INDIANAPOLIS ― The wealthiest schools in college sports are cashing in with high academic performances. Others are paying a stiff price for sub-par scores.
The NCAA’s latest Academic Progress Rate numbers, released Wednesday, show that schools with less money continue to play catch-up even as athletes remain in school and work toward degrees at record rates.
“I think that’s been a proven fact,” Southern University interim athletic director Roman Banks said following the release. “When you don’t have the financial resources to put toward APR, it makes things difficult.”
Nobody understands the problem better than Banks.
His school from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, had nine teams receive postseason bans for consistently underperforming in the classroom. The women’s bowling team also was penalized but avoided a postseason ban.
The men’s basketball team, which Banks coaches, is one of the school’s three programs that made the cut and now Banks is trying to clean things up. In the past year, he said the athletic department has found enough funding to create two new academic positions and two new compliance positions.
“One thing I want to make clear is the student-athletes are doing their jobs,” Banks said. “This has been a problem with the university and making sure we’re doing the right things with compliance and documentation.”
