SoCalHoops Recruiting News

NCAA Freshman Eligibility Standards
In Court Again--(Oct. 3, 1999)

This past Friday, the NCAA's Prop. 16 "Initial Freshman Eligibility" standards were once again before a panel of judges.  The Freshman Eligibility standards embodied in Prop. 16 is the combination of SAT/ACT scores and GPA (See table below for "Full Qualifier" Index) that a group of black students challenged successfully in US District Court Judge Ronald Buckwalter's court as being racially biased. On Friday, the NCAA returned to federal court to counter the charges that Prop. 16 discriminates against blacks.

In March, U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Buckwalter struck down the NCAA's Proposition 16, which dictates minimum eligibility guidelines for freshman in the association's 302 Division I schools, after ruling ``it had unjustified disparate impact on African-Americans.'' The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals later stayed the decision pending a full hearing, which occurred Friday.

``Standardized tests are a prime reason for African-Americans not qualifying under Proposition 16. There is a disparate impact that the NCAA cannot escape,'' Andre Dennis, lead lawyer for the four plaintiffs, told the three-judge panel. NCAA lawyer David Bruton, however, argued that the objectives of Proposition 16 _ which include increasing graduation rates _ are legitimate, and that test score cutoffs were related to that objective. ``It seems that there is a disparate effect that correlates with economic income, and unfortunately in our society, that correlates sometimes with race,'' Judge Theodore A. McKee said.

Under Proposition 16, the NCAA requires freshmen athletes to have a high school diploma and a minimum grade-point average in 13 core academic courses. The GPA is contingent on an indexed, sliding scale with a student's score on either the Scholastic Assessment Test or American College Test. Athletes scoring less than 820 on the SAT, or 16 on the ACT, cannot participate, regardless of their other academic credentials.

During a meeting of its Division I board of directors in August, the NCAA said it would make no changes to freshman eligibility requirements while the case is pending. ``We're here because the full membership ... has concluded that they want to see more data before any more tinkering of Proposition 16 is required,'' Bruton said.

Much of the hearing revolved around whether the NCAA directly received funding from the federal government. If so, Dennis argued, then Proposition 16 must be amended to conform with Title VI, the section of the 1964 Civil Rights Act that forbids discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin. ``By controlling the fund and program that implements the federal dollars, that subjects the NCAA to Title VI regulations,'' he said. The NCAA argued that since it is a nonprofit organization, its member schools are responsible for disbursing and using the money, not the NCAA itself.

A decision is expected by next spring. In the meantime, the 3rd Circuit's injunction keeps the Freshman Eligibility Standards in place, so prospective student athletese will still need to qualify under those requirements set forth below and under the Index for Full Qualification at the left.

* * * * * * * * * * *