Baylor put a beat down on undefeated Gonzaga to win the NCAA men’s basketball championship. Stanford won a thrilling game against underdog Arizona to capture the women’s title.
Other scores posted for respective men’s and women’s college basketball teams participating in this year’s NCAA Tournament offer a mixed bag of encouragement and disappointment, according to a Graduation Success Rates (GSR) by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) at the University of Central Florida.
As expected in the annual study, white basketball players graduate at higher rates than their Black counterparts. However, the gaps are getting smaller or remain almost unchanged, based on 2020 graduation rates.
The study concludes that white male basketball players on tournament teams posted a 93.8 percent graduation rate versus only 80.3 percent of their Black counterparts. The difference of 13.5 percent is an improvement over the 14.3 percent gap last year.
White female basketball players graduate at a 97.9 percent rate compared to 91.8 percent for Black female basketball student-athletes. A difference of 6.1 percent, but also a drop from 6.3 percent recorded in 2020.
The argument “most Black players leave school early for the NBA or another professional league,” is incorrect because less than 5 percent of players in the NCAA Tournament make this move.
Numbers from the recently released study show that 62 of the 64 women’s teams graduated at least 80 percent of their basketball student-athletes. Georgia Tech and Arkansas were the only two schools below that mark with 73 percent.
“This is an encouraging improvement,” Richard Lapchick, TIDES director, says in the report he authored.
“Not so encouraging and totally not acceptable is the fact that 22.1 percent of men’s teams had a 30-percentage point or greater gap between the graduation rates of their white and Black basketball student-athletes.
“On the women’s side, four teams (7.4 percent) had a 30-percentage point or greater gap between the graduation rates of white and Black basketball student-athletes.”
There are other small, yet encouraging, improvements in the 2021 assessment.
This year’s GSR study shows 80.3 percent of Black male players graduating, compared to 80 percent last year. An important note: Only 44 percent of Black males who attend college go on to graduate.
Interestingly, the graduation rate for white male players fell from 94.3 percent in 2020 to 93.8 percent this year.
The GSR for Black female players rose from 88.3 percent in 2020 to 91.8 percent in 2021, a dramatic increase of 3.5 percent. Black female students overall posted a 54 percent graduation rate.
White female players saw a GSR increase of 95.9 percent in 2020 to 97.9 this year – a 2 percent climb.
For the complete 2021 “Keeping Score When It Counts” study, visit www.tidesport.org.
The Reid Roundup
A current NFL rumor has the Denver Broncos trading up to No. 4 and taking a quarterback – presumably, Justin Fields of Ohio State. This would not be good news for former Mizzou QB Drew Lock…Former St. Louis Rams receiver Isaac Bruce, who will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August, will host a free football clinic at the former Rams Park on Saturday, June 5. Registration is open to the public. Space is limited to the first 250 youth in each of the two sessions (8-10 years from 9-11 a.m. and 11-13 years from 12-2 p.m.). Go to IsaacBruce.org to register…I wish Patrick Mahomes had skipped The Masters last week in Augusta, Ga., but it was good to see him without the walking boot he has worn since surgery for ‘turf toe’ on his left foot…Britt Reid, former Kansas City Chiefs assistant coach and son of head coach Andy Reid, has been charged with felony DWI in Jackson County. He struck two vehicles at 82 mph while allegedly under the influence, critically injuring 5-year-old Ariel Young… Former NFL All-Pro running back Eddie George has been named Tennessee State University head coach.
Alvin A. Reid was honored as the 2017 “Best Sports Columnist – Weeklies” in the Missouri Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest and is a New York Times contributor. He is a panelist on the Nine Network program, Donnybrook, a weekly contributor to “The Charlie Tuna Show” on KFNS and appears monthly on “The Dave Glover Show” on KMOX.
