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Hoops: Men's team loses scholarships


ASU has been penalized two scholarships for failing to meet academic standards under Division I Academic Progress Rates. The rates measure a program's ability to retain student athletes and those athletes progress toward a degree.

ASU was one of eight schools that appealed the NCAA's initial 2006 academic reform report, announced in March. But the NCAA ruled against ASU's appeal.

ASU will lose one of 13 scholarships this season, as the second penalty was applied last season, when ASU had only 12 players on scholarships.

An ASU official who asked to remain anonymous said men's basketball coach Herb Sendek was aware of ASU's appeal process prior to his hire.

"ASU believed we had a strong case for appealing the penalties due to a series of extenuating circumstances, including assisting former players trying to finish their degrees," Senior Associate Athletic Director Sandy Hatfield Clubb said Thursday. "We are disappointed with the outcome. The program received all its required points during the fall term and we have four players on track to graduate in December."

An ASU official said three post-eligible student athletes were allowed to remain on aid to graduate in 2003-04 under former ASU coach Rob Evans, which "actually cost ASU APR points." The post-eligible students, who had used up their eligibility, failed to complete their degrees in the time permitted by the APR program.

For a team to lose a scholarship under the "contemporaneous penalty" portion of academic reform, a student-athlete must have failed academically and left the institution, and the team's APR must be below 925 (out of 1000).

Approximately 111 teams from 72 institutions throughout Division I schools incurred some type of contemporaneous penalty.

Former Sun Devil Ike Diogu, who had forgone his last year of eligibility, left the program on good academic standing and was not one of the post-eligible student-athletes.

Evans' commitment to supporting the graduation of post-eligible student athletes prior to the implementation of the APR program in 2003-04 would not have lent to a loss of scholarships, an ASU official said.

When Pac-10 play starts in January, ASU will have four graduates on the men's basketball team, including junior Serge Angounou, who will graduate in May. Allen Morill, Bryson Krueger and Kevin Kruger are all expected to graduate in December.

ASU has since created an APR Management System through which all coaches are prompted to assess the probability that a student-athlete who has been kept on aid will be successful.

The APR is calculated by measuring the academic eligibility and retention of student athletes by team each term.

Reach the reporter at james.schmehl@asu.edu.


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