The NCAA: Building Student Athletes or Athletic Students

By: Jon Ladino

Introduction

• The purpose of this research project was to discover how and why the NCAA was formulated

• It was also to assess the NCAA’s role in higher education and student learning

• The overall goal was to determine if continuing education is the main goal of the NCAA or success in athletics

Literature Review• Flowers, R. D. (2009). Institutionalized hypocrisy. American Education Journal, 36 (2), 343-360.

Retrieved from:• http://corvette.salemstate.edu:2561/ehost/detail?vid=3&sid=018dbae4-fae6-46e8-84da-b458fa116

50f%40sessionmgr198&hid=118&bdata=JkF1dGhUeXBlPWNvb2tpZSxpcCxjcGlkJmN1c3RpZD1zc2Mmc2l0ZT1laG9zdC1saXZlJnNjb3BlPXNpdGU%3d#db=ehh&AN=44459598

• Meyer, S. K. (2005). NCAA Academic Reforms: Maintaining the Balance Between Academics and Athletics. Phi Kappa Phi Forum, 85(3), 15-18. Retrieved From: http://corvette.salemstate.edu:2561/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=63967885-2c62-47aa-96dc-f18fd381ec8f%40sessionmgr111&vid=4&hid=118

• NCAA. (2012, August 13). NCAA history. Retrieved from http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/public/NCAA/About the NCAA/History

• Petr, T, A., & McArdle, J, J. (2012). Academic Research and Reform: A History of the Empirical Basis for NCAA Academic Policy, Jounral Of intercollegiate Sport, 5(1), 27-40. Retrieved From: http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/2c4852804c98aa058841bc7c2d0d15b8/Academic_Research_Reform_History_of_Empirical_Basis_for_NCAA_Academic_Policy_Petr.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=2c4852804c98aa058841bc7c2d0d15b8

• Pickeral, R. (n.d.). Unc probe reveals academic fraud. (2012). ESPN.com, Retrieved from http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/8765672/north-carolina-tar-heels-investigation-reveals-academic-scandal-african-american-studies-department

• Rudolph, F. (1990). The american college and university: A history. Athens, GA: The University of Georgia Press.

• Smith, R. (2000). A brief history of the national collegiate athletic association's role in regulating intercollegiate athletics. Marquette Sports Law Review, 11(1), Retrieved from http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1393&context=sportslaw

Literature Review• Flowers

– This is an article written by Ronald Flowers of Eastern Michigan. The primary reason for this article is to help me frame collegiate sport before the creation of the NCAA. This article will also help me frame the athletic mission of higher education, and help provide the higher education perspective of athletics.

• Meyer– Help me in providing some current information on the educational restrictions for

athletes participating in the NCAA currently and how those have changed.• NCAA

– This site is the website for the NCAA. Although I do not plan on taking too much from the website, I do want to reference it because I will be using it to gain initial knowledge of the NCAA and what some of its goals and missions are today.

• Petr – This article helps provide even more insight into the academic reform of the NCAA. The

article breaks down the NCAA academic reform and also establishes all the reasons why decisions were made throughout history. It helps provide historical context for all decisions made by the NCAA.

Literature Review• Pickeral

– Provides me with a specific story of academic fraud in the NCAA and how it was handled and dealt with considering the circumstances.

• Rudolph– This is the book that was given to us in class. The chapter on football in higher

education has helped me in framing collegiate athletics before the creation of the NCAA. This book also provides information on the Theodore Roosevelt conversations and meetings that happened in order to begin the idea of establishing the NCAA.

• Smith– This article discusses a reaction the keynote address by Michael Oriard. The

author talks about the main points brought up by Oriard and how they relate to the NCAA now. He also discusses the role that students, staff, and faculty should play on the college campus in terms of the NCAA academic reform.

Findings• National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)• Created in 1906• To protect student from,

– Physical harm of sports– Exploitation of college athletics

• The Beginning of College Athletics• Began as early as colonial America• Institutions used sports to educate students about the catholic faith• Students could learn the Catholic Social Order through sports by

– Strict discipline– Repetition of movement

Research Findings• At first college athletics was only in house• By the mid nineteenth century colleges used the railroad to compete

against other schools• Collegiate sports went from intra-competition to inter-competition• First sport to spread throughout the region was crew

• Sports become commercialized• James Elkins offered to bring both crew teams to Lake Winnipesaukee

for free to compete– 1,000 spectators present

• Elkins takes Yale and College Union Regatta to Lake Quinsigamond to compete– 20,000 spectators

Research Findings

• Commercialization drives winning for more money• Business venture helped keep athletics afloat

because lack of financial resources• With new desire to win college officials take more

notice of sports• Still believe sports are bad for higher education,

want them removed• Public support and money from spectators keeps

athletics happening

Research Findings

• Unethical decision making from students and staff– No recruiting policy, anyone can play– Students suggest ultimatum to play• Pay my bills or I don’t play anymore

– Illegal gambling surrounding college sports– Many injuries due to lack of safety and

equipment

Research Findings

• College sports continues to be very violent• 18 men died playing football in 1905• Bob Maxwell, a player for Swarthmore College had to leave a

game because he was hit so many times• On October 9, 1905 President Theodore Roosevelt holds a

Whitehouse meeting in an effort to clean up the game • In response to President Roosevelt’s request, Henry MacCracken

brought together 62 different higher education institutions together

• Formed the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States or IAAUS

• Changed name to NCAA in 1910

Research Findings• First real move was a fail• In 1948, the NCAA tried to establish rules on recruitment• Established the Sanity Code to get rid of exploitive recruitment practices• Established the Constitutional Compliance Committee to uphold the code• Only sanction the committee could use was expulsion from the NCAA• Deemed to be too harsh and was never used• Committee and Sanity Code fail• 1951 repeal Sanity Code and replace Constitutional Compliance Committee with the

Committee on Infractions

• First Real Success• Committee on Infractions could implement different penalties for certain situations,

NCAA’s first real power• First TV contract values at 1 million dollars provides financial resources for NCAA to

make some significant change

Research Findings• NCAA and Education• From 1906 to 1980 there was little to no research performed on education and sports• It wasn’t until 1960 that the NCAA established a GPA requirement to play sports

– GPA=1.6– Academic scandals and push from country to better higher education causes NCAA

to act• The NCAA introduced Proposition 48

– Students must have• 2.00 GPA in high school• Minimum of a 700 on their SAT’s• Minimum of a 15 on their ACT’s

• Many people believe that Proposition 48 did not have research backing to supportit

• The NCAA finally takes real steps to solve education problem– 1991 mandated tutors for all athletes– Counseling and career services added– Now all services that are deemed necessary or appropriate for athletes is provided

Research Findings

• Education Currently• The Academic Performance Program (APP) is a program that

rewards college programs who excel in their academics• The Academic Progress Rate (APR) is a program which tracks

the academic performance of a certain institution throughout history

• The 40/60/80 plan is implemented by the NCAA• Once a student declares a major

– 40 percent of classes must be done starting year 3– 60 percent of classes must be done starting year 4– 80 percent of classes must be done starting year 5

Conclusion

• There is no magic cure to solve all of the academic problems of collegiate sports

• The NCAA has lost its initial goal of student first• The NCAA needs to re-image itself to represent education first

then success in sports• The NCAA currently is financially driven and continues to gain

scrutiny from public because of this• The NCAA needs to work with coaches and athletic directors at

the institutions to be sure that academic success is being upheld.

• Right now the NCAA and higher education do not operate on the same principle goal, education first