NCAA academic requirements too low

From the time many of us first threw a baseball, picked up a tennis racket, wrapped our hands around the laces of a football or heard the snap of the net as a basketball went through the hoop, dreams of future stardom played out in our heads. For the few athletes around the nation who mastered athletic accomplishments in high school that deemed them athletically capable of jumping to the next level those dreams become realistic. However, even if they impress the recruiters, coaches and national media, judgment on whether or not they will participate will still be pending until they are granted eligibility by the NCAA Clearinghouse.\nThis is the situation of IU men’s basketball recruit Eli Holman. Holman is attending summer classes while waiting to hear back from the Clearinghouse, which required that the 6’10” athlete achieve higher SAT scores than those currently on his record. Many others across the nation are in the same straits. As the NCAA looks hard at those they determine to be eligible, athletes are being put under more stress as final rulings await.\nBut before empathizing with incoming student-athletes, let us first examine the eligibility requirements for playing in NCAA Division I competition. Incoming athletes are required to complete 16 core courses before they are granted playing status –15 of which must be completed in four years of high school, withholding one for a preparatory academy. Also, the necessary SAT score required is determined on a sliding scale compared to the GPA achieved during high school. Disturbingly, the required combined SAT score for a student who achieved a 3.52 GPA or higher is only 400 and for those achieving a 2.0 GPA is a 1010. Such numbers are suspect when discovering that, for example, IU’s average freshman admitted in 2006 had an SAT score of 1170.\nCombine the evidently low initial eligibility requirements from above with the continued mediocre graduation rates of NCAA student-athletes and the result is a less-than-pretty picture of the academic lives of NCAA student-athletes. That is not to say that all athletes are academically sub-par (awards are given out every season to the best academic performers in many sports). \nPerhaps the NCAA should be pushing for higher standards academically as more and more students are entering the job market. It is a disservice to their athletes to continue holding such low expectations. If the commercials are to be trusted, there are over 360,000 NCAA student-athletes. Consider then that the highest level of competition has limited spots. Major League Baseball has room for only 750 players, the National Basketball Association has room for 480, the National Football League can hold a little more than 2,300 and the Women’s National Basketball Association slightly more than 250. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the NCAA to educate its students, ensure that they are able to be successful academically before admitting them – perhaps requiring some to attend community colleges to boost grades and get serious about school before letting them participate – and assist them in graduating at a higher rate. But even if the NCAA continues to raise academic requirements, they will not be elevated sufficiently. It is therefore necessary for individual institutions such as IU to take the academic lives of its student-athletes seriously.