Juan Villa / Collegian File Photo

The men̢۪s basketball and baseball teams at Fresno State face continued penalties for failing to meet the minimum score on the NCAA̢۪s Academic Progress Rate (APR).

The penalties are often a result of poor academic performance or failure to remain at the university to pursue a degree. Both scenarios may have a lot to do with the culture of college sports, where emphasis is put on athletic success rather than academic success.

According to the latest report, released in May 2008, the men̢۪s basketball team̢۪s APR score of 816 fell significantly short of the minimum 925 score. The average Division I score for men̢۪s basketball is 928.
The baseball team̢۪s APR score of 893 also failed to meet the minimum 925 score. The average Division I score for baseball is 938.

The APR is a measurement system created by the NCAA to judge whether student athletes are making progress toward graduation.

Here̢۪s how the APR works: each student-athlete is expected to earn two points, one for being academically eligible to play and the other for remaining with the university. The total number of points earned by a team is then divided by the total number of points possible, multiplied by 100; the resulting number is the team̢۪s APR score.

The scores calculated by the NCAA are based on four-year averages. The latest report covers 2003-07.
The NCAA has reduced the number of scholarships or scholarship renewals on both Bulldog teams. The men̢۪s basketball team is limited to 10 scholarships; the baseball team is limited to 11.65 scholarships. In addition, the NCAA limited the basketball team̢۪s activities, including practices, to 16 hours per week.

Even though each team has raised its respective score for three consecutive years, neither has met the minimum score of 925 needed to prevent penalties because the scores are four-year averages.

In essence, the teams̢۪ old failures are still hanging around.

Because the most current APR data is still a year behind, by the time it is collected and submitted, it̢۪s likely that players who were responsible for bad APR scores will be long gone by the time the punishment is enforced.

“These [current] players were still in high school when those other players made their bad decisions,â€Â Athletic Director Thomas Boeh said. “Now, the current players are being punished for it.â€Â

Low score hurts basketball

Fresno State men̢۪s basketball coach Steve Cleveland said that in the recent past the program had no history of consistent graduation or academic progress. Now, the team is taking steps toward improvement.

Cleveland said the most important thing the program has done is assigned a coach to two or three players each in order to help them with their studies. The players have six hours of “study tableâ€Â each week as well as one hour of team study time, Cleveland said.

So far, the extra time appears to be paying off. According to 2005 data, the team̢۪s APR score was 611 in 2003-04. Currently, the team̢۪s cumulative APR score is 816 for the entire 2003-07 period. That̢۪s a more than 30 percent increase in the past three years.

Next spring the poor 2003-04 score, which happens to be the team̢۪s lowest, will be dropped from the cumulative APR score. The new report will cover 2004-08.

Cleveland acknowledged that when he arrived there was a change that needed to take place in the academic culture of the team.

“When we got here, it was a problem,â€Â Cleveland said. “Now, we’ve changed that.â€Â

He also said he feels confident that within the next year or two, the team̢۪s score will be where it needs to be.

Baseball loses players to pros

Another variable that can affect the academic performance of a student athlete is going pro. This scenario has affected the baseball team.

The NCAA doesn̢۪t penalize a team for having an athlete leave college to go into a professional league, as long as that player remains in good academic standing before they go. However, in some cases there may not be a reason for an athlete to feel compelled to keep their grades up. This is especially true in baseball, where pro drafts typically occur in a player̢۪s junior year.

Boeh said that athletes who get drafted in their junior year may end up getting better offers in order to lure them out of college baseball, as opposed to those players who wait until they graduate.

“If you stick around until your senior year, you may be at a disadvantage,â€Â Boeh said.

This situation can make it hard for a baseball program to keep its players on track academically. Fresno State baseball coach Mike Batesole knows that first hand.

“The biggest challenge has been changing the culture of college baseball, where players are more concerned with what round they’re drafted in than with graduating,â€Â Batesole said.

But at least two recent Fresno State players resisted the draw to leave early and opted to stay in school.

Batesole pointed to two key players, Doug Fister and Steve Susdorf, who both returned to Fresno State to graduate even though they had been drafted.

The New York Yankees drafted Fister in 2005, but he decided to come back and pursue his degree.
“He was the highest [Fresno State] player taken in the entire draft and he didn’t sign. He came back here to graduate,â€Â Batesole said.

The Detroit Tigers drafted Susdorf in 2007, but he didn̢۪t sign either. Instead, Susdorf graduated with a degree in civil engineering, a 4.0 GPA, and a College World Series title.

Changing culture is key

Batesole knows the significance of the difficult choice to stay in school.

“Baseball is steeped in tradition and it’s difficult to change anything in that,â€Â Batesole said. “What we’ve managed to do in the last three years is remarkable.â€Â

By staying at the university, finishing degrees and improving academics, student athletes on these two teams appear to be challenging a culture in college athletics that suggests athletes only need success on the playing field.

Boeh said that poor academic performance ultimately comes down to cultural expectations.

“When a kid grows up hearing people say that school doesn’t matter if they are good at sports, how are they supposed to react later on?â€Â Boeh said.