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Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Kansas loses 2 grants

By Ryan Wood

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It's now out there: a very good reason Kansas University's football team signed only 20 players last month on signing day.

KU released its data regarding Academic Progress Rate on Monday, and the football team's four-year average score of 919 was below the NCAA's penalty-free floor of 925.

That, coupled with the Jayhawks having two players leave school in poor academic standing last school year, meant Kansas had to forfeit two scholarships in its 2008 recruiting class.

KU already appealed the penalty, citing positive steps in the area of graduation rate, grade-point average and academic honors. That appeal, however, was denied.

"Despite the loss of two scholarships, we are very pleased with the direction the football program is taking," associate athletic director Jim Marchiony said. "It's obvious to us the program is on the right track academically."

APR is calculated by giving athletes on scholarship one point per semester for remaining eligible and one point for remaining on campus. The points then are calculated for each team and divided by the highest possible point total. That percentage then is translated to another point total, with 1,000 being the highest. So, a multiyear score of 925 essentially means a team compiled 92.5 percent of all possible points over a four-year period.

A score under 925 doesn't necessarily mean looming penalties. A program only is subject to penalties if its score is below 925 and an underclassmen fails to pick up a single point in a given semester - that is, leaves campus and leaves in poor academic standing.

Associate athletic director Paul Buskirk declined to disclose who got KU football in trouble, but the Jayhawks may have been hurt by the departures of linebacker Brandon Duncan and defensive lineman Jason Thompson. Both sat out spring practices a year ago to work on academics, and neither returned.

Buskirk and Marchiony were confident that KU's APR score would rise above the 925 floor next year. The main reason is that the four-year rate rolls over, and next year's four-year average won't include the 2003-04 score (899) that was dismal due to an abundance of junior-college transfers with poor academic histories.

Kansas already suffered the consequences by signing 20 recruits instead of 25 last month. Three other scholarships remained vacant due to NCAA penalties passed out in 2006.

There was some good news in the APR data released Monday. Baseball and women's basketball improved their score dramatically and stayed out of trouble. Baseball's score is 925 after posting an 887 score two years ago.

"Baseball," Buskirk said, "is a miracle."

Women's basketball had a score of 930 and is considered in good shape. It had a score of 897 two years ago.

As for men's basketball, it is doing fine with a score of 981 and actually picked up all of its possible points in 2006-07 despite the loss of Julian Wright to the NBA.

The APR has a clause in place that allows athletes to go unpunished for jumping into professional sports early as long as they leave school in good academic standing.

The NCAA is expected to release scores for all its member institutions in late April.

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Comments

JBurtin (anonymous) says...

Sounds like the problem was actually a holdover from ancient history.

We had low academic standards under Terry Allen that Mangino inherited. Then (in bad need of some players) he signed some guys that we probably shouldn't have.

Mangino has already admitted that he made a mistake in recruiting some of those guys (one in particular, Monroe Weekley), and unfortunately we're still paying the price for it.

The charges against us for the recent penalties were questionable already. The graduate assistant did improperly organize tests for Juco recruits, but according to Weekley the assistant supposedly helped them cheat on the test as well. Mangino wasn't there for the incident, but he has expressed his doubts about the truth of that charge.

In reality I think that was a case of a disgruntled idiot trying to cause us as much trouble as possible because he was too stupid to pick up a book.

So now we're reaping even more trouble from the past.

Normally having just a couple of players that don't make the grades and get the boot would be no big deal, but coupled with past woes in the classroom it makes it hard to pick up your average.

Luckily, the damage was already prepared for and this should cause no more future harm to the program. 99% of our guys are doing a good job in the classroom, and it looks like the current penalties are nothing more than a technicality.

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

March 18, 2008 at 4:36 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

plasticJHawk (anonymous) says...

Will we get our scholarships back next year? Or when is the earliest that we will be able to sign a full recruiting class?

March 18, 2008 at 6:15 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

hawkfan20 (anonymous) says...

Next year if we're back at a 925 or better.

March 18, 2008 at 6:58 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

blackhawkjayhawk (anonymous) says...

Please don't try and blame this on Terry Allen. Mangino has guided us to a 20-scholarship a year situation - not Allen. The scary part of this is that we won't pay the price for landing 20% fewer players than our competitors until two or three years after the fact.

Mangino needs to get this program academically sound and he needs to be competitive within the NCAA's guidelines......just like every other school.

Let's not lower our expectations just because he took us to an Orange Bowl win.

