Graduation rates for African-American Division I men’s basketball student-athletes are rising, but gaps with their White teammates persists.
That’s the good news, revealed in the latest report from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) at the University of Central Florida. But this doesn’t mean there aren’t still issues. “Keeping Score When It Counts: Assessing the Academic Records of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Teams” shows that the average Graduation Success Rate (GSR) for African-American D-I men’s basketball student-athletes rose from 74 percent in 2018 to 79 percent in 2019, but a gap with White student-athletes persists. White D-I men’s basketball student-athletes have a GSR of 92 percent.
“This is the best graduation rate report card we’ve done for college basketball in terms of improvement,” said Dr. Richard Lapchick, director of TIDES and the author of the study. “The graduation rate itself has gone way up, especially, the narrowing of the gap between African-American and White basketball players.”
“It’s been the most troublesome statistic for me doing the reports for all these years,” he added. “There is obviously still room for improvement. Thirteen percent isn’t a small number, but it’s significantly better than it’s ever been.”
Lapchick said the good news should not cause people to take their eyes off of the widespread disparities. He encouraged institutions to presenting data about their APR and GSR to student-athletes who are being recruited, of which African-Americans make up the majority in basketball.
“So they can have a wide-eyed view of what their potential for academic success will be at that institution,” he said.
Another positive statistic is that 97 percent (66 of 68 tournament teams) graduated 50 percent or more of their men’s basketball student-athletes in 2019. This is an increase from 82 percent (56 teams) in 2018. Ninety-three percent (63 teams) graduated 60 percent or more and 75 percent (51 teams) graduated 70 percent or more. Sixteen schools graduated 100 percent.
