the court."

Working group member Jack Evans, faculty athletics representative at North Carolina, said the interaction with coaches was about more than just additional practice time.

"(It will) give these coaches the opportunity to build a connection with that young man and to increase his understanding of the value of the education he has the opportunity to get," Evans said.

All of the group's decisions were based on data, including the choice to wait to make any recommendations about the academic success of junior college transfers until more data are available. The NCAA research staff is collecting relevant information this academic year, and the Academic Cabinet and Committee on Academic Performance are expected to begin examining the data this summer.

Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee chair Matt Baysinger urged the membership to take action on a legislative proposal codifying the Basketball Academic Enhancement Group's work.

"If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got," said Baysinger, a track and field student-athlete from Kansas. "There is a solution out there … Something needs to be done, and something needs to be done very quickly."

The forum also provided a platform for the year-old iHoops initiative aimed at educating delegates about the group's mission and organization. The presentation also illustrated the challenges they are facing in the pre-collegiate basketball environment, including the shift away from scholastic influences in the development of youth basketball players. The group is the result of collaboration between the NCAA and the NBA, with buy-in from USA Basketball and the Amateur Athletic Union.

The increasingly global environment for the game, a lack of a unified youth basketball structure and the fact that many kids are focusing on the sport year-round − sometimes without ever playing a game with their high school team − are all factors in the dramatic change in the pre-collegiate environment.

The iHoops group wants to communicate and reinforce a broader set of messages to youth basketball participants than they might be getting in the environment right now, with emphasis on the importance of educational attainment and learning not only the values of the game but the skills needed to succeed in life.

"We have a lot of work to do here," said iHoops Executive Director Kevin Weiberg. "It's a daunting task in many ways. We hope that over time, we can make a difference in turning the direction some, to provide resources that can provide better educated coaches and help the participants."