TDG News 4-25-08
Hello Drakes—well we have all made it back from the Memphis and the CSRI conference. Kudo’s to Richard
Southall, his wife Deb, their students, and the University of Memphis for putting on a great and productive
conference. We were able to have our annual meeting and the Fifth Robert Maynard Hutchins Award festivities at
the CSRI site. Award recipient Dr. Jim Gundlach gave a wonderful acceptance speech and it was a pleasure to be
part of it. Please see the article below for details on Jim and the award.
Many things to mention today: First the news is below, but most important, attached are the minutes from the annual
meeting (thanks to all that attended the meeting), and the new TDG bylaw revisions and the old bylaws for
reference. A new executive committee has been nominated and it is time to vote for the 2008-09 EC. I am now
moving on to a newly created position of past president. Instead of Executive Director and Associate Director, there
will now be Past Prez, President, and a President elect. This will allow a smooth leadership transition and not have
TDG defined by one person. More on this and other news, to include revision of TDG’s proposals, in the minutes.
Please take a minute to vote as the vote closes on May 18th. Please go to http://www.thedrakegroup.
org/elections2008.html to vote. The password was sent in the email version of this news.
Other news includes increasing the yearly dues to $35 and also sets a giving level structure for those who can give
more to TDG and the cause above and beyond the annual dues. More to follow on marketing, fundraising, our
student group, and the future of TDG. Remember you can always get involved. Let me or any other EC member
know if you have questions.
This likely marks my last TDG news as Executive Director, but I will still be very involved as Past President. Please
give the next President and President Elect your support, get involved, recruit more members as it will help us gain a
critical mass to affect meaningful change. I have really enjoyed the time as EC. Let’s all keep moving and keep up
the fight!!!
Dave
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Blowing whistle results in award
Jon Solomon, Birmingham News, 19 April 2008
Almost two years have passed since Jim Gundlach transformed from Auburn sociology professor to Auburn whistle-
blower.
In July 2006, he revealed to The New York Times that a disproportionate number of athletes - including 18 players
from Auburn's undefeated football team in 2004 - received high grades for independent study courses that required
little or no work.
Gundlach, now retired, will likely forever carry the whistle-blower label. This week, he gets honored for it.
Gundlach will receive The Drake Group's 2008 Robert Maynard Hutchins Award on Saturday in Memphis. The
award goes to a person who the group believes shows courage in standing up for academic integrity in the face of
commercialized college sports.
The Drake Group consists of past and present faculty members and athletics department employees who are trying
to reform big-time college athletics.
"I interpret it as an honor that is treated fairly seriously by a majority of faculty members across the country,"
Gundlach said. "In academics, we don't make much money. Sort of the currency we strive on is recognition by our
peers."
These days, Gundlach says, he misses working with students. He does some data consulting work but laments he
spends too much time with his dogs and not enough with people.
He retired last May, he said, as a result of Auburn administrators "making my life miserable" after his data and
comments became public.
"I just reached the point where I couldn't stand to be around the place anymore," he said. "And I felt a whole lot
better very quickly after I left. I started sleeping regularly again."
An Auburn spokesman said university policy does not allow the school to comment on personnel issues.
Gundlach said he has no regrets about blowing the whistle on independent study courses offered by Thomas Petee,
the sociology department's highest-ranking member at the time.
As a result, Auburn announced new limits on the number of students whose independent study work can be
supervised by a single professor. Petee was removed as department chairman.
Petee sued Auburn and the parties settled last summer. He is now a consultant to Auburn's extension campus in
Montgomery.
Auburn concluded there was no favoritism by Petee toward athletes and that athletes weren't steered toward him.
Auburn said this week the investigation is still pending due to an informal inquiry by the NCAA.
"Auburn has submitted information in response and responded to questions concerning the response," Nikki
Borges, Auburn associate athletics director for marketing and communications, wrote in a letter to The Birmingham
News. "At this time, Auburn is awaiting either additional questions from or a final disposition by the NCAA."
For more than a year, The News has requested to see correspondence between Auburn and the NCAA, the SEC
and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools regarding the independent study courses.
