Every year at the start of March Madness, the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida releases a report on the graduation rates of basketball teams in the NCAA tournament.
--According to this year's report, at BYU, Marquette, Notre Dame, Utah State, Wake Forest and Wofford, 100% of their players graduated on time.
--And at Duke and Villanova, more than 90% of their players graduated on time.
--But programs like Cal, Arkansas Pine-Bluff, Washington, Tennessee, Kentucky, Baylor and New Mexico State all graduated fewer than 36% of their players on time.
--And the University of Maryland's on-time graduation rate is a pathetic 8%. That's just ONE PLAYER on the team's entire roster.
--Still, according to Maryland's coach, Gary Williams, the numbers are deceiving.
--He says, quote, "Obviously, those years we had players leave early and they're millionaires now, and they're coming back to get their degrees, just like other guys have come back and gotten their degrees."
--For the record, there are only three former University of Maryland players in the NBA right now . . . STEVE BLAKE of the Los Angeles Clippers, JOE SMITH of the Atlanta Hawks and CHRIS WILCOX of the Detroit Pistons.
--Meanwhile, another former player, JUAN DIXON, was suspended from a European league last month for failing a steroid test.
--And arguably the program's most famous player, STEVE FRANCIS, got caught picking his nose on camera while attending an NBA game as a SPECTATOR last weekend.
--According to this year's report, at BYU, Marquette, Notre Dame, Utah State, Wake Forest and Wofford, 100% of their players graduated on time.
--And at Duke and Villanova, more than 90% of their players graduated on time.
--But programs like Cal, Arkansas Pine-Bluff, Washington, Tennessee, Kentucky, Baylor and New Mexico State all graduated fewer than 36% of their players on time.
--And the University of Maryland's on-time graduation rate is a pathetic 8%. That's just ONE PLAYER on the team's entire roster.
--Still, according to Maryland's coach, Gary Williams, the numbers are deceiving.
--He says, quote, "Obviously, those years we had players leave early and they're millionaires now, and they're coming back to get their degrees, just like other guys have come back and gotten their degrees."
--For the record, there are only three former University of Maryland players in the NBA right now . . . STEVE BLAKE of the Los Angeles Clippers, JOE SMITH of the Atlanta Hawks and CHRIS WILCOX of the Detroit Pistons.
--Meanwhile, another former player, JUAN DIXON, was suspended from a European league last month for failing a steroid test.
--And arguably the program's most famous player, STEVE FRANCIS, got caught picking his nose on camera while attending an NBA game as a SPECTATOR last weekend.
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