March 18, 2008 at 7:39 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Hawksj (anonymous) says...

>>Let's not lower our expectations just because he took us to an Orange Bowl win.<<

I will. If Mangino continues to go to major bowls, let alones BCS bowls, I don't give a s*** what their GPA's are. The cheating was/is totally unacceptable - but some kids flunking out of school is natural and normal. It happens all the time in regular student population.

On the contrary, what you have to worry about schools like K-State that bring in guys who don't even graduate from high school (Bill Walker) and dozens of JUCO players - and yet everybody seems to do amazingly well once they get on campus.

March 18, 2008 at 8:08 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

shelleysue (anonymous) says...

Personally, I DO give a s***. We're the University of Kansas! We need to hold our student athletes to higher standards and demand they reach success in the classroom as well as on the field!

March 18, 2008 at 8:27 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

GrayHawker (anonymous) says...

KU will NOT pay a price for the 20 scholarship class in a few years because they are only 2 under the TOTAL allowable anyway. They are at 83 (of 85 max) with this class.

They won't be able to sign the 25 allowable next year either with a very large number of underclassmen on the roster. They might only have had 20 again next year, now they can sign about 22. Knowing career ending injuries can happen (John Marshall), or a transfer for playing time (most likely in good academic standing though), they might creep up closer to the 25 allowable Letters of Intent in the 2009 class.

Next year's class will be to reload for the future, not immediate need. They are in great shape for a long, long time.

March 18, 2008 at 8:50 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

GrayHawker (anonymous) says...

As a follow up, Snyder at KSU never had a full roster at KSU. Many programs don't. It is actually a little bit of an exception that KU is at their limit on total scholarships which is a testimony to the job they have done in academic support and the quality of kids they have signed in the last 3 classes.

March 18, 2008 at 8:52 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

KUAlum2000 (anonymous) says...

I agree with blackhawk and shelleysue; this isn't TA's legacy and this is KU, our school. It's fun to win a big bowl, but these organizations (NCAA, BigXII, KU) are in the business of giving kids educations and letting them play sports on the side. They may not always be the perspective, but that's the intent. Speaking as a former student-athelete who didn't go pro, I thank KU for my education.

March 18, 2008 at 9 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Hawksj (anonymous) says...

With all due respect, KUAlum, the Big 12 is NOT in the business of educating anybody. It is in the business of making money for it's member institutions. KU certainly is in the business of education, the NCAA may be, but the Big 12 is not.

March 18, 2008 at 9:44 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

FlaHawk (anonymous) says...

The problem with signing less than others is that you NEVER know who will blossom. This is especially true at ku. ku does not get 5 or 4 start recruits (historically). You need to cast your net wide to catch a few sleepers.

Joe Mortenson is an excellent example of some one KU would have lost, if in the year he came on board KU was short just ONE scholarship!

This does not mean the sky is falling, but limits the other recruiting mistakes that KU can make. This is a Mangino created problem and he will have to be accountable and address this.

I hope he has learned his lessons and can now execute like his offense!

Go Hawks!

March 18, 2008 at 10 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

Jayhawk_Iron (anonymous) says...

I'm not worried about it. It has to do with all of the Juco's we gambled on a few years back. Take into consideration the kids that left the program (Randle, the LB that beat the $hit out of that couple at the concert, the lineman that left to become a preacher). Those all come into effect.

Hell, since Mangino has been here, we have always had the most All-Conference Academic team members. My K-State buddies used to always tease me about how Mangino used to recruit smart kids that couldn't play football. Now we are winning with Natinal Academic All-Americans this year. Hell, our defense line this year could probably solve the world's need for alternative fuels with their degrees and GPA's.

We won't be the only school in the Big XII in this situation once they submit their scores into the NCAA.

March 18, 2008 at 10:08 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

kackley (anonymous) says...

FlaHawk are you a Mizzou grad. Everything I read from you is negative. Yes the football program errored in this administration but to blame just one coach is crazy. To say that Terry Allen doesn't share the blame when the bad year was 2003-04 is stupid. There were a lot of his players still around and everyone knows how he had a very undisciplined team. I liked TA as a person but he was just a poor head coach. MM tried to go to fast and bring in juco's for a quick fix and has know learned this isn't K State where anything goes and that it is a slow process. Next year everything will be fine academically.
And Iget a little sick of those holier than thou people saying they are students first and athletes second when the truth be know the athletic grade point average is higher than the general population GPA. And the other students don't have to put in the amount of time at a JOB to pay for a scholarship that athletes do.

