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SoCalHoops Recruiting News

NCAA To Keep Prop. 16. . .
For Now--(Aug. 31, 1999)

Remember "Prop.16?" That's the NCAA regulation which requires that incoming freshmen athletes have a particular combination of SAT/ACT scores and GPA. It's the forumla that leads all of us who follow and are concerned about recruiting of Division I athletes to refer to "qualifying" when speaking of prospective recruits. Did Tito Maddox "qualify"? Did Marlon Parmer "pass" the SAT? These questions are really just a shorthand way of asking whether a particular student has a high enough GPA and SAT combined average so that he or she will be eligible to compete as an incoming freshman.

Recall also that a court in Philadelphia last year declared that the Prop. 16 formula was invalid and racially discriminatory. The NCAA countered that the formula was designed to increase the chances that minority students would graduate after acceptance. However, according to the Plaintiffs in the suit, just exactly the opposite was occurring, and also according to the Plaintiffs, the NCAA was aware all along but still enacted the legislation. Following the trial court's decision invalidating the formula, a Court of Appeals issued an injunction permitting the NCAA member schools to continue to use the standard pending appeal.

According to the latest issue of the NCAA News, the NCAA Division I Board of Directors has decided not to make any changes, at least for the interim to the initial-eligibility rules. The Board had been considering making the changes to "Proposition 16" (the Division I initial-eligibility legislation) since March 8 when a federal judge in Philadelphia declared the requirements invalid in a case brought by four black student-athletes who failed to meet the standardized test score cutoff required for NCAA freshman eligibility. On March 30, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit granted an NCAA motion to stay the ruling pending appeal.

The NCAA News report continued: "The Third Circuit Court of Appeals has set September 14 for hearing oral arguments from the plaintiffs and the NCAA. "I'm confident that we will ultimately prevail in the courts on the principles we've articulated as to the appropriateness of higher education setting its own standards," said Graham B. Spanier, president of Pennsylvania State University and chair of the Board of Directors. "One of those principles is the desire of our institutions to continue to use test scores in evaluating the readiness of our students, for athletics or admissions purposes." Spanier said that the Board intends to consider the possibility of refining the standards on an ongoing basis, but saw no compelling reason to change the standards at this time. The Board did, however, direct the consultants and research staff to continue their analysis of data, including impact of the standards on the new cohort of freshmen entering Division I schools this fall."

Contrast the position of the Board with a published report contained in the LA Times Sports' section this morning:

"Only one-third of the black male basketball players who entered NCAA Division I colleges on scholarship in 1992 received degrees from their original schools, the lowest graduation rate in that category since freshman eligibility was tightened more than a decade ago. Overall graduation rates, however, were roughly the same as those for athletes who started college in 1991. In many race and sex categories, the graduation rates of athletes were higher than those of the general student body, according to figures released by the NCAA. The NCAA began tracking graduation rates in 1984, using a formula that counts all transfer students--even if they go elsewhere and graduate--against the rates of their original school. It allows six years to complete a degree program, so graduation rates for the 1993 freshman class will not be compiled and announced until next year."

Interesting, since the stated reason for the NCAA's enactment of Prop. 16 was to increase the prospects for graduation rates among minority students. As noted, the decision will ultimately rest with the Court of Appeals, although for now, the use of the SAT/ACT and minimum GPA formula remains intact.