Regents want improved athletic graduation rate

The coach's noon-time speech yesterday followed recent arguments by the Arizona Board of Regents over the balance between academics and winning.

"We need to make sure we're recruiting quality people," said Regent Hank Amos at the board's two-day meeting last week in Flagstaff. "We expect winning teams, but academics should be at the top of the list."

Yesterday, as a part of the Building Academic Community speaker series, Lute Olson, University of Arizona's head men's basketball coach, said he is concerned about student athlete graduation rates.

At the board meeting, UA Athletic Director Jim Livengood said the low student athlete graduation rate is one of the university's weaknesses.

He said UA's football team has a graduation rate of 65 percent, while the men's basketball team graduates 25 percent of its members within six years.

Part of the graduation-rate problem, Livengood said, are athletes who leave school and join professional teams.

"If you have athletes who, in their senior, are offered a pro contract for $2 million, we should not hold that to the university for its poor graduation rate," Regent John Munger said. "We need to have some indication for graduating rate reporting."

The regents and athletic directors also discussed weather or not UA and Arizona State University would follow in Northern Arizona University's footsteps by requiring student athletes to take 15 classroom units per semester.

Livengood said UA has considered the option for the department, but said it was not practical.

Olson, however, said each UA men's basketball player must complete 15 units each semester.

"We don't just let them take 12 units," he said, adding that after Spring semester 1997 his team earned an all-time grade point average high of 2.64.

This year, Olson said, the team is working for a 2.75 cumulative grade point average.

He said the key to academic excellence is for educators to examine the situation and find a way to help the student athletes succeed in the classroom.

The regents discussed the balance between academic and athletic expectations after finding a report regarding university athletics, the University Athletic Director's White Paper Report, too vague.

Earlier this year the regents requested the report from UA, ASU and NAU.

"But what are the board's expectations?" said Regent Kurt Davis, who questioned Arizona's athletic and academic match up. "I don't think we've really defined that."

Regent Judy Gignac agreed that although athletics are an important part of the university experience, it is not reasonable to expect athletes to finish better than in the top third of the Pacific 10 Conference athletically and keep their grades up.

The regents asked the athletic directors to confer with the university presidents and report back at a later date with a more defined idea of their expectations of student athletes in the classroom and on the playing field.

"Those student athletes we recruit should have an opportunity to succeed and graduate in the field they've chosen," Gignac said.