Once the investigation is completed, Auburn will decide how to balance its obligations under the public records law
and restrictions imposed by the release of personally identifiable student records, Borges wrote.
"The university's major effort is to try to clamp down on information primarily under the disguise of maintaining
student confidentiality," Gundlach said. "Student confidentiality has worked to cover up more wrongdoing than
anything out there."
Independent study has recently come under fire elsewhere too. The Ann Arbor News recently alleged that Michigan
athletes have been steered to independent study courses taught by a psychology professor. Michigan denied there
was steering and cleared the professor of wrongdoing.
Gundlach believes occasional revelations at how pockets of athletes are being improperly educated - the "drip, drip,
drip" of revelations, as he puts it - will eventually result in change within the next decade.
For the first time, the NCAA is considering studying whether athletes cluster in certain majors and whether its
eligibility rules have played a role. The NCAA has said "academic freedom" enables campuses to determine their
own independent-study policies.
This month the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics, whose members consist of 56 faculty senates in Division I-A,
urged institutions to investigate clustering on their campuses.
Gundlach suggests federal funding for universities should be tied to a maximum of 20 hours each week that
students are permitted to devote to athletics.
"You've got to do something where the money universities lose is more valuable than the money they're getting from
athletics," he said.
Gundlach follows a line of SEC whistle-blowers to be honored by The Drake Group over educational issues. Jan
Kemp at Georgia, Tiffany Mayne at LSU and Linda Bensel-Meyers at Tennessee previously won the award
Gundlach will receive.
"If you're going to speak out, you have to be really willing to retire or move on," Gundlach said. "As part of the
retirement process, though, it's not a bad way to go. You leave with your integrity."
Faculty group advocates course monitoring
The NCAA News, April 09, 2008
The faculty-senate-based Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics has issued a call for more diligence from athletics
departments about the courses student-athletes take at their schools.
In light of media reports last month about some athletes at the University of Michigan being “clustered” in less-
challenging academic programs and allowed to enroll in independent-study courses as a way to improve their grade-
point averages, the COIA is reiterating its appeal for universities to adopt a proposal to collect data on enrollment
and grading patterns of student-athletes.
“The COIA has not investigated the charges at Michigan; it is not our role to do so and thus we take no position on
the merits and specifics of the allegations,” the statement reads. “We point out, however, that we have previously
taken note of similar accusations at other universities and have warned of the potential for such abusive practices in
the absence of explicit policies and controls to prevent them.”
The COIA, an alliance of 56 Division I faculty senates interested in advancing academic reform, stated in a 2007
white paper called “Framing the Future: Reforming Intercollegiate Athletics” that data on student-athletes’ choice of
major should be gathered and evaluated by the campus faculty governance body or the Campus Athletic Board and
should also be provided to all prospective recruits. Also, to preserve academic integrity, the COIA called for the
campus faculty governance body or the Campus Athletic Board to monitor student-athlete enrollment by course.
The organization’s statement in light of the Michigan case said “such data should be designed to reveal whether
there are clusters of athletes enrolled in identical courses or in courses with identical instructors, unusually high
class GPAs in such courses or from such instructors, or grades significantly higher than predicted for athletes as
compared to others in such courses or from such instructors.”
The COIA statement also warns of the potential for athletics departments to suggest less-demanding coursework for
student-athletes as a way to focus more on eligibility than education. “Schools may be enhancing the Academic
Progress Rates of their teams by steering athletes to courses that are not necessarily in their best academic and
vocational interests, encouraging them to enroll in independent-study courses that are not, in fact, consistent with
the spirit and rationale for individualized research and scholarship, and by directing them to majors and programs
that are designed mainly for athletes,” the statement said.
Task force to identify commercialism issues
The NCAA News, April 11, 2008
The Task Force on Commercial Activities in Intercollegiate Athletics, formed by the Division I Board of Directors at
the NCAA Convention, will begin its discussions about commercial activities in intercollegiate athletics and student-
athlete well-being associated with athletics, including postseason football, at its inaugural meeting April 12.
