http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/ncaatourney08/news/story?id=3297989
t.u. not graduating many players. i wonder how we would stack up.

quote:

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If the Final Four were determined academically, it would be Western Kentucky (100 percent graduation success), Butler (92 percent), Notre Dame (91 percent) and Purdue (91 percent). Xavier, a No. 3 seed, was close behind with a 90 percent success rate.

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quote:

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Two of the No. 2 seeds, Tennessee and Texas, graduated only 33 percent of their players for the period studied.

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What surprises me with those percentages is that Cornell (who I believe is the Ivy League representative) is not in the top 5. How are they not graduating 100% of their players?

"Sports do not build character. They reveal it."
-John Wooden

One of the announcers on yesterday's Big 12 Championship game said that 11 of the 13 players on the tu roster had a GPA greater than 3.0 in the first semester. DJ Augustin had a 4.0 GPA in the first semester and was named to the first team Academic All-American team.

Here's the 1st and 2nd team All-Big 12 Academic Squad from www.aggieathletics.com:

Elonu Makes Academic All-Big 12 Team
For Immediate Release

Thursday, March 6, 2008 Toolbox


IRVING, Texas- Texas A&M sophomore Chinemelu Elonu is among the 20 student-athletes named to the 2008 Academic All-Big 12 Men’s Basketball Team, the league office announced on Thursday.

Elonu, an agricultural leadership major from Houston, has played in 28 games this season, averaging 2.8 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. He was named to the second team.

Nominated by each institution’s director of student-athlete support services and the media relations offices, the men’s basketball academic all-league team consisted of 10 first team members combined with 10 on the second team. First team members consist of those who have maintained a 3.20 or better GPA, and the second team are those who have a 3.00 to 3.19 GPA.

To qualify student-athletes must maintain a 3.00 GPA or higher either cumulative or the two previous semesters and must have participated in 60 percent of her team’s scheduled contests. Freshmen and transfers are not eligible in their first year of academic residence. Senior student-athletes who have participated for a minimum of two years and meet all the criteria except percent of participation are also eligible.

The Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Championship will return to Kansas City in 2008 at the newly-opened Sprint Center. It will be the home of the league championship for three of the next four seasons. The four-day, 11-game event is scheduled for March 13-16 in the final year of a Thursday – Sunday format.

2008 ACADEMIC ALL-BIG 12 MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM

FIRST TEAM (3.20-PLUS GPA; * - INDICATES NOMINATED WITH A 4.00 GPA)

Name, School Class Major Hometown

Josh Lomers, Baylor So. Pre-Business Boerne, Texas

Mark Shepherd, Baylor Sr. MBA Austin, Texas

Jeremy Case, Kansas Sr. Graduate courses McAlester, Okla.

Sasha Kaun, Kansas Sr. Computer Science Melbourne, Fla.

Clent Stewart, Kansas State Sr. Business - MIS Tulsa, Okla.

Paul Velander, Nebraska Jr. Biological Sciences Blacksburg, Va.

Connor Atchley, Texas Jr. Corporate Communications Clear Lake, Texas

D.J. Augustin, Texas So. Education New Orleans, La.

Damion James, Texas So. Education Nacogdoches, Texas

Dexter Pittman, Texas So. Education Rosenberg, Texas

SECOND TEAM (3.00 TO 3.19 GPA)

Name, School Class Major Hometown

Mark Currie, Iowa State Sr. Civil Engineering Odebolt, Iowa

Alex Thompson, Iowa State Jr. Political Science Ames, Iowa

Russell Robinson, Kansas Sr. Communication Studies New York, N.Y.

Matt Lawrence, Missouri Jr. Finance St. Louis, Mo.

Taylor Griffin, Oklahoma Jr. Pre-Health/Exercise Science Oklahoma City, Okla.

