March madness. We witness young athletes in brilliant motion, doing the impossible under intense pressure. Nail-biting, overtime games; stirring comebacks; agonizing defeats. Network television broadcasts the show to millions across the world, with the high-gloss ads celebrating the great colleges involved.
Too often, March madness is followed by May sadness. The players who star in March are often not there in May at graduation time. The proud mothers in the stands aren’t present in the graduation ceremony. The celebrated colleges too often are failing their promise to provide a college education to young athletes.
A recent study on the graduation rates of the NCAA men’s and women’s Division 1 basketball teams by Dr. Richard Lapchick tells the story. Only one-third of the colleges in the NCAA tournament graduated 50 percent or more of their African-American basketball student-athletes. The disparity between white and black athletes was stark — with two-thirds of the schools graduating half or more of their white athletes.
Many of the schools that advertise their proud tradition on television would hide their shameful record of graduations. Louisiana State University graduated zero percent of its athletes, white or black. Fans of the University of Kentucky who had to be proud of its double overtime battle with Michigan State would be embarrassed to know that only 8 percent of its basketball athletes graduated in the last four classes, and none of its African-American basketball players. Proud UCLA graduated all of 11 percent of its African-American players, a shameful record matched by the University of Arizona.
White players tend to fare better. About two-thirds of the schools graduated half of their white ballplayers. But still, the graduation rates were stunningly low. Think about student athletes. These are kids who have the discipline to practice for hours. They have the intelligence to learn how to play as a team. They have the self-control to keep themselves out of trouble, despite massive temptations, and remain eligible. Yet, at the end of six years, too many leave without a degree from the school they have served so well.
What’s going on here? Clearly, a devil’s bargain is being struck. The kids think they are going to be pros and focus their attention on basketball, not on the classroom. The colleges make millions off the programs and gain national recognition. The coaches garner big salaries. So they, too, focus on the court, not on the classroom. Then the dreams of the kids are shattered, their chance at an education squandered. The colleges and coaches collect; the kids are discarded.
As John Thompson proved at Georgetown University in its glorious days of national championships, failing students isn’t necessary. Thompson made certain that his players knew the value of a good education. He hired tutors to stay on them to study and made certain they went to class and maintained their grades. His college athletes graduated. Some went pro; the vast majority went on to other careers, having benefited from the education that Thompson and Georgetown made certain they received.
Georgetown isn’t alone. Stanford graduated 86 percent of its African-American basketball players over the last four classes. The University of North Carolina, still in contention for the national title, is already a champion, having graduated 84 percent. If schools make it a priority, their student athletes can succeed.
Women’s teams, incidentally, do much better. Three-fourths of women’s teams graduated over half of their African-American basketball players. But even on the women’s side, as the game has become more popular and the money involved exploded, the record of graduation has declined.
It is time for those responsible to put a stop to the false promise, the fool’s gold, being waved in front of young athletes. The NCAA should make a simple demand. Every school allowed into the tournament needs a passing record off the court as well as a good record on the court.
Schools that don’t graduate half or more of their players shouldn’t be allowed in the tournament. Consistent records of failure should lead to a loss of scholarships, since the school clearly isn’t honoring its side of the bargain. And the networks that broadcast the games shouldn’t simply play the public relations blurbs provided by the schools. Every game should highlight graduation rates: how many of the athletes, how many of the minorities, are graduating. Young players — and their parents — watching the games across the country will be informed by that information.
Colleges that shortchange their young athletes should be penalized. They shouldn’t be able to advertise their success on the court and hide their failure in the classroom. And they shouldn’t be able to sustain athletic factories where the kids are exploited and then discarded without paying a penalty. Let’s make the NCAA tournaments a contest between the colleges that honor their athletes on the court and in the classroom.