JBryant12
03-01-2005, 09:48 AM
Posted on Tue, Mar. 01, 2005
USC earns split grades
Trial run of new system puts men’s basketball at biggest risk for penalties; women’s teams flourish
By STEVE WISEMAN
Staff Writer
South Carolina’s men’s basketball team would lose two scholarships if the NCAA’s new academic guidelines were fully in place, according to Academic Progress Reports (APRs) released by the NCAA on Monday.
The guidelines and their mandated penalties are part of an academic reform package approved by the NCAA in April.
The APRs were mailed to schools on Feb. 15 to let schools know where they stood under the new guidelines.
The guidelines and mandated penalties will not be fully implemented until December. At that time, the NCAA will have compiled APRs using data from the 2003-04 and the 2004-05 school years. Penalties mandated by the APR data released at that time will take effect in the 2006-07 school year.
Of the 19 programs at USC that were assessed by the NCAA, 12 scored at 925 or better. Seven scored below 925, which is the threshold for penalties to go into effect.
Basketball, with a score of 860, ranked the lowest of the seven USC men’s teams that scored below 925. Football (924), baseball (912), soccer (914), tennis (900), indoor track (903) and outdoor track (894) were the others.
No USC women’s sports fell below 925. Softball and tennis were the highest rated teams. Each achieved perfect 1,000 scores.
USC’s average of all its teams’ scores was 934; the Division I average was 948.
Since the numbers in the first year of the program will be based on a limited time period, the NCAA will allow schools a cushion, so that teams falling just below 925 might not be penalized. Schools can appeal punishments on the basis that their athletes performed adequately compared to the student body.
Under these NCAA guidelines, only the basketball team at USC would have been subject to penalties.
“Based on this trial report,” USC athletics director Mike McGee said, “we would have been restricted by two men’s basketball scholarships. Our goal is to have continued progress among those teams falling within the lower confidence boundary and the cut score and work toward improvement across the board.”
USC basketball coach Dave Odom pointed out that the men's basketball program recorded its best semester GPA (2.910) in the fall and ranked fourth among all USC men’s teams academically.
“Every player in our program is on track for graduation and is in good standing with the NCAA eligibility rules as well as those of our university,” Odom said in a statement. “Presently we have four seniors on our basketball squad, one of which graduated in December, and the other three are scheduled to graduate either in May or in the summer of 2005.”
USC’s basketball score of 860 would place it only in the 10th-20th percentile among all men’s basketball teams. The average Division I score nationwide was 923.
Football and indoor track also had a 923 average across Division I.
Only baseball (922) had a lower average score nationally.
Reach Wiseman at (803) 771-8472 or swiseman@thestate.com.
USC earns split grades
Trial run of new system puts men’s basketball at biggest risk for penalties; women’s teams flourish
By STEVE WISEMAN
Staff Writer
South Carolina’s men’s basketball team would lose two scholarships if the NCAA’s new academic guidelines were fully in place, according to Academic Progress Reports (APRs) released by the NCAA on Monday.
The guidelines and their mandated penalties are part of an academic reform package approved by the NCAA in April.
The APRs were mailed to schools on Feb. 15 to let schools know where they stood under the new guidelines.
The guidelines and mandated penalties will not be fully implemented until December. At that time, the NCAA will have compiled APRs using data from the 2003-04 and the 2004-05 school years. Penalties mandated by the APR data released at that time will take effect in the 2006-07 school year.
Of the 19 programs at USC that were assessed by the NCAA, 12 scored at 925 or better. Seven scored below 925, which is the threshold for penalties to go into effect.
Basketball, with a score of 860, ranked the lowest of the seven USC men’s teams that scored below 925. Football (924), baseball (912), soccer (914), tennis (900), indoor track (903) and outdoor track (894) were the others.
No USC women’s sports fell below 925. Softball and tennis were the highest rated teams. Each achieved perfect 1,000 scores.
USC’s average of all its teams’ scores was 934; the Division I average was 948.
Since the numbers in the first year of the program will be based on a limited time period, the NCAA will allow schools a cushion, so that teams falling just below 925 might not be penalized. Schools can appeal punishments on the basis that their athletes performed adequately compared to the student body.
Under these NCAA guidelines, only the basketball team at USC would have been subject to penalties.
“Based on this trial report,” USC athletics director Mike McGee said, “we would have been restricted by two men’s basketball scholarships. Our goal is to have continued progress among those teams falling within the lower confidence boundary and the cut score and work toward improvement across the board.”
USC basketball coach Dave Odom pointed out that the men's basketball program recorded its best semester GPA (2.910) in the fall and ranked fourth among all USC men’s teams academically.
“Every player in our program is on track for graduation and is in good standing with the NCAA eligibility rules as well as those of our university,” Odom said in a statement. “Presently we have four seniors on our basketball squad, one of which graduated in December, and the other three are scheduled to graduate either in May or in the summer of 2005.”
USC’s basketball score of 860 would place it only in the 10th-20th percentile among all men’s basketball teams. The average Division I score nationwide was 923.
Football and indoor track also had a 923 average across Division I.
Only baseball (922) had a lower average score nationally.
Reach Wiseman at (803) 771-8472 or swiseman@thestate.com.