NCAA Considering New APR System To Hold Coaches Accountable

Martelli Feels Individual APR Would Be Unfair To Coaches

The NCAA is "weighing whether to compile individual academic progress rates (APRs) for coaches, who, some officials argue ... should be held singularly accountable" for athletes' academic performance and graduation, according to Steve Wieberg of USA TODAY. A "personal APR would become part of a coach's record, available for recruits, parents and prospective employers to evaluate along with wins and other competitive and personal criteria." The move also could "attach APR-related penalties to coaches." The Committee on Academic Progress will "take up the issue when it meets in early July in San Diego," and when the Division I BOD meets again in August. St. Joseph's Univ. men’s basketball coach Phil Martelli, who sits on the board of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, said, "To pin a number on a coach ... is not seeing the whole. It's saying this coach has these supernatural powers that none of us possess." Meanwhile, Univ. of Oklahoma AD Gerald Gurney "proposes a coach's graduation rate -- with no attached penalties -- that could serve as 'sort of a consumer report'" (USA TODAY, 6/30).

MIDLEVEL SCHOOLS: USA TODAY's Wieberg in a separate piece writes when the NCAA announced its latest round of academic-related penalties this month, "the swath wasn't as wide as the numbers suggested." Two midlevel universities, San Jose State Univ.  and the Univ. of Alabama-Birmingham, were "docked more scholarships -- a combined 23.62 in six sports -- than all 65 schools in college football's six biggest-name, biggest-money conferences." Wieberg notes one explanation is the "bigger budget schools are more capable of beefing up academic-support programs and taking other supportive measures such as covering summer school costs for incoming athletes and reducing missed class time by flying rather than busing to games." Boise State President Robert Kustra "views the league-to-league disparity as a challenge rather than an injustice." NCAA VP/Membership Services Kevin Lennon said that the "disparate impact on conferences comes in part from schools in the six power leagues doing a better job of limiting those so-called 0-for-2 players and thus limiting their exposure to sanctions." Lennon: "We have to let a little more wind under the sails to fully assess it." Lennon "envisions APRs as a trigger for low-scoring schools near the bottom of the Division I food chain to question whether that's where they belong" (USA TODAY, 6/30).