NEW ORLEANS - As fans celebrate the first and second rounds of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at the New Orleans arena, the nation's top education official is speaking out about what he describes as a lack of accountability for college athletic programs in the arena of academic performance.
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan believes college teams with graduation rates less than 40 percent should be banned from postseason play.
As Tulane University gears up for day two as an NCAA Tournament host, the school's president, Scott Cowen, offers his reaction to the idea.
"I think Secretary Duncan got it absolutely right by suggesting there ought to be a floor on graduation rates,” Cowen said.“I worry the floor, at 40 percent, may be too low. So, I think the floor is the right idea and we should think a little bit more about what is the right floor."
According to the most recent figures on the NCAA website, Tulane holds a 77 percent graduation rate in men's basketball, and would be well in the clear.
Other Louisiana college basketball programs above 40 percent -- UNO (50 percent) and Southeastern (55 percent).
But LSU (29 percent), Louisiana-Lafayette (25 percent), Louisiana-Monroe (32 percent), Louisiana Tech (31 percent), and Southern (33 percent) are all listed below Duncan's cutoff mark.
The numbers measure six-year graduation rates for the freshman classes that entered college during the 2002-03 school year.
The penalty idea stirred varying opinions at the New Orleans Arena Thursday.
Shortly after Old Dominion's upset win over Notre Dame yesterday, ODU players stepped away from the celebration to give their take.
"That would be a tough rule to pass, but I'm all for it. A lot of guys go to college as a stepping stone to the next level. I'm a student first as a student athlete," said junior forward Frank Hassell, who scored a team high 15 points to lead the Monarchs past the Irish.
Fellow junior forward Keyon Carter, who sank two free throws with nine seconds left to seal the win, felt differently.
"School should come first, but if you're playing hard and you're working hard, they shouldn't take that away from you," Carter said.
Old Dominion would've qualified this year with a 53 percent rate, but the top seed in New Orleans, Kentucky, wouldn't -- coming in at 31 percent.
Some fans we talked with say the exclusion of powerhouse teams like the Wildcats would mean a loss of big bucks for schools and the NCAA overall.
Cowen acknowledges there would likely be plenty of resistance -- but he believes it's an important discussion.
"You can't be rewarded by going to postseason play, regardless of the sport, it could basketball, it could be football, if you don't graduate your student athletes,” he said.“Until they are absolutely penalized in a severe way, I fear that the progress will be slow."
Education secretary Duncan's proposal is just that -- an idea.
An NCAA spokesman told the Associated Press that a ban on postseason play would penalize current players for the performance of athletes who are no longer part of a team.
The NCAA currently enforces penalties on schools with low academic progress rates – or APR -- a formula that measures success through several academic factors.
