Coach digs in on graduation rate

A day after the men's basketball team received a zero on a graduation rate report issued by the NCAA, Athletics Department officials questioned whether the report itself is a fair measurement of the program.

In the annual NCAA Graduation Success Rate Report covering all scholarship athletes who entered the university from 1997 to 2000, the men's basketball team scored zero percent, as none of the ten players included in the report graduated within the NCAA-mandated six-year window. No other Division I men's basketball program scored below 17 percent.

Associate Athletics Director Anton Goff, who oversees the academic support and career development unit, said while the NCAA does not punish schools for a low GSR score, the score has a correlation to the Academic Progress Rate. Goff said a 60 percent mark on the GSR roughly equates to a passing score of 925 on the APR.Men's basketball coach Gary Williams said the GSR report unfairly judges the success or failure of the players upon whether or not they graduate within six years. According to an Athletics Department press release, two of the ten eventually graduated, including Tahj Holden, who completed his degree this past summer outside of the six-year window.

"To say that it is a zero graduation rate - that's not true," said Williams.

Williams said the players shouldn't just be measured by whether or not they graduate, as it doesn't serve as an accurate portrait of their post-Terp professional career.

"I feel that these players have succeeded," said Williams. "Their skill is basketball; you go to college to maximize whatever you're good at."

NCAA spokesman Bob Williams defended the report, saying student athletes should be focused on graduating as well as playing their sport.

"In terms of a position that says well, our students didn't have a chance to complete their academics because they were trying out for the NBA, one would have to ask themselves what is the purpose of going to college," Williams said. "The purpose of going to college is to get an education, and that's probably where the focus should be put."

Holden graduated with a communications degree in the summer and said Gary Williams always pushed his players toward getting a degree. Holden said other factors posed hurdles.

"Right after the national championship, all that NBA basketball stuff starts and we still have a month left of school," said Holden, referring to the various NBA pre-draft camps. "It's very difficult to keep on top of your work. What a lot of the athletes do is withdraw from that semester and then come back and finish."

Both Williams and Holden cited a university requirement that students complete their final 12 credits on the campus as a problem preventing players from graduating. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which had a GSR score of 86 percent in the report, offers players the opportunity to take online correspondence courses in order to complete their degree.

"Not to have any online classes is difficult at the University of Maryland," Holden said. "You put your time in at Maryland; you don't want a [University of Maryland, University College] degree."

Though the GSR score does not carry any consequences for low scores, Goff admitted that the score of zero reflects poorly on the university as a whole.

"I think the entire university doesn't like to have a zero for anything," said Goff. "We're competitive and we want to be better, and I don't think that zero is indicative of what we're doing today."

Goff declined to discuss whether or not the basketball team was in danger of scoring lower than 925 on the APR this spring, which measures the 2003-2006 teams.

"We can't really just focus on those numbers," Goff said. "If we're doing things that we believe are right as far as graduating our student athletes every single number takes care of itself. We want to make sure our student-athletes are getting a great education."

Senior staff writer Jeff Amoros contributed to this report.

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