March 18, 2008 at 11:52 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

leikness (anonymous) says...

I think some people do prefer that academics and appearing ethical come before winning, and there's nothing wrong with that.

My problem with this deal is the fact that there are a bunch of smart well spoken kids on the field on Saturdays for KU right now, and unfortunately, this gives the impression that they are a bunch of idiot jocks. Just make sure that's what you're telling your buddies from other schools.

March 18, 2008 at 12:20 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

sm5561 (anonymous) says...

I hate this crap... Plain and simple - it's the students responsibility to go to class. It's not the coaches resposibilty to make the student go to class. Nobody had to tell me to go to class. What's with these pampered athletes that they can't figure it out on their own? Punish the student for not being reponsible. Don't punish the coach for failing to act as that kid's mother.

March 18, 2008 at 12:36 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

HawkFanEddie (anonymous) says...

I agree with sm5561. Nobody was there to hold my hand and make sure I kept my grades up while I was at KU. Part of college is learning to be an adult and taking care of your responsibilities. While the athletes are busy because of their sports, they do receive free tutoring and have study hall hours if they are behind. Mangino's job is win football games. This crap that..."Oh we are the wonderful University of Kansas and we have higher standards is ridiculous". Get real. This isn't Stanford. The womens swim team has high grades...does anyone show up to watch them? No. College football and college basketball are about winning. Just win and everyone is happy.

March 18, 2008 at 12:46 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

kackley (anonymous) says...

I think it is important in this day and age to run a program which also strong academically and definetely follows the rules but the priority is winning in the revenue sports especially. Anderson has not given all that money to have a football team with a 3.8 GPA but to win football games. Great academic schools quite often were known for their athletics first and then academics after that. Notre Dame, Ohio State, even Harvard and Yale.

March 18, 2008 at 12:55 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

JBurtin (anonymous) says...

blackhawkjayhawk, I don't think the standards have been lowered at all because of an Orange Bowl win. I also am not blaming it all on Terry Allen. I'm just saying that the current AD seems to be sharing the blame amongst all that are to blame for the situation, and I think that it is the appropriate response.

The academic situation was pretty bad under TA and Mangino did inherit those kids. It wasn't just the new Juco guys that were getting lousy grades, so a portion of the blame must go to him.

A new head coach at a lousy program has tremendous pressure to perform within just a couple of years. MM has openly admitted to making a mistake by recruiting some of those juco guys. He's not superman, and no matter what he does, kids that are bad students before they get here are probably going to be bad students once they get here. He screwed up, and has taken his portion of the blame like a man, and the problem was already solved years ago, so there's no reason to be Bill Lumberg about it. He can't fix mistakes that he made in 2003-2004.

Al Bohl did a good job of hiring coaches and found ways of making football fun at KU again (the tailgating really helps). However, he really didn't do anything to educate the coaches about NCAA standards. From what I've seen the NCAA standards are very complex, and it changes from year to year. I think he must take his portion of the blame for not having any feedback loop to tell him whether we were keeping up to date. To be fair, I don't think he actively tried to break NCAA rules himself, he just neglected an important part of his duties while here, and it has been costing us ever since in numerous ways.

It just sounds to me like almost all of our current football players are doing a good job in the classroom. I've been hearing announcements at the games for the last several years about breaking old GPA records almost every year.

My point is that having a couple of players fail out of school is normally not enough to get you a penalty. The NCAA seems to have a weird technicality here that the combination of poor grades any time in the last 4 years only gets you a penalty when coupled with any 1 freshman failing out of school.

Every school is going to get an occassional bonehead that doesn't go to class. It seems to me that once the standards fell below the 925 mark several years ago, the NCAA kept us on an incredibly short leash for several years afterward. MM has done a good job of getting everybody through their classes for 3 of the last four years, then got unlucky with a couple of guys in the fourth and final year of the short leash.

To be frank, I think it would be nearly impossible to go 4 years straight without at least 1 freshman failing out. Especially considering that in football, you have over 100 guys to babysit.

March 18, 2008 at 4:11 p.m. ( | suggest removal )

Strikewso (anonymous) says...

These are football players, not scholars. Even with all of the special tutoring and extra help the players get, you can only polish a turd so much. Too bad we can't use Reesing's GPA to count as two players.

Still, we're doing ok. It's not like we have Nolan Richardson for a coach - never graduated a player in his entire tenure at Arkansas.

March 18, 2008 at 10:29 p.m. ( | suggest removal )