Graduation rate for Memphis, UT basketball below national average
Memphis’ 25 percent graduation success rate was among the lowest rate for high-profile Tennessee sports teams and far below the national basketball graduation success rate of 58 percent.
Joe Luckey, director of the Center for Athletic Acadcemic Excellence at Memphis, said the graduation rate for the Memphis men’s basketball team was zero percent when John Calipari took over as coach in 2000.
“What a marked improvement for our men’s basketball program,” he said. “Now, that rate has improved to 25 percent, and with the structure that has been put into place and given the fact that eight of the last 11 seniors to play for the Tigers have graduated, we know the percentage will climb even higher.”
The new NCAA report on graduation success rates reflects changes in how the association calculates graduation rates. Previously, athletes who turned professional or transferred before graduating counted against a school’s graduation rate.
Now, athletes who leave the college in good academic standing without graduating do not count in the calculation of the graduation rate.
Nationally, men’s basketball graduation rates, on average were lower than any other men’s or women’s sport. Men’s basketball at the University of Tennessee, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, University of Tennessee at Martin and Middle Tennessee State University all ranked below the national graduation average.
East Tennessee State University graduated 92 percent of the men’s basketball team, the highest rate in that sport in Tennessee.
The graduation rate for all Division I athletes was 76 percent. Women’s sports tended to have higher graduation rates than men’s sports.
The NCAA only released graduation data for individual sports teams. Overall graduation rate data for each college or university will be released in January.
UT football, which made significant gains with its 50 percent graduation rate last year, dropped to 49 percent, even with the changes in calculation methods. All of the UT men’s athletic teams had graduation rates below national averages.
Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton said the 2001 opening of the Thornton Athletic Student Life Center, a center with study areas, computer labs and tutors just for athletes, has helped students succeed in academics over the past four years.
“I have seen a marked difference in that time frame,” he said Monday. “Does that mean we’ll end up with 100 percent graduation rate? No, but I think the work we’re doing … has had a significant impact.”
Hamilton said that UT’s graduation rates are in the middle when compared with other Southeastern Conference schools. “We want to do better than that,” he said.
Vanderbilt University had the highest graduation rate of all Tennessee football teams, with a 93 percent rate. Austin Peay State University, which has not offered football scholarships since the 1996 season, had the lowest football graduation rate at 35 percent.
All members of the Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Lipscomb and Tennessee State women’s basketball teams who entered the school in the 1995-99 school years graduated.
“I am very proud of the accomplishments our student-athletes have made,” UT women’s athletic director Joan Cronan said in a statement.
In women’s basketball, UTC had a 64 percent rate; Middle Tennessee, 69 percent; Memphis, 71 percent; and Tennessee Tech, 73 percent. All of them were below the national average of 81 percent.
NCAA releases graduation success rates
The new NCAA report on graduation success rates reflects changes in how the association calculates graduation rates. Previously, athletes who turned pro or transferred before graduating counted against a school’s graduation rate. Now, athletes who leave the college in good academic standing without graduating do not count in the calculation of the graduation rate.
For a full listing of graduation rates, go to http://www.ncaa.org.
A look at rates for some teams at Tennessee colleges and universities:
Men’s Football
? Austin Peay State University, 35 percent
? University of Tennessee at Martin, 42 percent
? University of Tennessee, 49 percent
? Middle Tennessee State University, 52 percent
? University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, 55 percent
? Tennessee Technological University, 58 percent
? East Tennessee State University, 58 percent
? University of Memphis, 61 percent
? Tennessee State University, 81 percent
? Vanderbilt University, 93 percent
Men’s Basketball
? University of Memphis, 25 percent
? University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, 36 percent
? Middle Tennessee State University, 45 percent
? University of Tennessee, 46 percent
? University of Tennessee at Martin, 53 percent
? Tennessee Technological University, 60 percent
? Austin Peay State University, 75 percent
? Tennessee State University, 82 percent
? Lipscomb University, 83 percent
? Vanderbilt University, 83 percent
? East Tennessee State University, 92 percent
Women’s Basketball
? University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, 64 percent
? Middle Tennessee State University, 69 percent
? University of Memphis, 71 percent
? Tennessee Technological University, 73 percent
? East Tennessee State University, 85 percent
? Austin Peay State University, 87 percent
? University of Tennessee at Martin, 91 percent
? Lipscomb University, 100 percent
? Tennessee State University, 100 percent
? University of Tennessee, 100 percent
? Vanderbilt University, 100 percent
Source: NCAA
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On the Net:
NCAA: http://www.ncaa.org