Prof disputes dumb-jock myth
Christopher Patton - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 7/17/07 Section: Metro
Contradicting the common notion that schools have to sacrifice their athletes' education in order to be competitive, UI sociology Professor Michael Lovaglia has determined that academic and athletics success often go together in football and men's basketball.
Lovaglia said Jeffrey Lucas, a University of Maryland sociology professor who earned a Ph.D. from the UI, suggested doing research into the correlation between academic and athletics performance in college programs.
"Several years ago, the NCAA began evaluating member schools with a ranking called the 'Academic Progress Rate,' " Lovaglia said. "The [rate] measures both academic retention and progress."
Lucas and Lovaglia's website explains that the rate tracks two sets of data for athletes on NCAA teams. First, the association checks whether athletes who played on a team the previous year remain on the team during the current year. Second, it considers whether athletes maintain the academic eligibility from year to year.
"In order to create our ranking system, we combined the [Academic Progress Rate] with a new criterion, the 'Athletic Success Rating,' " Lovaglia said. "The [rate] measures indicators of how schools do athletically in ways prospective recruits might be interested in."
The number of team wins in the past five years, total attendance at recent home games, and the number of program players in the NFL or NBA are among the seven factors they use to determine a school's Athletics Success Rating.
"We combine the ratings to come up with the 'Student-Athlete Performance' rate," Lovaglia said.
The rankings on Lucas and Lovaglia's website list Iowa as tying for 12th overall in football and 91st in men's basketball.
Lucas said he wasn't surprised that good athletics programs tend to do well academically.
"With the NCAA using the [Academic Progress Rate] and threatening negative consequences for schools with poor academic performance, one might expect that athletics and academic success will correlate more strongly over time," Lucas said. "Programs that succeed athletically are being pressured to do well academically."
Fred Mims, an Iowa associate director of athletics, said Iowa has a reputation in the Big Ten for being successful at keeping its student-athletes on the right track scholastically.
"The NCAA coming out with these statistics helps the cause," he said. "There's not a coach in the country who hasn't heard about the [Academic Progress Rate]."
The school is upfront with its athletes from the start about the importance the university puts on academic success and maintains a structured study program to help students succeed, he said.
E-mail DI reporter Christopher Patton at:
chris-patton@uiowa.edu
Lovaglia said Jeffrey Lucas, a University of Maryland sociology professor who earned a Ph.D. from the UI, suggested doing research into the correlation between academic and athletics performance in college programs.
"Several years ago, the NCAA began evaluating member schools with a ranking called the 'Academic Progress Rate,' " Lovaglia said. "The [rate] measures both academic retention and progress."
Lucas and Lovaglia's website explains that the rate tracks two sets of data for athletes on NCAA teams. First, the association checks whether athletes who played on a team the previous year remain on the team during the current year. Second, it considers whether athletes maintain the academic eligibility from year to year.
"In order to create our ranking system, we combined the [Academic Progress Rate] with a new criterion, the 'Athletic Success Rating,' " Lovaglia said. "The [rate] measures indicators of how schools do athletically in ways prospective recruits might be interested in."
The number of team wins in the past five years, total attendance at recent home games, and the number of program players in the NFL or NBA are among the seven factors they use to determine a school's Athletics Success Rating.
"We combine the ratings to come up with the 'Student-Athlete Performance' rate," Lovaglia said.
The rankings on Lucas and Lovaglia's website list Iowa as tying for 12th overall in football and 91st in men's basketball.
Lucas said he wasn't surprised that good athletics programs tend to do well academically.
"With the NCAA using the [Academic Progress Rate] and threatening negative consequences for schools with poor academic performance, one might expect that athletics and academic success will correlate more strongly over time," Lucas said. "Programs that succeed athletically are being pressured to do well academically."
Fred Mims, an Iowa associate director of athletics, said Iowa has a reputation in the Big Ten for being successful at keeping its student-athletes on the right track scholastically.
"The NCAA coming out with these statistics helps the cause," he said. "There's not a coach in the country who hasn't heard about the [Academic Progress Rate]."
The school is upfront with its athletes from the start about the importance the university puts on academic success and maintains a structured study program to help students succeed, he said.
E-mail DI reporter Christopher Patton at:
chris-patton@uiowa.edu
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