Transferring the skills

Last February, freshman Daryl Pegram of the IU men's basketball team decided to transfer to another school once the spring semester had ended. Pegram had played in only two of the team's 21 games due to knee problems. IU coach Mike Davis said he respected his decision and wished him the best.\nPegram has since moved on to Loyola-Marymount University in Los Angeles, which is closer to his home of San Bernardino, Calif. This move might be the best situation for Pegram and IU, but his departure will hurt IU's graduation statistics of its student-athletes.\nThe Student Right to Know Act requires that universities release the graduation rates of its student-athletes so that potential students can decide what college they want to attend. Under the current federal measure, Pegram will count against IU's graduation rate, because by transferring, he is considered to have failed at his first school: IU. This is true even if the athlete is on pace to graduate from his or her prospective university.\nAlso, Loyola-Marymount cannot count Pegram toward its graduation rate even if he completes his degree since he didn't start there as a freshman.\nOn Oct. 7, the NCAA unveiled a new standard, the "graduation-success rate," to measure the graduation rates of universities. Unlike the current model, this standard would not penalize schools if their student-athletes transfer to other institutions. It would also allow those institutions that accept transfer students to count them toward its graduation rates if the students complete their degrees.\nThe NCAA is also considering a "real time" assessment of graduation rates and possibly punishing teams or schools that aren't performing well. The evaluations would be in three areas: retaining athletes, keeping them eligible for competition and graduating them. Possible punishments might include post-season bans and loss of scholarships. The NCAA is asking that institutions start keeping statistics this fall, and possible sanctions could start as early as the 2005-06 academic year. The NCAA's board of directors will vote on the changes in April 2004.\nThe NCAA must do all that it can to get these measures approved.\nIt's unfair to penalize schools when an athlete transfers, because it gives prospective student-athletes, fans and critics of collegiate sports the wrong idea about the academic practices and graduation rates of universities. Statistics should be based on the student-athletes in the programs, not the ones who have left them.\nAlso, by punishing institutions that fail to graduate its players, the NCAA is proving that academics is more important than athletics for its student-athletes. Loss of scholarships and bans on postseason play would hurt universities through potential revenue loss and loss of recruits in the future.\nIf Myles Brand and the NCAA are serious about putting academics ahead of athletics, the board of directors needs to pass these measures.