Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Slight Graduation Rate Jump Seen for Black Men on NCAA Basketball Tournament Teams

Slight Graduation Rate Jump Seen for Black Men on NCAA Basketball Tournament Teams: The disparity between the graduation rates of Black and White athletes playing on NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament Teams is narrowing primarily because fewer Whites are graduating, says a new report on diversity and ethics in sport.

The Graduation Success Rate (GSR) for male Black basketball players rose a point to 60 percent from 59 percent, according to the annual analysis of NCAA data performed by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES), based at the University of Central Florida. The GSR for White male basketball players dropped to 88 percent from 91 percent. The overall Graduation Success Rate rose by a point to 67 percent, says the study, “Keeping Score When It Counts.”

“…The most troubling statistic in our study is the continuing large disparity between the GSR of White basketball student athletes and African-American basketball students,” says Dr. Richard Lapchick, the primary author of the study and director of the institute.