Corrections Appended
National College Athletic Association statistics that report only 18 percent of the members of the AU men's basketball team graduate are misleading, according to head basketball coach Jeff Jones.
He said the information used in the statistics came from data that is at least eight years old - from before Jones came to AU in 2000.
The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida released this information in "Keeping Score When It Counts: Graduation Rates for 2008 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Teams," an annual study which analyzed all men's basketball teams that head to the NCAA tournament, according to a UCF press release. The study analyzes the schools' graduation success rates, which the NCAA releases, according to the press release.
"[The NCAA] have changed how they calculate that because the information is inaccurate," Jones said of the study. The data included in the study is not representative of the eight years since Jones started to coach at AU, or any of the players Jones recruited, he said. 17 of 21 players graduated from AU, and the other four transferred to other schools.
At other Division I schools, some basketball players transfer to other schools for additional playing time. Jones says this is not a problem at AU; only two members of the AU basketball teams he has coached transferred for that reason. Despite the team's successful season, which could lead to opportunities on different teams, all of the underclassmen on the team plan to return for next season, Jones said. The biggest shock has been Cornelio Guibunda's plan to graduate this summer - a plan that will end his time on the team a season early.
One reason players don't usually leave AU for other schools is a rule that prohibits one school from communicating to another school's players, Jones said.
Jordan Nichols, a junior in the Kogod School of Business who is a member of the basketball team, said academics help retain athletes.
"I would say a lot of people choose this school for the academics," he said. "They're not just interested in athletics like other Division I schools."
Most schools in the Patriot League place a high level of importance when compared to other Division I schools, which athletes might choose based only on sports, Nichols said.
The team's recent success does have the potential to bring in increased numbers of skilled athletes, Jones said.
"The publicity we got can enhance our recruiting efforts," he said.
Corrections: In "B-ball claims NCAA's grad AU rate is wrong," the headline should read "B-ball claims NCAA's AU grad rate is wrong." Also, the article stated that the NCAA uses Graduation Success Rates as its main gauge of academic success. The article did not mention that the NCAA uses a measure called the Academic Progress Rate to measure success in this area. The GSR data accounts for all students who began college between 1997 and 2000 and determines how many students graduate within six years. The final data is not eight years old as reported; it is only one or two years old.
