UT dead last in athlete graduation......

[Drbio]

NCAA survey: Sooners lead Big 12 in athlete graduation
OU's number: 74 percent; UT football rate is league's worst


01:28 AM CDT on Wednesday, September 3, 2003

By BRIAN DAVIS / The Dallas Morning News


Oklahoma and Texas have hoisted several championship trophies since 1996. But there is little doubt the Sooners have taken a commanding lead in the classroom, according to the NCAA's annual report on graduation rates.

Tuesday's report showed OU graduating 74 percent of its athletes who entered school during the 1996-97 academic year and earned diplomas within the six-year window mandated by the U.S. Department of Education. That was easily the best in the Big 12.

UT's athlete graduation rate was 56 percent, which ranked eighth. However, the Texas football team rate plummeted to 19 percent, last in the Big 12 and down from the 50 percent in last year's report.

Oklahoma's graduation rate was a 40 percentage-point increase from the previous year, and the Sooners' football team graduated 65 percent of its athletes, a tie for second best in the league. Baylor's football team was No. 1 (75 percent).

Overall, Kansas (68 percent), Nebraska (68 percent), Baylor (66 percent) and Texas A&M (65 percent) made up the rest of the top five in the Big 12.

"We're not beating our chests," OU athletic director Joe Castiglione said. "Seventy-four percent is a great rate, but we all aspire to have a 100 percent rate as tough as that is to achieve in today's environment."

Division I athletes had a 62 percent graduation rate for the reporting period, an all-time high.

Football and men's basketball rates made small increases as well. It's also the first time in more than a decade the gulf between athletes and the general student body (59 percent) has been this wide.

Last year, the NCAA reported that 60 percent of athletes graduated in the mandatory six-year window.

The NCAA's figures are subject to wild fluctuations because the figures include athletes who transfer out. NCAA president Myles Brand has pushed for new accounting measures that would not penalize universities who lose transfers.

But it won't be until the end of 2004 when any new methods are used.

So for now, the Longhorns' football team is left with that glaring figure – 19 percent.

Former Texas coach John Mackovic signed the 1996 recruiting class, which featured 21 players and earned a No. 11 national ranking. Mackovic was fired after the 1997 season. Current coach Mack Brown's first season was 1998, when the group would have been sophomores that redshirted or juniors.

Texas athletic officials said they knew the numbers would be down for this class.

"We lost kids in the transition of football coaches from John Mackovic to Mack Brown, and you hate to have that," UT athletic director DeLoss Dodds said. "I think eight of these kids transferred. But Mack's doing a good job, and the graduation rates are going to come up after next year.

"The NCAA system is flawed. [Football player] Cole Pittman, who died in a car wreck [in 2001], will count against our graduation rate."

The Sooners and Longhorns split their annual Red River football rivalry, three games apiece, during the six-year span the current NCAA report covers. UT won the Big 12 championship in 1996. OU won the national title in 2000.

Brand says another disturbing issue confronts him. The data shows a drop in the number of black athletes competing in football and men's basketball. Football lost 279 black athletes during the reporting period, basketball 13.Brand offered that one potential reason for the decline was tougher initial eligibility requirements put into effect before the 1995-96 school year. The NCAA now requires 13 core curriculum courses in high school. Brand would like to see that number eventually reach 16.

"As we increased the requirement in previous cases, we saw a brief decline in numbers and they popped back up," Brand said. "The black student athletes, like other student athletes, have risen to the occasion and have graduated with higher rates when stronger requirements were placed on them."

Graduation rates for black male athletes rose to 48 percent, a 5 percentage-point gain. The graduation rate for black football players was 49 percent, up from 46 percent from last year. Black female athletes graduated at a 62 percent rate, compared with 46 percent for women in the student body.

Blacks make up a large portion of Oklahoma's strong graduation rate. OU's football team graduated 71 percent of its black players and 60 percent of its white players for the 65 percent total.

[Murphy3]

just means that oklahoma is doing a better job of having other students take tests for their players

[Dooby]

Texas, like a lot of NCAA schools, runs players off every year to free up scholarships for other players. That really affects the graduation rate.

[Drbio]

19% is pretty damn pathetic regardless of the reason.

[Chicago JK]

Originally posted by: Drbio
19% is pretty damn pathetic regardless of the reason.

Isn't Cincinatti basketball like 0%. Huggins is a loser. Their graduation record is extremely poor. One thing I give UT is that a lot of their players stay in school. Players love the atmosphere at UT and that should account for something too.

Did I hear right that North Texas is favored over Baylor this weekend? I thought I heard that on the radio. How depressing is that?

[Big Boy Laroux]

i know the other UT (tennessee) had a horrible rate for football in one of the more recent years.

in all fairness to the schools, this is the rate of players that start and graduate from UT. If someone starts with UT, but transfers, and graduates from that new school, that individual is counted as a negative for UT's graduation rate.

i believe that's right.

edit: it is right, i see it in the article now.

[Drbio]

The calculation rate is indeed misleading, but mirror studies have shown that most institutions will not significantly increase for those kids that play out their eligibility. That is where the sadness resides.


Chicago JK- that is correct, but think about it. BU has been horrific for years, UNT has been to a bowl game recently. I was at the UAB game. The guys look tremendously better. They never quit and you could just see that they have a different mentality. Our beloved Bears will probably go 3-8 this year, but the foundation has been clearly set. There is a lot to be excited about in the next 2 years!

[Murphy3]

UNT has gone to bowl games the last two years

[Chicago JK]

Originally posted by: Murphy3
UNT has gone to bowl games the last two years

That is one reason why the bowl system has to go. does anyone outside of UNT graduates want to watch a UNT bowl game? I believe one of those years they werem't much better than .500. There are way too many bowl games if UNT is becoming a regular bowl team.

[Murphy3]

2 years ago, i'd agree..however, last yer, UNT fielded one of the best defenses in the country....

[Drbio]

Not to mention the fact that they tore up their conference. I watched a part of UNT's bowl game. I'd almost rather see UNT in a bowl game than Notre Dame, etc. Although I certainly enjoy the level of football talent, it gets old watching the same 5-6 schools play in the big bowl games every year.


Viva la Liberty Bowl!!!!

[Murphy3]

if UNT can continue to play at a high level, they will slowly creep up into the second tier of college football teams.
there's a tremendous base of talent to choose from in Texas...especially the metroplex. Plus, it is the only major public univ. in the DFW area that has a football program. They obviously need some upgrades to their stadium..but they are on the right track

[jayC]

The only problem I have with the numbers is that it doesn't take in account of transfers or players declaring for the draft after their junior seasons.