Led by Penn State President Graham Spanier, the group is expected to discuss how the educational image of
intercollegiate athletics squares with interest from the media, public, and other entities to commercialize college
sports in ways that resemble professional athletics. The goal is to find a level of commercial activity that respects
higher education as the framework for intercollegiate athletics.
The group is charged with developing broad-based, consistent principles that will be translated into NCAA legislation
affecting all sports and all commercial activity associated with athletics, with a special emphasis on the two issues
that led to the formation of the task force: the use of student-athlete likenesses, images and names and the
environment of postseason football in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision.
Charged with submitting its recommendations to the Board by the end of the year, the group will begin its first
meeting with a review of data, including revenue, corporate sponsors, number of contests and number of
promotions. Guidance from the Presidential Task Force on the Future of Division I Intercollegiate Athletics also will
be considered, as will current NCAA rules regarding amateurism and promotional activities.
The NCAA Strategic Plan, adopted in 2004, will also be integral to the group’s discussions.
In addition to the presidents and chancellors serving on the panel, consultants drawn from the NCAA membership,
including institutional and conference-level administrative and faculty representatives, will share their expertise.
Group members are:
President Michael Adams, Georgia *#, President James Barker, Clemson *, President Frank Brogan, Florida Atlantic
* President David Frohnmayer, Oregon President Walter Harrison, Hartford # Chancellor Harvey Perlman, Nebraska
President John Peters, Northern Illinois President Shirley Raines, Memphis *# President David Schmidly, New Mexico
# President Graham Spanier (chair), Penn State # President Timothy White, Idaho * President Nancy Zimpher,
Cincinnati *#
Consultants:
Elizabeth Altmaier, FAR, Iowa, Robert Bowlsby, athletics director, Stanford Chris Plonsky, director of women’s
athletics, Texas Doug Fullerton, commissioner, Big Sky Conference John Swofford, commissioner, Atlantic Coast
Conference Craig Thompson, commissioner, Mountain West Conference Keith Tribble, athletics director, Central
Florida
*denotes Board member;
# denotes member of the Division I Task Force on the Future of Intercollegiate Athletics
College more than just a stopover
Bob Lipper, Richmond Times-Dispatch, 12 April 2008
The lights went dim for keeps Monday night in San Antone. The last margarita had been sipped and the last net
snipped, and another college basketball season was in the can. The production left little to be desired (thank you,
Mario Chalmers). Now we move on to the part where featured cast members bail for a higher-rated show.
It's time for college basketball's annual exodus.
Once, this meant waving bye-bye to guys you watched stroll campus walkways for four years. Now, the best and the
brightest are yours for one shining season -- two if you're lucky, three if he tears up a knee (see: Brandon Rush) --
before they trade study halls for seven-figure salaries and shoe contracts.
College is just a component in the pipeline, a byproduct of creating a department of higher entertainment from which
you don't need a sheepskin to graduate.
This Final Four included two potential short-term headliners. Memphis guard Derrick Rose, a pro by any other name
when he emerged from Chicago's Simeon High, is a top-two selection waiting to happen. UCLA's Kevin Love,
nephew of a Beach Boy, might not be humming "Be True to Your School" much longer.
They're both freshmen. As is/was Indiana's Eric Gordon and Southern Cal's O.J. Mayo, who already have taken the
plunge. As is Kansas State's Michael Beasley, who's likely soon to follow.
One prominent mock-draft Web site, in fact, projects Rose, Beasley, Mayo and already-gone Arizona freshman
Jerryd Bayless as the first four picks. Seven of the top 10 are freshmen. There are no seniors and not even a junior
till you get to Kansas' Rush at No. 17 -- and he would've been gonzo a year ago if he hadn't torn an ACL.
Someone asked NCAA boss Myles Brand at a news conference last weekend if he was troubled by the one-and-
done generation that dabbles in college basketball.
"We don't have any concerns about it," Brand replied. "We think it's better that they stay two years. Two is better
than one. In fact, I would prefer they stay at least three and maybe four. That would be my preference."
