Black players at the 65 schools selected for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament field continue to lag behind white players in graduation rates, according to a study released the same day as the field of 65 for the NCAA Division 1 basketball tournament were announced.
The report from the University of Central Florida’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports determined 38 schools graduated 70 percent of their white athletes, while only 21 graduated that many black players. At 25 schools, the percentage gap was 30 points or greater.
NCAA Division I men’s basketball remains the worst among all college sports for graduation rates, the report said.
Overall in Division I, 58 percent of male basketball players graduate, compared with 69 percent for male student-athletes overall, according to the study. Seventy-six percent of white basketball players graduated, while just 49 percent of black players did.
Two schools – Nevada and Northern Iowa – and nine overall Division I teams did not graduate a single black player during the period studied.
In an ironic twist, Northern Iowa’s was hired on Tuesday to replace Wayne Morgan, who is black, as head coach at Iowa State.
Three teams who played or are playing in the tournament – Northwestern State, Alabama-Birmingham and Wichita State – didn’t graduate a single white player during the period.
The best graduation rates were at Bucknell, Florida, Illinois, Villanova, Davidson, Pacific, Indiana, Washington, Marquette and Xavier.