[ COLLEGE ATHLETICS ]
NCAA approves
academic reformsStarting in 2006, schools face
penalties for poor classroom
performance
INDIANAPOLIS » The NCAA approved a sweeping package of academic reforms yesterday that will penalize schools starting in 2006 if athletes perform too poorly in the classroom.
"This is the beginning of a sea change in college sports," NCAA president Myles Brand said. "Landmark legislation was passed to ensure each and every student-athlete has a genuine opportunity to receive a high-quality education and graduate."
Athletes will have to stay above a still-undetermined graduation rate for schools to avoid punishment.
Brand said graduation targets for each school are being calculated. This fall, he said, each school will be notified "how much at risk it would have been" had the new standards already been in place.
The Division I Management Council originally proposed waiting an extra year before putting the reforms in place, but the NCAA Board of Directors decided to push it up to 2006 because it felt data wouldn't change much by waiting.
The board previously voted to increase the number of core courses needed for freshman eligibility and to increase the number of hours required toward graduation to remain eligible.
Hawaii basketball coach Riley Wallace supports the changes.
"I don't mind the progress (requirement) and the graduation rates, that's what you're supposed to be here for anyway," Wallace said. "You just have to get yourself organized, stay on top of them and make sure they're taking classes that progress them toward their degree.
"They're putting the responsibility on the universities to do their part on supervision of the kid when he comes in and monitoring them throughout."
Several UH basketball players have earned academic accolades over the past few years, including Michael Kuebler, who was named a first-team academic All-American this season and is on track to graduate next fall.
"You can always do better," Wallace said. "We've had a good run here, but you'd like to have all of them (graduate)."
The NCAA board also approved measures to:
» Rescinded the so-called "5-8" rule, which allowed a school to award five basketball scholarships in one year or eight scholarships in a two-year period.
» Prohibit men's exhibition basketball games against non-collegiate opponents, such as foreign teams, AAU clubs or Athletes in Action.
» Give athletes more access to financial aid, up to the full cost of college attendance, from non-athletic sources such as the federal Pell Grant. This measure is effective Aug. 1.
» Give colleges the option of extending financial aid to incoming athletes the summer before their freshman year, so they can begin meeting academic goals. The board directed President Myles Brand to establish a task force to develop a plan to be considered at its Aug. 5 meeting.
» Allow colleges to cover medical expenses for injuries to athletes, regardless whether the injuries were related to athletics.
The Star-Bulletin's Jason Kaneshiro contributed to this report.
Rainbows might not be done with recruiting
The recruiting season may not be quite over for the Hawaii basketball team.UH head coach Riley Wallace said the Rainbow Warriors are hoping to add another recruit to next season's incoming class after the NCAA eliminated the rule limiting the number of scholarships to five in one year and eight over a two-year period.
Although the UH coaches are now free to fill the maximum 13 scholarships, they're not planning on signing more than one player at this point.
"If something opens up where you can get another big one we're going to do it, but we're not going to take anybody this late unless they're good enough to help us," Wallace said. "We don't want to bring somebody in and not use them. We've got good returning players and we filled the holes that we needed."
The Rainbows signed five players last season and entered the year with three scholarships to offer under the 5/8 rule. They signed guard Matt Gibson, forward Matt Gipson and center Chris Botez and were slated to have 10 scholarship athletes next season.
The late signing period runs through May 19. Scholarship agreements signed after that date are non-binding.
Jason Kaneshiro, jkaneshiro@starbulletin.com