That's so higher education, isn't it? Brand once was a university president. He's Dr. Myles Brand, which presumably
means he has a doctorate in something and an undergraduate degree that required four years of majoring in a
discipline other than crossover dribbles.
And yet he can stand up there and say with a straight face he's OK with kids treating college as a pit-stop audition
for the NBA? And that he'd be more OK if they hung around for two years, which -- last time I checked -- is halfway
toward the conventional time frame for, like, graduating?
And for what? So universities and the NCAA can milk two years worth of marketing and cash flow from our
precocious slam-dunkers instead of just one? Because that's all a doubling of pre-draft servitude would accomplish.
It surely has nothing to do with educating -- Duke, Michigan State and Arizona not being in the business of granting
two-year degrees these days.
True, unless colleges fold big-time sports, they have no choice but to admit their athlete-student temps. In that
sense, they're prisoner to the NBA's dictum that players spend at least one year in college before becoming eligible
for the draft. The real fault lies in the restriction. High schoolers who wish to leap directly to the NBA and are good
enough should be free to do so.
But for colleges to pretend this is part of their mission is a laugh. Now there's talk NBA boss David Stern wants to
push for a rule that would require players to wait two years beyond high school before they can suit up in his league.
"Two years is perfect," Louisville coach Rick Pitino said of that possibility.
What fraud.
NBA, NCAA ink deal to develop youth basketball programs
John Lombardo and Ross Nethery, San Antonio Business Journal, 11 April 2008
A groundbreaking five-year, $50 million deal between the NBA and NCAA not only includes ambitious goals for
overhauling youth basketball, but also marks a new level in the relationship between two powerful organizations that,
until a couple of years ago, had never sat down together.
The as-yet-unnamed joint venture between the NBA and NCAA will develop programs to help assure that boys and
girls get consistent, high-quality basketball training and education. The first visible sign of the new business will likely
be a Web site launched for the 2008-09 season that will provide information and social networking for young
players, teams, leagues and event organizers. Before that happens, though, the NCAA and the NBA will have to hire
a chief executive and a staff, and figure out where to establish a headquarters. That may be influenced, NCAA
President Myles Brand says, by which technology company they partner with on their Web presence.
Terms of the deal call for each side to commit up to $15 million in cash and another $20 million in joint marketing
investment.
"This is a historic deal," says Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, who will coach the U.S. men's Olympic team in
Beijing this summer and who has been a longtime proponent of revamping youth basketball. "It's going to make
basketball in our country better. That's the motivation. To help kids, but to make the game better."
While most of the details have yet to be worked out, the joint venture will go far beyond just a Web presence. There
are plans for an annual youth basketball congress, for coaching education and certification, for registering and
training officials and for working with existing sanctioning organizations to establish national standards for
competitive events.
Unique partnership
Having the NBA and the NCAA involved in such a venture seemed unimaginable as recently as mid-2005, when
George Raveling, a former college coach who is now Nike's global director of basketball, decided to try to get
everyone involved in youth basketball into one room. Raveling, motivated by what he saw as "slippage" in U.S.
basketball in everything from on-court performance to coaching and officiating, convinced Nike to host a U.S.
basketball summit.
"At that point," Raveling says, "never in the history of basketball had the NBA and NCAA sat down together."
There's no clear answer as to why that was true, considering the shared interests of the two organizations in
keeping U.S. basketball healthy and successful, nor is either side particularly to blame. But the opportunity to
change the relationship, according to several people interviewed for this story, may have come when Brand was
named NCAA president in 2003.
"A change of leadership sometimes is a catalyst to other types of changes," says one source.
Brand had signaled his interest in focusing on the broad issues facing the game when, in the late spring of 2004, he
organized a group called the College Basketball Partnership, which included coaches, administrators, media
members and former players who were concerned about the direction of basketball in the U.S. Many of the members
of that group, which met off-and-on for about two years, were among the 40 people who gathered for Nike's summit
in October 2005 at the Fairmont Chicago hotel. Along with Brand, Raveling and Krzyzewski, the list included Tom
Jernstedt and Greg Shaheen of the NCAA, former Big East Commissioner Dave Gavitt, former Georgetown coach
John Thompson Jr., Hall of Famer Jerry West, former Kentucky athletic director C.M. Newton and television
commentators Billy Packer and Len Elmore. Adidas was invited to send a representative but decided not to.
