Athlete graduation rates rank last in SEC

SAM STEINBERG

The University ranks last in graduation success rates in the SEC for men's basketball and football, according to NCAA data released Wednesday for the 1997-2000 entering classes.

Nineteen percent of the University's men's basketball players and 41 percent of football players from the 1997-2000 entering class graduated.

The data does not encompass the players men's basketball coach Dennis Felton recruited after he became head coach in 2003. Football head coach Mark Richt inherited many of the players included in the graduation success rate when he became football coach in 2001.

"It's still mostly not (our players)," Richt said Wednesday, referring to the coaching staff that began in 2001. "We like to concentrate on what we've been doing since we've been here."

Graduation success rates measure the percentage of student-athletes from an entering class that graduate within six years. This measure was adopted three years ago by the NCAA to give a more accurate report than the federal graduation rate, according to their Web site.

The graduation success rate accounts for transfers and does not penalize a school if the student-athlete leaves in good academic standing. This means athletes who go professional and are in good academic standing before graduation do not affect the results. However, if the athlete leaves early and is not in good academic standing, the school's rate suffers.

University women's tennis had the highest graduation rate for the second straight year at 100 percent.

"It is no secret. We just recruit student athletes who are equally interested in getting their degrees as they are in getting championships," said women's tennis head coach Jeff Wallace, whose team captured an NCAA team title in 2000.

Athletic Director Damon Evans addressed the University's low graduation rate two weeks ago at a meeting with faculty. He said the University has a long way to go to win on the field and in the classroom.

"No one can sit here and tell me that you can't have a high graduation rate and a successful athletic program. The No. 1 athletic program in the country is Stanford," Evans said. "We can increase graduation rates at the University of Georgia and there is no reason why we shouldn't," Evans said.

Evans became athletic director in July 2004 and has fueled resources into supporting student-athletes' academic progress.

"If we don't graduate kids, then I don't need to be athletic director at the University of Georgia," Evans said. "At the end of the day, after a certain number of years, if we aren't doing what we need to do academically then they need to find someone else that can get it done because that is what it is all about. That is how I measure myself."

Evans said he measures success on the academic front by the academic progress rate, which is a measure of academic progress for current student athletes.

- Contributing: Lawrence Conneff