Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 6, 1994 TAG: 9412010029
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: HOUSTON LENGTH: Medium
The National Association of Basketball Coaches closed its two-day summit Wednesday by calling for a delay in implementing tougher NCAA admissions standards and the end of eligibility for all freshmen.
The NABC's board of directors released a written position stating its opposition to Proposition 16, which is scheduled to go into effect for the fall of 1995 and will include a scale that would tighten freshman eligibility standards for athletes.
``Today we are faced with finding a cure for initial eligibility so that we as coaches and administrators can continue to provide opportunities for the many young people that want to attend college, play athletics, graduate and become productive citizens in our society,'' said George Washington coach Mike Jarvis, a member of the NABC board.
The current standards for freshman eligibility, referred to as Proposition 48 are: a 2.0 grade point average in 11 high school core courses and at least a 700 on the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) or a comparable score on the American College Testing (ACT) exam . Proposition 16, which was passed by the NCAA membership in 1992, increases the number of core courses to 13 and would call for a student-athlete to have at least a 900 on the SAT with a 2.0 average or a 700 with a 2.5. Not meeting those standards would mean no athletic financial aid and no practice for the first year.
The large number of athletes affected by these changes would be African American, and the standardized tests have been cited as socially biased. The Black Coaches Association boycotted the inaugural issues summit last year in favor of meeting with the Black Congressional Caucus. This year, the BCA was represented by about one-third of the 62 black Division I head coaches, the same percentage for overall attendance among all Division I head coaches.
``The black coaches, myself being one, decided not attend to the issues summit last year so more attention could be brought and focused on the issues facing intercollegiate athletics and so we could do it on a social level,'' Jarvis said. ``We are here to continue the fight on a different battlefield, the field of athletics.''
There are six proposals concerning initial eligibility on the agenda for January's NCAA convention. They range from one eliminating freshman eligibility to one that would delay the implementation of Proposition 16 for a year to one that would implement Proposition 16 but also address partial qualifiers by allowing them to receive athletic financial aid and practice, but not play as freshmen. Most proposals call for a fourth year of athletic eligibility for a partial qualifier who progresses toward a degree.
Jarvis said initial eligibility is a social and economic issue ``that if not addressed and corrected will continue to have a negative effect on poor people from coast to coast. Poverty has no color. Poverty is not about black and white. It is about green.''
Cedric Dempsey, the NCAA's executive director, agreed.
``This is not a racial issue, it is a social issue,'' he said. ``The BCA played a very important role in heightening the sensitivity of the issues being discussed. I do feel this is a broad issue and not a black-white issue and it is best handled by a large body with diversity.''
by CNB