Perhaps the most important attendee, though, was NBA Commissioner David Stern. When he first had the idea for
the meeting, Raveling says he knew that it wouldn't work without the NBA.
"The thing that was going to give authenticity to this was getting the NBA there," he adds. "If the NBA agreed to do
this, then we were home free."
Breaking the ice
Considering the history, or lack thereof, between the NBA and NCAA, Raveling hired a professional arbitrator, a law
professor from Duke, to help get the meeting rolling. That turned out to be a good idea, Krzyzewski says.
"We were all at tables sitting around in a square," he recalls, "and you had your NBA group over there, and your
NCAA group over there. ... It was a little bit like a NATO meeting. You needed to break the ice and get to common
ground."
The only thing that really happened at that meeting was that everyone agreed that more meetings were needed. But
that was enough.
Krzyzewski remembers walking out of the meeting with Brand. Brand turned to him and said, "I don't know if we did
anything."
"You did the most important thing," Krzyzewski said at the time. "You know them, and they know you. Now we can
start doing stuff. Now we can have more meetings, and we don't need a facilitator."
And, indeed, talks between the NBA and NCAA continued through the next summer and fall.
"It was never clear why we didn't have a relationship, but what we learned is that our agendas are very similar, and
that is to grow the game of basketball," says NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver. "For both business and
basketball reasons, we needed to be brought together, and as everyone introduced each other, it became very
clear how much everyone owed to the game."
In September 2006, Brand and Stern co-hosted U.S. Basketball Summit II in Indianapolis. This time, both Nike and
Adidas were there, as were representatives from the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), the National Federation of High
Schools, coaches' organizations, as well as West and former North Carolina coach Dean Smith. In all, about 40
people.
While the first meeting was the icebreaker, says Brand, at the second meeting, "the NBA and NCAA began to
understand far better than in the past that we have a confluence of interests, that we are in the best position to try
to change, in a dramatic way, pre-collegiate basketball."
Breakthrough
Stern and Brand went public at that meeting with their intention to reform amateur basketball, which they believe is
too heavily influenced by too many organizations with too many different goals.
"Early on we realized that we can't solve this problem through regulation," Brand says. "No rules the NCAA could
pass would be able to solve the problem. We went to work with sharp pencils to figure out how we can create a
marketplace solution."
There were more phone calls between Stern and Brand and the two discovered mutual interests and developed a
friendship borne not only out of profession, but out of geography. Stern was born and raised in Manhattan, with
Brand a Brooklyn native. The New York connection helped cement the personal relationship, but much of the day-to-
day work was taken over by Silver and Shaheen, senior vice president of basketball and business strategies for the
NCAA.
There were differences in approach that slowed the process.
"The biggest challenge is that we had historically been so disparate," Silver says. "We are taking advantage of the
NCAA Championship game to announce the deal, but it is not a coincidence that it took until now. In addition to our
differences, there were subgroups we had to deal with like university presidents and coaches associations. Then we
had to make sure our business partners were on the same page."
Other groups, such as the shoe companies and the AAU, were involved early in the process and will be included in
some way in the initiative, but they were not part of the planning talks between the NBA and the NCAA.
"We went to a couple of meetings," says AAU President Bobby Dodd. "As we look forward, I hope all parties are
included at the table. We look forward to lending our expertise."
The deal was progressing enough through last June when the NBA invited Shaheen and Jernstedt to the NBA
Finals. In December 2007, Stern and Brand flew to Chicago and both addressed a FIBA (International Basketball
Federation) meeting and then together took in a Bulls game at the United Center. With the talks gaining traction,
Stern invited Brand to participate at the NBA Technology Summit at this year's NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans.
On March 24, Brand and Stern finally completed the deal during a meeting at the CBS Studios in New York where
they taped their first-ever national television appearance.
"This is one of the most important moments in basketball in the past 20 years," Silver says. "You can't understate
the significance of the constituent groups coming together for the purposes of improving basketball."
