U.S. Secretary of Education Backs Knight Commission's Call for Changing NCAA Basketball Tournament Eligibility Standards and Financial Rewards

WASHINGTON, March 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Highlights:

• 10 of the 68 men's basketball teams in the 2011 "March Madness" tournament would be ineligible under the benchmark recommended by the Knight Commission and backed by Secretary Duncan.
• Of the $409 million the NCAA awarded for basketball success in the past five tournaments, nearly $179 million or nearly 44 percent of the total, was earned by teams not on track to graduate at least 50 percent of their players.
• Secretary Duncan endorses the Knight Commission's recommendations to:  a) change the NCAA's revenue distribution system to provide financial rewards to teams that meet minimal academic standards; and b) require teams to be on track to graduate at least half of their players to be eligible for postseason play.

Men's basketball teams failing to meet minimal academic standards have earned nearly $179 million from their success in the past five NCAA basketball tournaments, according to an analysis released today by the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics.

Under the NCAA's revenue distribution plan, each game played in the NCAA basketball tournament in 2011 earns more than $1.4 million for the team's conference.  Of the $409 million distributed under the NCAA's formula for rewarding performances in the five most recent tournaments, nearly 44 percent was earned by teams with an Academic Progress Rate below 925, meaning that they were not on track to graduate at least 50 percent of their players.

Supporting the Knight Commission's call for changes, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said, "It's time to end rewarding teams millions of dollars for winning basketball games when they are failing to graduate their players. In the era of the 'million-dollar game,' I join the Knight Commission in advocating a reward system that recognizes teams that meet minimal academic standards."

In its June 2010 report, Restoring the Balance:  Dollars, Values and the Future of College Sports, the Commission called for the NCAA to provide two sets of incentives for academic progress: requiring teams to be on track to graduate 50 percent of their players to be eligible for postseason play and providing financial incentives from postseason distributions for meeting graduation benchmarks. Duncan endorsed both recommendations.

In its call to tie financial rewards more closely to academic values, the Commission specifically recommends that the portion of funds currently rewarded to winning basketball teams be reduced by half and that the remaining funds be used to reward schools that meet the NCAA's graduation rate benchmarks, and appropriately balance investments in athletics and education.  

"The financial rewards for winning cannot continue to far outweigh the penalties for academic failings. The Commission believes tournament slots, and the financial rewards that accompany them, should be reserved for teams that meet legitimate academic standards,"  said Knight Commission Co-Chairman R. Gerald Turner, president, Southern Methodist University.  "The Commission first advocated for a 50 percent graduation rate benchmark for postseason eligibility in 2001.  While the NCAA has taken important first steps, the current standards remain too low."

If the Commission's benchmark were in effect this year, 10 tournament teams would not be eligible.    

A chart providing further details of the Commission's analysis can be found on its website, www.knightcommission.org.

About the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics

The Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics was formed by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation in October 1989 in response to more than a decade of highly visible scandals in college sports. The goal of the Commission was to promote a reform agenda that emphasized academic values in a climate in which commercialization of college sports often overshadowed the underlying goals of higher education. More information about the Commission's history including prior reports can be found at www.KnightCommission.org.

SOURCE Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics