By any academic standard, UK’s boast that it’s its grade point average for men’s basketball improved for the spring semester brings up the old line saying some people will brag about anything.
Last fall, the GPA for men’s basketball was an embarrassingly low 2.025, worst of the 20 team sports at the school.
Today, UK released a story on its Cat Scratches blog lauding its overall student-athlete GPA of 3.04 for the just-completed spring semester — commendable, to be sure — but also saying that the GPA for men’s basketball improved without giving the actual number.
Meanwhile, head coach John Calipari’s web site reported that the GPA was 2.18, and Cal sent out the following tweet:
A GPA just under 2.2 is not what we hoped for. But for the most part, every player improved from the fall semester and most finished strong.
Yes, Kentucky had four of its basketball freshmen enter the NBA draft, which no doubt hurt the overall GPA. But I doubt that the NCAA and its APR cares all that much about those excuses. If this continues, the school could find itself in some scholarship trouble down the road, not to mention that adverse publicity it brings to a school that has made a top 20 ranking its public goal.
Yes, 2.18 is an improvement over 2.025. But any math professor would tell you, not by much.
John:
1) I don’t know that the APR takes into account GPA, unless a person is failing and, thus, not in good standing. 2.0 = 4.0, as far as APR is concerned.
2) The NCAA doesn’t care whether it is 2.0 or 4.0, either, as long as we are bringing them money.
3) It is my understanding that one player did not finish the semester. If that player took the same amount of classes as everyone else, eliminating him brings the GPA to 2.36, which is a very decent improvement.
4) I think we also need to look and see what the year’s GPA was, including the summer semester last year. Basketball players are on the road both spring and fall, unlike football and some other sports that are primarily during one semester.
5) Finally, we graduated all of our seniors and Patrick Paterson. Of 13 players, four just got their degree and it is my understanding that Jodie Meeks is on campus to try to finish his degree this year. This should be lauded.
Sorry, “Patterson”.
Oh, and, because I just can’t resist, are you sure Tipton isn’t your ghost writer today????
im4uk95,
I think GPA does come into affect under APR guidelines where eligibility is concerned, and you must have a certain GPA to remain eligible and continue making progress toward graduation, which is at the base of the APR guideline.
Your No. 2 point strikes me as pretty cynical.
As for No. 3, John Wall tweeted recently that he received a 3.5 GPA. If that’s true, and Orton got a 0.00. Then the rest of the team got in the neighborhood of a 2.25. Yes, that’s an improvement, but not much of one. I mean, who are we kidding here?
I laud them getting their degrees, yes.
But considering all the academic counseling and tutoring, etc., the players receive there is no excuse of such bad grades. Many regular students would kill to get the same kind of help — for free.
Here’s what I laud, from Cat Scratches: “Among the highest team GPAs for the spring semester were the women’s cross country team (3.49), the softball team (3.48) and the women’s soccer team (3.42). Thirteen of UK’s 22 sports averaged a 3.0 GPA or better.”
Cynical? Moi????
Yes, I am quite cynical about the NCAA. I think they treat athletes as money-makers and really don’t care about them (LOI, transfer rules, etc.). They also treat some universities (Memphis/Rose) different than others (Duke/Maggette – USC/Bush), depending on how much money they are bringing in. I hope to God the Justice Department doesn’t stop its investigation just at the renewability of scholarships.
I also think that we will need to look at this over the long haul. If guys start flunking out and four-year players aren’t getting their degrees, we can look into this more. But, if they are staying eligible, getting their degrees, and older players are coming back to get theirs, I think I will be happy.
One more thing, though, is that we have to look at what stage these kids are when they come in. If the softball team has an average ACT of 26, I expect they will get good grades. If the basketball team comes in with an average ACT of 18, I will be happy if they make it through their first year, because they will have proven quite a bit and can then move on to increased success the next few years. Some of my hardest classes in college were the 100-level ones.
P.S., Did you see John Wall’s interview at the combine? His public speaking has come a long way in one year. Guess we have to give credit to you guys for that.
I think im4uk95′s No. 3 point is a good one, and is what I thought of when I heard of the mininal improvment today. If Orton would have finished the semester and managed to get only a 2.(something), the number would be considerably better. And I don’t think it is fair to throw out John Wall’s 3.5 GPA and say that everyone besides Wall and Orton had a 2.25. Orton was in the wrong to give up and not finish the semester. Wall worked hard and earned his 3.5. Let’s just not consider it as a part of the team.
After saying that, I agree the basketball team’s GPA is an issue. It is something that Mitch and Cal should take very seriously and work hard to correct. I think having these one-and-done type players is naturally going to drag down the overall GPA, but it can still be higher than this.
The staff needs to make sure we don’t have anymore cases like Orton’s though. There is no excuse for that.
Thanks for th insight John. I can tell you take this topic serioulsy, as it should be.
C_Pate
First, I don’t think many people believe the kids going to UK are there for the education. It is a pipe dream to believe they are there to excel in higher education.
Second, if one really wants to compare something close to apples to apples, the High School GPA of the team needs to be known and what classes were taken to achieve that GPA. Then, a comparison can be made with their college GPA and some form of intelligent assessment can be made to see if UK and its tutors are holding down a formerly high achieving student or 2.0 is what you should be expecting.
It is encouraging to see the rest of the student athletes have an average above 3.0. Again, one would need to compare with High School GPA to see if the GPA reflected an abnormality that needed attention within the UK tutoring program.
Most of these players are not student athletes. They are athletes who are forced to be students to further their athletic career. Some of college athletes would not have graduated high school if it had not been for sports. The fact that some of these players were able to remain eligible is great achievement. Athletics gives them focus and drive towards academics that would have otherwise been absent. So to me the athletics is improving the academics not the other way around. In Kentucky’s case you have several athletes who only need the academics to play the sport. If they stay eligible they have accomplished what they needed to do. Anything more should be praised because they are just doing it as a favor to us and the university. They are playing by the rules that they are forced to follow. They cannot go straight to the NBA. Going overseas is a crazy idea for an immature 18 year old. The best option is college. The real problem is the fact that athletes have to be students to succeed. Why should a 16 year old who has a learning disability, no home support, and lives in a failing school district not be able to use his basketball talent alone to get him a basketball career? To make it to the NBA from this situation this kid has to get eligible at the high school level, graduate, and then get a 17 on his ACT. Then he has to go to college and remain eligible for a year while he is away from his family, dealing with culture shock, basically working a full time job while going to school, and has media/fan distractions 24/7. He does all this knowing that the academics part means virtually nothing to his overall success. So somehow the kid’s low GPA makes him less of a person because he chooses to put all his focus on the thing that is going to make him millions. We are worried about the thing that is of no benefit to him. The NCAA wants its cake and to eat it too. They want one and done athletes but want them to be students so they can continue the student farce and the athlete monopoly. The problem is not the “student athlete”, coaches, or even the NCAA. The problem is that athletics and academics have to be connected in the first place. Imagine if you’re beloved Bruce Springsteen would not have been able to further his music career because he couldn’t stay eligible at Ocean County College. It makes no sense for the two unrelated things to be connected.
John–
Of all people, I can’t believe you made this mistake….
“UK’s boast that it’s grade point average…”
its=possessive
it’s= it is
I am shocked.
Maybe we should check your GPA