"This is a major breakthrough," Brand adds. "It's a major breakthrough in our ability to address the most pressing
problems in the game. But this will not be easy. Like any new initiative, you have to give it time to mature, and you
have to be willing to change."
John Lombardo and Ross Nethery are staff writers for the SportsBusiness Journal, an affiliated publication.
Businesses capitalize on Jayhawks' success
KU expects record royalty profits on merchandise
Michael Hooper, Topeka Capital-Journal, 15 April 2008
It might as well be Christmas for retailers selling merchandise celebrating KU's national championship.
"Sales have skyrocketed," said Megan Nocktonick, assistant manager of Kansas Sampler, 5918 S.W. 21st. "It's
amazing. We're doing better sales now than we did during Christmas. This is the most Kansas Sampler has ever
done."
T-shirts, sweatshirts, jackets, posters, key chains, cups and pins are all selling rapidly.
The University of Kansas likely will receive record royalties from sales of KU memorabilia this year, said Paul Vander
Tuig, trademark licensing director for KU. In addition to royalties from KU basketball, KU is reaping the benefits from
winning the Orange Bowl in football.
Vander Tuig said KU typically earns about $1 million annually through KU licensing agreements with companies that
produce the apparel and merchandise with authorized KU logos and designs.
When KU went to the NCAA Final Four in 2003, KU earned an extra $200,000 to $250,000 in royalties. A college's
percentage cut from the sales of Final Four items is smaller than when it wins the championship because royalties
on Final Four products are shared among the schools in the Final Four.
The NCAA National Championship merchandise has a 15 percent royalty fee paid at the wholesale level. Of that
amount, 3 percent goes to the NCAA and 12 percent goes to the University of Kansas.
Bootleggers don't want to pay the royalties, but KU polices its trademark.
During Sunday's parade in Lawrence, an unlicensed vendor was selling shirts on Massachusetts Avenue. Vander
Tuig said he approached the vendor and had a conversation with him. "He moved on," said Vander Tuig, who
declined to name the vendor.
Producing sports shirts, hats or other memorabilia isn't as simple as sketching out a Jayhawk and slapping it on a T-
shirt. During the NCAA Tournament, most of the designs are made months in advance. As the tournament
advances, companies have to continually change their designs, updating things such as the list of schools still
competing.
Vendors who have an NCAA license are able to prepare for hot market opportunities.
To take advantage of the market, companies must receive approval from the University of Kansas trademark
licensing department. The department approves the use of any KU-related words or symbols, whether they are on a
poster, a T-shirt, a hat or a bumper sticker.
The day after KU beat Memphis in the title game, a line of more than 100 people formed at Kansas Sampler.
The store did $10,000 in sales in one hour. That is phenomenal considering a good day of sales is $5,000.
"We have a lot of people who come in with relatives who live out of town," she said. "They will buy 10 to 12 shirts at a
time, for everybody they know. We see the same people almost daily, they keep coming back to see what we have."
She said the store actually has more options today than last week.
Last week, she said, the store was selling up to four shipments of product daily.
"We're just now getting knickknacks, posters, pendants, cups, car flags," she said.
Dillards, Macy's and numerous other retailers were selling items commemorating KU's championship.
Jaye Parkerson, sale associate at Hillmer's Luggage Leather & Gifts, said KU memorabilia is selling well.
Hillmer's has a window that displays KU merchandise, including framed newspaper articles about KU beating
Memphis.
The store also is selling KU basketballs, stuffed Jayhawks, pins, lights, fans, KU wallets, checkbook covers and
pennants.
"KU stuff has always sold very well," Parkerson said. "We have a huge following of KU fans who shop here."
Gary Blitsch, owner of Framewoods of Topeka, said he has made frames for newspapers, KU shirts and ticket stubs
from San Antonio for customers who want custom-made products.
Jim Marchiony, assistant athletic director for KU, said the national championship will have a financial impact on KU
athletics, but it remains to be seen how much. The other impact will be on recruiting student athletes.
"We hope this helps not only football and basketball, but other KU sports as well," he said.
