European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 4, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Not everyone takes along a degree by Hal Bock associated press colleges get a failing Grade when it comes to graduating athletes headed for professional football and basketball. An associated press Survey shows that almost two thirds of the players drafted by the National football league and the National basketball association this year did not finish College. Many dropped out just shy of graduation to pursue the Promise of the pros. Of the 385 players selected in the two drafts the graduation rate was 64.1 percent a 130 with degrees 232 without. The status of 21 football players could not be a determined because their schools would not release graduation. Data for privacy reasons. Two european basketball players did not attend . Chris Singleton football players were less Likely to graduate than their basketball colleagues. Of the 331 players selected in the nil draft last april 204 did not graduate and 106 did. Of the 54 players selected in the Aba draft last month 28 did not Complete their degree work and 24 did. Six schools a Albany state Georgia. Pitt St. Cloud state Southern Mississippi Stephen f. Austin and Texas a amp my refused to divulge information on which of its draft choices had graduated. A the a Survey also found that a at least 82 nil draft choices left school one semester or less away from a degree to attend workouts run by the teams and the league. A some athletes had More than enough credits for graduation but not enough required courses. Instead they took easier courses to maintain their athletic eligibility. There is. For example the Case of Miami of Ohio basketball coach Jerry Peirson under Mcaa investigation after giving an a a Quot to one of his players in a course titled Quot theory of basketball Quot despite the fact that the student never attended the class. A there Are dramatic contrasts Between schools. At notre Dame All nine drafted football players got diplomas. Houston and Florida state were a combined 0-14 in degrees for drafted football players. Houston also had a basketball player drafted and he did t graduate either a although there Are Many close Calls with one or two courses separating an athlete from his degree there Are Many More wide misses. Among them Are All american basketball Star Gary Payton More than a year Short at Oregon state and nose tackle tory Epps 50 credits away at Memphis state the no 1 picks in both drafts Are non graduates. Then a s Derrick Coleman picked Fust by the new Jersey nets played Tor four years at Syracuse and left a semester Short of a degree in sociology. The no l s Jeff George selected by the Indianapolis Colts came out of Illinois As a Redshirt Junior one semester Short of a degree in speech communications some football players were As close As one course to graduating. In almost All of those cases the players withdrew to attend pre draft scouting combines and Rookie mini Camps. That tendency is a constant irritant for academic administrators and has prompted nil commissioner Paul Tagliabue to Promise to Issue new guidelines. Typical is the Case of Ohio state guard Tim Moxley a ninth round pick by the Washington redskins. He left school one Quarter Short of his degree in natural resources and forestry. Quot it s a bother to me that people look at graduation rates and he s a negative even though he went through five years Here with a double major Quot said Larry. Romanoff athletics academic Counselor at Ohio state. Quot the pros say now and he drops out. He was one third of the Way through chemistry when he had to drop it in the Spring. He would have graduated. He s a great kid who worked hard and did better Here than he did in High school. But he s always a negative in graduation . That does not mean however that Moxley won t eventually get his degree. Romanoff expects him Back after football season. Many student athletes find their Way Back to Campus to finish what they started. Quot in some places Quot Romanoff said Quot you leave and you re a statistic. Not Here. Here we recruit them and Tell them they re going to get an education and that s part of the Deal. And we Bug them until they do. Quot William White of the Detroit Lions was Here four years in engineering almost an Honor student. Here engineering is a five year course. He a Back for two courses. He s taking it a Quarter at a time. Keith Ferguson of Detroit graduated this Quarter. He was 21/2 quarters Short when he left. Ten years later he came Back to finish. Sex Aba Star Clark Kellogg is Back. Nobody hears about those  notre Dame Houston and Florida state represent the extremes of the spectrum among drafted athletes. The Middle might be represented by Miami where the National football champions had nine players drafted by nil teams and five finished their studies. Anna Price Miami s assistant athletic director for academics and student services said Quot the crucial Oregon states Gary Payton left did t graduate. I f Illinois quarterback Jeff George missed his degree. Thing in my View Are the expectations of the student athlete. When you expect them to graduate they respond. Then you must provide the services necessary to get them the support to  achieving a diploma can be a complicated bit of business. Quot for a lot of Young people a not just athletes a they have More hours than they need and they Don t graduate Quot Price said. They take different courses to raise their Grade Point averages. They need 120 credits they end up with 140, but no  and then they re  Wells assistant athletic director for academics at Mississippi wonders if the situation will change. Quot i m not sure it will be corrected Quot he said. Quot for some of those drafted and signed putting off the degree for pro compensation is justifiable. Its hard to Tell them to get their degrees so they can get a Job for $25,000, when one game played pays maybe $25,000.&Quot getting them Back often is difficult because of the demands of pro sports. Quot we be got a player Wesley Walls a great student with an Mcaa Post graduate scholarship an engineering student Quot Wells said. Quot he s one semester away. He s with the 49ers. When can he get Back a summer Camp starts in july and by the time they re through with their season its too late for  there Are other drawbacks too. Quot it s hard for older people to come Back and re Groove themselves to studying sitting with people six and seven years younger Quot Wells said. Quot they have Job opportunities from contacts they made in their pro careers. Sometimes the catalogue changes. They leave a semester away and it turns out they re a year away. The diploma May not materialize but its no fault of theirs. It s part of the system. Quot the person who a not graduated is not necessarily a poor student. A lot of times the circumstances justify leaving. Id do the same thing with the Opportunity. We re pious to criticize those who Don t graduate for what they  the absence of a departing athlete s degree does not always mean the school has failed according to Gayle Hopkins assistant athletic director for academics at Arizona. Of the six athletes drafted into the nil and Aba from his school Only linebacker Chris Singleton picked no. 1 by the new England patriots is graduating. Quot the numbers Are misleading Quot Hopkins said. Quot the others Are All transfers from Junior colleges and lost credits coming Here. There is such a demand on institutions and each one has a right to its own educational philosophy. For me i m More interested that after our Young people have exhausted their eligibility they Are in position for  non semes Ducal Quot we p Quot they stay in the College just 14 Grade higher climber up Fror a in up reds ii Seasor time to origin commit sorr interest year in Seasor she a another tray credit another Romar athlete Quot we Romar Depau the foe foot a a am i v f Suraci Page 14 a a a the stars and stripes saturday August 4,