A new suggestion from an athletics commission may force schools to emphasize education as much as sports.
In an announcement made Tuesday, the Knight Foundation Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics said colleges with low athlete graduation rates should be banned from postseason play.
“We’re not in the entertainment business, nor are we a minor league for professional sports,” the Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, president emeritus of Notre Dame and commission co-chairman, told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “Your school is not worthy to be the champion of the country if you’re not educating your kids.”
Hesburgh said 34 percent of basketball players at large colleges finish school, while 48 percent of football players graduate.
The goal of the commission is to encourage universities to graduate at least half of the students who play each sport. Teams not graduating half of their athletes would be barred from conference championships and other postseason games.
The NCAA adopted resolutions in 1996 to help with the sagging graduation rates, but proponents of the Knight Commission’s recommendations say the measures have failed.
The Knight Commission also proposed a new formula for distribution of television funds that doesn’t consider victories, and a new watchdog consortium to monitor the biggest college sports programs.
After the announcement, NCAA President Cedric Dempsey said he had reservations about the proposed 50 percent threshold and he said perhaps athletes should be required to maintain rates similar to those of other college students.
MSU basketball players Jason Richardson and Zach Randolph left school early in April to pursue NBA careers, in a trend that is becoming increasingly common in college sports such as football and men’s basketball. Despite the defections, some Spartan coaches believe the proposals would not affect MSU.
“We’re in a program where academics are as important as athletics,” said Brian Gregory, MSU assistant basketball coach.
Gregory believes more work needs to be done before any type of program could be started.
“It may be a good idea - they just need to improve it. I think that they would have to adjust how they determine graduation rates,” he said.
Gregory also cited five recent graduates from the basketball program as an example of the program’s success.
MSU hockey coach Ron Mason was also willing to add his opinion.
“I think the academic standards here at MSU are great,” Mason said. “We’ve done better than most at encouraging academics.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
