NCAA: Graduation rates up for black men's basketball players

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) The NCAA says 77 percent of black men's Division I basketball players who entered college in 2009 earned a degree within six years, up

Tom Coyne | Nov 15, 2016

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) The NCAA says 77 percent of black men's Division I basketball players who entered college in 2009 earned a degree within six years, up five points from a year earlier and a record high.

The NCAA said Tuesday that improvement helped the Graduation Success Rates of all student-athletes match last year's record high of 86 percent graduating within six years. Of all black Division I athletes, 74 percent graduated within six years. NCAA President Mark Emmert called the improved rates ''hugely significant.''

The statistics show graduation rate for black basketball players is up 31 percentage points over the past 15 years.

B. David Ridpath, an associate professor and sports business and president of The Drake Group, an NCAA watchdog, said the GSR provides only a partial picture.

Published Nov 15, 2016

TOM COYNE

Tom Coyne, a regular contributor to The Golfer’s Journal, is the author of four books: “A Gentleman’s Game,” "Paper Tiger,” “A Course Called Ireland” and “A Course Called Scotland.” His latest project, “A Course Called America,” is expected to be published in 2021. Coyne is an associate professor of English at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. He lives with his wife and two daughters in Devon, Pa. He can be reached at www.tomcoyne.com