Austin Johnson, Oklahoma Jr. Sociology-Criminology Amarillo, Texas

Justin Mason, Texas So. Education Amarillo, Texas

Ian Mooney, Texas Sr. Advertising - Graduate Austin, Texas

Chinemelu Elonu, Texas A&M So. Agricultural Leadership Houston, Texas

Trevor Cook, Texas Tech So. Business Economics Coppell, Texas

^
that doesn't mean they graduate. their grades are probably high because they get special "tutoring."

also, i wonder if the %'s take into account the players that leave early for the NBA.

I'm inspired that so many texas players want to be educators later in life.

True to form...navyag is quick to defend every other school but "his own".

The post was about graduation rates rates, not gpa's.

Honestly, there is no way the NCAA can fairly assess graduation rates when so many good players leave early.

Texas has produced some 1st rounders lately who certainly didn't graduate though I have heard that TJ Ford is in the process of finsishing his degree.

The last time I read up on the method that the NCAA uses for calculating the graduation rates of athletes, I believe they use a 6 year window (don't hold me to this) to account for those athletes that might leave for professional sports (or possibly for those that just take longer - I have a couple of friends that stretched out their college experience).

I agree that the numbers don't tell the complete story due to transfers, leaving for the pros, etc. Still - at least it starts to bring attention to a matter that warrants discussion.

http://www.ncaa.org/releases/research/2001091001re.htm

Wow, that was unexpected. Why would there be any need to defend Texas A&M because, as you stated, the graduation rate thing is BS (and it is not just because of the NBA attrition). There is a reason, however, to not make all Ag fans look petty, ill-informed, and tu-phobic.

The comment in the original post about tu was present tense and the figures the story used are, if anything, way past tense.

The story itself is another example of a writer trying to create a story that isn't there using "controversy" that doesn't exist.

As to using the GPA of the current tu students, do you know of any other current measure of academic performance?

I heard over the weekend that a player from Charlotte, NC (my hometown) who ended up playing at Memphis was originally supposed to go to University of Florida but didn't meet the school's academic requirements. It made me question what kind of academic requirements memphis allows.

Navy - In this instance, I understand what you are saying.

In general, you just seem to strike me as a self loathing Aggie. Don't get me wrong, there are quite a few who have stated their blind allegiance to the University no matter what the situation may be (don't agree with this either). However, the self loathing Aggies...don't care for them at all.

quote:

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As to using the GPA of the current tu students, do you know of any other current measure of academic performance?

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I would hope the NCAA does the only fair thing and not penalize schools in which a student athlete left on his/her own and in good standing with the school from which they left. That is the only sensible thing to do. Of course, sensible and the NCAA does not necessarily equate.

[This message has been edited by Rule #76 (edited 3/17/2008 2:28p).]

i'd encourage navy to get the agtag and prove us wrong.

They way they calculate those rates are bogus. TJ Ford, Vince Young, Michael Griffin, and Cory Redding, among others, are all currently enrolled at Texas but will count against the graduation rates because they won't complete degree plans within the NCAA allotted time period, which is something like 6 years, I think.

I told you that Lomers would be first team all-Big 12.

Rule #76...no self-loathing here. Can't stand ignorance/stupidity that colors others.

Graduation rates are meaningless. If you are graduating 100 percent of your athletes, you are nothing but a diploma factory.

I despise how the media drags all this stuff up again every March to rain on the parade a bit. Typical.

The media seems to imply that if a kid didn't graduate, he's living under a bridge somewhere. I know a lot of people, including a lot of former athletes, who did not graduate. To a person, they are doing very well and some are doing better than most graduates I know.

A college degree does not make you the greatest person in the world. The lack of a degree does not mean you are a failure who will wallow in abject poverty for eternity.

Graduation should always be the goal, but it is not the end all, be all of existence. I graduated from college but my brother, who did not, makes about twice what I do!

And until the academics standards and requirements are exactly the same at every single school, comparing graduation rates is like comparing the proverbial apples and oranges.