NCAA APR = BS

The NCAA recently released its new Academic Progress Ratings (APR). K-State came out fairly well, only ranking below the "acceptable" range in two sports, men's basketball and baseball.

It should be noted that just about every respectable baseball program in the nation is below the standard in baseball. I don't know how you can't be. I don't know how baseball players even go to class during the spring semester. They play games pretty much every Wednesday and Friday-Sunday from mid-February on. I would guess they miss an average of three school days per week.

The lower rates for the men's basketball team is somewhat understandable. We had a lot of players transfer out of the program the last few years, which hurts our APR. On the other hand, every single one of our senior's this year graduated (Cartier Martin, Lance Harris, Serge Afeli and Akeem Wright).

Here's some information about APR. The NCAA claims the APR measures "elibigility, retention and graduation." That's where my problem with the APR comes in. It measures retention. Schools lose points for players who transfer, because those players are no longer making progress at that school.

That's ridiculous. Students in all areas of college transfer schools. I almost did, because I wasn't getting enough financial aid and the debt was piling up. Some people transfer because they pursue a new major. Some transfer because their personal situation changes (family, etc.). The average student can have millions of reasons to transfer.

Athletes have about two million reasons to transfer, when you consider they have all the reasons an average student does, plus coaches, facilities, playing time, and just about anything else. There's no shame in transferring. It can happen for a million reasons, and does not necessarily say anything about the instution being left behind.

You don't see the Society of Professional Journalists sitting around and saying, "Hmmm, students in journalism school aren't doing as well as we'd like. Let's institute sanctions on the school if the students don't do well! In particular, let's penalize them every time a student transfers, because that has to mean the school is doing something nefarious." C'mon. The target number is 925, which is somewhere between a 50 and 60 percent graduation rate. The USA Today article does a good job of explaining how APR is calculated: essentially, each player on each team can earn two points: one for staying at the school, and one for staying academically eligible. The NCAA expects each school to get 92.5 percent of those points, thus the 925 target, and a 50-60 percent graduation rate. Only about 56 percent of all K-State students graduate in SIX years. Just my opinion, but considering transfers count against a school, 92.5 is way too high of a percentage.

I'm usually the last guy to defend student athletes. They do put in a lot of work, but they get a lot of help, too. I have no problem with the NCAA trying to prod schools into improving the academic situation of student athletes, but if that's the goal, the means of accomplishing that goal should be substantially related to the ends. Penalizing schools for players who transfer out is insane. I can't find information about this aspect, but I've heard that players who transfer into a program and then graduate from that institution are not counted toward that institution's graduation rate. That also is insane. The school is doing exactly what it's supposed to, graduating students who enroll, and they get no credit. The NCAA has to be the most fucked up organization in the world.

But hey, the Royals won two out of four against the Angels. That's a good sign, right?

Wish me luck tomorrow (exam time!).