Calendar

DIVISION I

Management Council approves academic disincentives package

Division I Management Council members made final recommendations on more than 80 legislative proposals during their April 19-20 meetings, including final endorsement of a disincentives package designed to hold institutions more accountable for student-athlete academic success.

One of those proposals allowed for a controversial measure regarding initial counters in men's basketball -- the so-called "five/eight rule" -- to be rescinded.

STAFF CONTACT: Kevin Lennon (klennon@ncaa.org)

BASKETBALL

Television ratings soar for women's basketball tournament

The Division I Women's Basketball Championship final game between Connecticut and Tennessee had an average cable television rating of 4.3, not only a record for the women's championship game but also the highest-rated basketball telecast ever for ESPN or ESPN2. That includes more than 6,000 games over a span of 25 years.

Meanwhile, ratings for the Division I Men's Basketball Championship were up 24 percent over 2003. However, the rating for the championship game was 11.0, the lowest ever recorded.

STAFF CONTACT: Chris Farrow (cfarrow@ncaa.org)

LITIGATION

Clarett takes draft case to U.S. Supreme Court

Former Ohio State University football player Maurice Clarett has filed an emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking for a stay of a federal appeals court's decision preventing the running back from being included in the April 24-25 draft.

Clarett's approach to entering the draft early is similar to the one used by Detroit high-school star Spencer Haywood in 1971. Haywood succeeded in getting a stay overturned and was subsequently drafted.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued the stay April 19 after a trial court ruled that said the NFL cannot force players to wait three years after high school before becoming professional.

The NCAA has supported the NFL's appeal because it believes the February decision creates false hopes for young athletes to pursue careers in professional athletics.

"We are not filing this (amicus) brief to advance the economic interest of the NCAA," NCAA President Myles Brand said. "If not reversed, this decision is likely to unrealistically raise expectations and hopes that a professional football career awaits graduation from high school and that education can therefore be abandoned. The result could be a growing group of young men who end up with neither a professional football career nor an education that will support their life plans."

STAFF CONTACT: Elsa Cole (ecole@ncaa.org)