MERCHANDISE PROFITS
NCAA National Championship merchandise has a 15 percent royalty fee paid at the wholesale level. Of that amount,
3 percent goes to the NCAA and 12 percent goes to the University of Kansas. The royalties could mean hundreds of
thousands of dollars in additional revenue for KU.
NCAA praises 712 teams for academics, down 16 percent from '07
Associated Press, 25 April 2008
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Kansas and North Carolina are regulars at the top of college basketball polls. They were
recognized on another list Thursday.
The men's teams at the two national powers, which met in the Final Four earlier this month, were included among
712 squads singled out by the NCAA for their solid academic performance. Although the total number of teams
publicly recognized dropped from 839 last year, 192 schools had at least one team finish among the top 10 percent
of all schools in their sport.
The Ivy League accounted for more than one-fifth of all the teams honored, with 150 men's and women's teams
recognized on the list. The Patriot League was second with 89 and the Big East third at 47.
Kansas, which won the national title a little more than three weeks ago, and North Carolina, the winner in 2005, both
had impressive showings on the list. The grades are calculated over a four-year period although the numbers from
2007-08 will not be included until next year.
"We're very, very pleased," Jayhawks athletic director Lew Perkins said. "It just shows that you can have success in
both academics and athletics. Our coaches and student-athletes work very hard toward that end. We take
academics very seriously."
The NCAA gives each player on each team one point for staying academically eligible and another point for
remaining at the school each semester, accumulating a total of four points per year. The scoring system is altered
slightly for schools on a quarters-based calendar.
The NCAA then uses a mathematical formula to calculate each team's score. Those scores are expected to be
released in early May. A perfect score is 1,000 and teams that fall below the cutline of 925 are subject to penalties,
which include the potential loss of scholarships.
The men's basketball teams at Kansas and North Carolina won't have to worry about that -- the scores of the
recognized teams landed well above the cutline.
Thursday's showing may help improve the image of a sport that routinely has been criticized for poor academic
achievement.
Last month, Richard Lapchick, head of the University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport,
issued a study showing only one of the top four seeds in this year's tournament graduated more than 50 percent of
its players. He also called the disparity in graduation rates between white and black players in men's basketball the
greatest failure in higher education.
Graduation rates for men's basketball have consistently ranked near the bottom of all sports, thanks partly to the
escalation in early departures for the NBA.
Yet the NCAA report showed some of this year's most successful tourney teams did their job academically, too.
Xavier, which lost to UCLA in the regional finals, made the list in men's basketball as did tourney darling Davidson.
Perennial power Duke and Illinois, which lost to North Carolina in the 2005 title game, also made the list.
Eight of this year's 65 tourney teams were among the 33 men's basketball teams on the list. Men's cross country
also had 33 teams listed, while golf produced 32 teams.
Tennis (46), volleyball (41) and golf (39) produced the most teams among women's sports. Neither Tennessee nor
Connecticut, the biggest powers in women's basketball, made the list.
"Congratulations to these teams and their student-athletes for success in the classroom," NCAA President Myles
Brand said in a statement. "They are setting a great example for their peers and future student-athletes, as well."
Again, it was the usually strong Ivy League that dominated the results.
Yale produced the most impressive classroom performance for the second straight year. Of the 29 men's and
women's sports offered by the school and measured by the NCAA, the Bulldogs made the list in 28 sports.
Dartmouth was honored 24 times, followed by Brown (21), the University of Pennsylvania (20), Princeton (19) and
Harvard (18).
Other schools that fared well included Bucknell (17), Lehigh and Holy Cross (15), Davidson (14), Lafayette and
Colgate (13). The Naval Academy, Duke and Georgetown each had 12 teams on the list, and Notre Dame had 11
although the Fighting Irish did not make it in football.
The most notable football teams honored were Rutgers, Stanford, Air Force, Navy and Villanova.
Perennial women's basketball powers Ohio State and Stanford also made the list.
Overall, 11.4 percent of the 6,272 teams were honored. The NCAA recognizes more than 10 percent in a sport if
more teams produce a perfect score.