While some NCAA members are already complaining that new academic and graduation regulations for student athletes are too stringent, the fact that scholarships could be lost because of poor performance in the classroom is a good thing.
A preliminary report shows that half of NCAA Division One schools could lose a scholarship from at least one of their teams next year because grades are poor and athletes do not graduate.
Using a new points-based calculation to make sure athletes are keeping up their grades, the NCAA says if schools meet the mark, then about half of their athletes would graduate.
The system allots athletes points for remaining eligible and staying in school. The maximum number of points a team can get is one-thousand, and teams getting less than 925 points could face penalties.
Most anticipated scholarship losses are expected in football, baseball and men’s basketball. Those three sports have national averages below the 925-point cutline.
The lowest scoring team in all of Division One is the men’s indoor track team at Maryland-Baltimore County with a 600. The team is 90 percent black.
The most prominent programs below 700 are the men’s basketball teams at Fresno State and Baylor. Fresno State received a 611, while Baylor scored 647.
There are 5,720 teams in all Division One sports, and about seven percent of those teams could lose at least one scholarship if things don’t improve by December, when final results are expected to be announced.
Since most of the athletes competing in Division 1 football, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, and men’s and women’s track and field are African-American, the academic regulations should be backed and enforced. Only good can come from these measures.
Barry takes his swings
Barry Bonds took batting practice last Monday to the surprise of teammates and management. He was supposed to be unable to do so for at least another 10 days. It seems Barry is rarin’ to get the season started and take aim at two of the biggest record in sports. Babe Ruth awaits at 714. Ahead of Ruth is Henry Aaron at 755.
While St. Louis Cardinal fans will probably cascade boos upon Bonds when he takes his at bats in Busch Stadium this season, the wild scramble would be on to catch home run 715 or 756. Alas, Bonds does not come to St. Louis until late August. He probably will have passed Ruth and will be short of Aaron during a three-game series August 19-21.
John The Don
It’s college basketball, not The Mafia.
John Chaney went so far overboard in ordering one of his players to intentionally foul St. Joseph players in the waning seconds of last week’s game in Philadelphia that it could cost him his job.
It is almost impossible to defend him, other than to say that his years of tremendous service to Temple, college basketball and black and white student athletes outweigh his shameful conduct.
Now that he is most likely through coaching for the season, the SportsEye hopes that Chaney will calm down, reflect on his dangerously absurd behavior and close his career after a few more seasons of competition.
A blitz of arrests
Former Tennessee Titans defensive back Samari Rolle celebrated Valentine’s Day with his wife by battling it out so tough the police had to be summoned and he was arrested.
Tampa Bay Bucs defensive back and former Super Bowl MVP Dwight Smith pulled a pellet gun on two fans seeking his autograph at a McDonald’s drive through at 4 a.m. Tuesday morning and he spent the morning in jail.
While Minnesota Vikings quarterback Dante Culpepper was on a plane to Hawaii for the Pro Bowl, two of his friends were arrested in the parking lot of a basketball playground and charged with possessing marijuana just outside of Orlando. They were in Culpepper’s new black Infinity SUV when the arrests took place. Culpepper’s response, you ask? “I just know my truck is fine.”
No wonder mini camps begin so soon. NFL players obviously cannot handle their down time too well.
