The Oregon men’s basketball team, Pac-12 champions for the first time in six years, made an astounding run in the NCAA tournament before being defeated by top-ranked Louisville in a 40-minute war of attrition. But the hardwood isn’t the only place where the Cardinals beat the Ducks.
According to a study by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics at the University of Central Florida, Oregon is one of six teams in the 2013 NCAA tournament that would be ineligible for postseason play under tougher academic standards in the next two years.
The NCAA board of directors approved changes to Academic Progress Rate standards back in 2011. Those changes take effect in the 2014-15 season. For championships in 2014-15, teams must earn a 930 four-year average APR or a 940 average over the most recent two years to participate. In 2015-16 and beyond, teams must earn a four-year APR of 930 to compete in championships.
The Ducks’ current multi-year APR sits at 926 — currently not a problem — but without improvement it could lead to being left without an invitation to the big dance, or any dance.
These rates are calculated by looking at the academic progress of each student athlete on a team who receive financial aid. Each team receives one point for retention and one point for eligibility, totaling a possible two points per athlete. A team’s total points are added up and divided by the points possible, then multiplied by 1,000 to find the APR score. The TIDES study uses a multi-year average rather than any one particular season.
Gary Gray, senior associate athletic director for compliance, says the new rules won’t change how the athletic department functions because it’s always looking to boost student athlete APR across all sports in order to serve the mission of helping athletes reach their goals, whether that be a degree or professional accreditation.
“It doesn’t change how we operate — APRs are a constant topic of conversation in the department for all teams as well as for all of our student-athletes,” Gray said. “Our goal is to provide the best possible student-athlete experience.”
The Ducks’ APR took a dip in 2010, landing at just 870. The rating was better in 2011, yet dismal still at 912. In 2012, the Ducks were better, gaining 38 points to land at a comfy 950.
So if the team’s score is steadily rising, why might the Ducks be ineligible? It has to do with the 926 multi-year average, ruined by poor performance in previous years.
Craig Pintens, senior associate athletic director for marketing and public relations, is confident the team will be eligible under the new rule changes affirming in an email that, “We will comply next year.”
Other top teams in the tournament such as Louisville, Duke and Michigan scored much higher than the Ducks at 965, 995 and 1,000 (a perfect score), respectively, over a four-year period.
Steve Stolp, director for student athlete services, says the team’s low average APR can be explained by the transition between coaching staffs over the previous four years.
“The deficiency is primarily explained by the number of basketball players that transferred out of the Oregon program in the coaching transition between Ernie Kent and Dana Altman,” Stolp said. “Coach Altman started in April of 2010. Since then, we have had single-year rates above 950.”
Stolp and the rest of the student athlete support team will need to match the upward trend of the Ducks’ on-court performance with their grades if the team seeks further success in the post-season.
The upward trend of Oregon’s success, both in the classroom and on the court, is reminiscent of the larger national picture. The TIDES study shows an increase in total APR for division 1 men’s basketball as a whole and teams are graduating a larger percentage of their athletes than in recent history.
For example, the overall graduation success rate — or GSR — for male basketball student athletes increased in 2013 to 70 percent from 67 percent in 2012.
“We are doing better each year. The academic reforms instituted in the past have worked,” said Richard Lapchick, director of TIDES and Chair of the DeVos Sports Business Management Program at UCF.
The study also looked at the disparity between graduation rates of white and black male student athletes. While both showed improvement, there is still a clear gap between the two groups.
“The most troubling statistic in our study is continuing large disparity between the GSR of white basketball student-athletes and African-American student-athletes,” Lapchick commented in his report. ”It is simply not acceptable that in 2013, 40 percent of men’s teams (teams in NCAA tournament) had a GSR disparity of greater than 30 percent between white student-athletes and African-American student-athletes.”
The study shows that while Oregon doesn’t have a graduation disparity rate of more than 30 percent, there is still a noticeable gap of 20 percent between white and black basketball student athletes.
However, the 85 percent total GSR for Oregon’s men’s team is better than the athletic department’s total for all sports, which sits at 80 percent.