Across the Grounds with Steve Brindle: Balancing books and bowls

Football fever is nigh, but you’ll need a game program to identify Hoos in football, men’s and

women’s bball, and baseball as the rosters are largely comprised of transfers. My gut says that

each of those teams will outperform last year’s squads. BTW, I’m betting that the new Hoos will

handily beat the Chanticleers and the 12-point spread. While UVA has had great success in the

portal, we are shackled by an Admissions Office that considers athletes to be students first. I

refuse to take sides as our “academical village” is elite and the “Ivy of the South” is well

deserved. There are no “gut” courses here unlike those at many football factories who, in

addition, have donors with very deep pockets. Eligibility is a constant concern for those schools

who accept subpar recruits.

What has the NCAA done to police universities where bending the rules is an art? Academic

Progress Rate (APR) was created in 1990 to measure grades and eligibility. It was in response to

“Student Right to-Know Act” which was designed to hold BOTH the university and the athlete

accountable for classroom success. Wikipedia states that with students entering college

between 1993-1996, only 51% of football players graduated within 6 years and only 41% of

basketball players. If the tougher current APR reading was used to calculate eligibility in 2011,

99 bball teams would have been academically ineligible for March Madness! Within the ACC,

North Carolina took the cake by creating classes for athletes that had no professors, no

classrooms, and no curriculum! Additionally, Rick Pitino at Louisville, Jim Valvano at NC State,

and Jim Boeheim at Syracuse all were investigated for eligibility misdeeds. The most recent APR

revision, the “Graduation Success Rate”, is broader in scope by adding walk-ins and non-

scholarship players to the census and a 4-year rolling average replaces the short-cited single

semester calculation. In the GSR format, 930 is the benchmark that a school must earn in order

to qualify for post-season bowls. The calculation awards each player with 2 points, one for

staying academically eligible and one for returning to school in the next academic year.

Conceivably, students will quit the team but stay in school. Others can be asked to leave due to

poor performance in the classroom or athletic field. Still others will transfer with good

academic performance.

As an example, if 2 student-athletes leave UVA without completing their course load UVA

would forfeit both points. That will create a 4-point deficit. Let’s also say 3 others quit the team

but, unlike those dismissed, they stay in school and do very well in the classroom. They will

each forfeit a point for quitting the team. Let’s assume that UVA has 80 football players on the

roster who are academically eligible. With 2 points per player, UVA is then awarded 160 points

minus 7 for the students above. Then I divide the total available points (160) by the actual

score (153) and then multiply by 1,000.

Actual score 153  160 available points = .9562  1,000 = 956. 25. The 956 APR is greater than

the 930 cutoff so this team may participate in the bowl season. UVA ranks very high and aways

has due to its high academic standards!

When the wheels fall off and a university has an APR that falls below 930 that institution will

face sanctions such as restrictions on scholarships and practice time. If it’s a severe

circumstance, the university’s entire athletic program is penalized and they may lose their D-1

status.