By
Connor Doyle
Arizona Summer Wildcat
Thanks to the contributions of Michael Wright, Richard Jefferson, and Gilbert Arenas, the UA men's basketball team made it to the finals of this season's NCAA Tournament, where they lost to Duke.
If the Knight Commission had its way, these three players could also have cost UA an opportunity to go back to the NCAA tournament in the next couple of seasons.
The Commission, which was originally formed in 1989 and is mainly composed of current and former college presidents, aimed their criticism of college athletics to three areas - academic performance of student-athletes, the amount of money that athletic departments and programs are spending to field competitive teams and the commercialization of college athletics through endorsements and television contracts.
The Commission set out "goals" they would like to see achieved in each of the areas, and recommended that a coalition of college presidents be formed, independent of the NCAA, and charged with the task of ensuring these goals are carried out. The Commission also made a few recommendations, most of which haven't been well-accepted by those most closely involved with college sports - coaches and athletic directors.
Two of their "goals" in particular have made the most waves in the NCAA - their proposal to penalize teams with low graduation rates and a plan to reduce the influence that apparel companies have on the image of programs.
Graduation or bust
Graduation rates have become an issue recently - especially in college basketball - because of the high number of underclassmen leaving school early to pursue professional careers. Furthermore, the existence of pre-draft camps that take place during the school year have made it especially difficult for seniors to complete their last semester of work, since they are often being asked to play in camps that are far away from campus.
In response to this, one of the proposals that the Commission had was that teams who don't graduate at least 50 percent of their players wouldn't be eligible for post-season play, beginning in 2007.
While many involved with college athletics would like to see the rates increase, they don't necessarily agree with the Commission's suggestion. Jim Rosborough, UA's associate head basketball coach, said the use of graduation rates as the determining statistic for a team's dedication to academics is misleading.
"I think if you were to ask all the (Division I) coaches, they would tell you that the whole graduation rate thing is just not a fair analysis of anything," Rosborough said. "It gets kind of outdated, because they're looking at numbers from four years or five years ago. I think the thing that they need to look at is (which teams) had their kids in good academic shape at the end of seven semesters. After that, it's all up to the kids as to whether they're going to graduate or not."
UA head football coach John Mackovic agreed.
"When you publish a graduation rate, it's on a group of freshmen from four to five years ago," Mackovic said. "They may have switched coaches, there may have been any number of things that affect that number. I think (the Knight Commission) is trying to send a message, but it's not the right solution."
Mitigating the money
Much has been made of the increasing influence that apparel companies like Nike and Adidas have on college teams. Arizona has a long-term contract with Nike where the company will outfit all of the 19 varsity sports with their apparel in exchange for the licensing rights and advertising, both on the uniforms - in the form of the Nike 'swoosh' that appears on all uniforms and shoes - and at the venues.
Despite criticism for UA's willingness to become advertising fodder for companies like Nike, Arizona athletic director Jim Livengood said the association with Nike is necessary to maintain a successful athletic department.
"Would we be able to operate in the black (without Nike)? The answer to that is yes," Livengood said. "But not as the program you see now. We would not be able to have the program we have now. We would not be able to support 19 sports. We would not be able to offer many of the things (to athletes) that we do right now. The Nike contract allows us to try and treat as equally as we can all 19 of our sports."
The Commission, among other proposals, suggested that teams should "prohibit athletes from being exploited as advertising vehicles," and that "uniforms and other apparel should not bear corporate trademarks or the logos of manufacturers." The committee also said that schools should "work to minimize commercial intrusions in arenas and stadiums" and in general protect "traditional academic values."
Livengood said the UA is already in compliance with such requests.
"We're trying not to make any of our stadiums and venues look like Gran Prix venues," he said. "Nike has not made any unreasonable requests. If you look around our campus, if you go to all the venues, you'll see some swooshes but you won't see a real overabundance. You won't see any swooshes on the floor, you'll see a swoosh on the sign that rotates."
Livengood does admit, however, that schools need to be careful with such arrangements so not to compromise the goals of an academic institution.
"I don't know what the answer is, I just know that there's no such thing as a free lunch," he said. "If we get something, we're going to have to give something. They're in business to make money, and anything they can do to make money they'll try to do. We just have to hold their feet to the fire and make sure they don't go overboard.
"But that part of it operates on the academic side of it as well. Very seldom do research grants come with no strings attached. But you just don't read about that. The only reason you know about it in athletics is because we're in the news more."
he credibility question
One of the main points that critics of the Knight Commission have focused on is who composes the group. The vast majority of board members are current or former university presidents. No member has ever been an athletic director or coach - one of the reasons that many cite for their proposals being so unrealistic.
"It's an interesting report, but it's made by a bunch of college presidents, and they rarely get people in the profession involved in any of the decision making," Rosborough said. "They didn't pick the minds of the people out in the grassroots areas. Take 10 really good coaches, take 10 good assistants, and pick their brains. Get down and find out what's going on. Bring in some high school kids. Those are the people who know what's going on.
"I don't care for it at all. I think that periodically they've come up with some decent ideas, but it's not as bad as they say and they don't have any good solutions. Not to say that we can't improve, but I think it's tinkering instead of major changes."
Furthermore, some of the board members may have been guilty of violating the ethic that the Commission is trying to instill with their own schools. Theodore Hesburgh, President Emeritus at the University of Notre Dame, was one of the key proponents for the exclusive television contract that Notre Dame football has with NBC. While the details of the contract were not released by the school, the initial agreement signed in 1991 is estimated to have paid the school $38 million over five years. Furthermore, the contract between Adidas and Notre Dame is also thought to be the richest in college sports.
In addition, Jim Duderstadt, President Emeritus of the University of Michigan, is quoted in the Commission's report as criticizing the damage that athletics are doing to universities. One Pacific 10 official who wished to remain anonymous thought that Duderstadt's criticism was ironic considering his tenure at Michigan.
"Jim Duderstadt, who at the time was the former president at Michigan, wrote a book (entitled "The Game of Life") that lambasted college athletics," the source said. "The irony is that he didn't take any of those stances while he was the president of Michigan. One of his complaints is that college basketball and football are too powerful, and they're too commercialized, and yet he did nothing to stop it while he was there."
The same official summed up the opinion of many critics of the Knight Commission's report when he said that the group should have been composed only of presidents that are still in charge of their schools and have to deal with the issues daily.
"It's so easy to say 'here's the problem'. It's harder to come up with a solution and say 'have you thought about doing this.'" the official said. "I would have felt much better if maybe a group of current presidents and chancellors, representing the six major conferences, came up with the solutions. They're much more in touch with reality. They deal with it every day."
