Men’s Divison I Basketball Called Out for Poor Graduation Rates

Finally, the abysmal graduation rates being posted by some of the top college athletic programs has been receiving significant media attention. Whereas once upon a time we would see a lone wolf like Derrick Jackson of the Boston Globe call attention to this sorry issue, last week, none other than Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education and avid hoops junkie, weighed in on the frightful matter.

College Athletics – Where Are the Student-Athletes?

Unlike the professional sports world, college athletics is supposed to be played with student-athletes, with a certain amount of emphasis on the word student. Instead, sadly, many colleges are using athletes, particularly young black men, to bring in millions of dollars of revenue for their respective institutions. Not only do these institutions not pay these youngsters, they do not even provide them the education they promised.

Of course, truth be told, graduation rates at most colleges are quite poor for for the entire student body. In most cases, there is little difference between the entire student body and that of the athletes playing sports at those institutions.

But with more people calling attention to the current status of athletics, Secretary Duncan stepped up to the plate and suggested that colleges with basketball graduation rates of less than 40% should not be able to participate in the NCAA Basketball Championships.

Before discussing the schools that fail to meet such a basic criteria it is important to note that some institutions get the job done. They compete on a very high level yet do so with student athletes. Six schools, Brigham Young University, Marquette, Notre Dame, Utah State, Wake Forest & Wofford all posted graduation rates of 100%. Four others, Duke, Lehigh, Vermont and Villanova topped 90%.

A school with an 89% rate, Xavier University, has been singled out for special mention. While it cannot claim perfection, it can claim that since 1985 every single senior who has played on the Xavier team has graduated.

On the lower end, twelve schools would have been denied entry to the Big Dance if Duncan’s 40% threshold were implemented: Maryland 8%, Cal 20%, Arkansas (Pine Bluff) & Washington 29%, Tennessee 30%, Kentucky 31%, Baylor Missouri and New Mexico State 36%, Clemson 37% and Georgia Tech & Louisville at 38%.

Prostituting Black Athletes

When one looks deeper into the numbers the issue of schools using black athletes leaps off the page. According to a study by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports at the University of Central Florida, white males on tournament-bound teams graduated at an 84 percent rate vs. 56 percent for African-Americans.

Sadly, only 20 of the 65 teams in the tournament graduated at least 70 percent of their black players. Two, California and Maryland, did not graduate a single African-American player for the six-year period covered by the study. In contrast, 45 schools graduated 70 percent or more of their white basketball student-athletes.

And when the 40% rate is considered, while 52 schools graduated 40 percent or more of their white basketball student-athletes, four of those schools could not graduate 40 percent or more of their African-American basketball student-athletes.

Perhaps more importantly, 28 tournament teams had a 30 percentage point or greater gap between the graduation rates of white and African‐American basketball student‐athletes while 37 had a 20 percentage point or greater gap.

Issue Gaining Traction

Once upon a time, March Madness, like the college football bowl season, held a special place in America. And for many fans it still does.

But for those who believe that amateur athletics should feature student-athletes and not underpaid, semi-professionals, those competitions no longer hold such special status.

But thanks to Derrick Jackson, Arne Duncan and a host of others bringing attention to this matter, we can harbor hope that these amateur events could one day regain their luster.