Men's hoops loses scholarship; baseball hit, too, over academics.
Fresno State will be without three men's basketball scholarships next season because of a historically low Academic Progress Rate, as the NCAA penalized the program Tuesday for failing to meet the minimum standard.
The maximum scholarships for Division I programs is 13, but because Fresno State used an average of only 11 the past four seasons, the NCAA capped the Bulldogs' allotment at 10 -- a factor coach Steve Cleveland called unfair.
Practice time will also be reduced from the maximum of 20 hours to 16, and those four hours must be used for academic-related activities.
Fresno State, which signed one player during the spring signing period, has one scholarship left -- a blow to a team that last season suffered its first losing campaign since 2003-04.
"We knew there were going to be historical penalties, we knew there was going to be loss of scholarships," Cleveland said. "When we found out they were doing it off of [average scholarships used the past four years], now that becomes a fairness issue.
"The institution has already been penalized for previous noncompliance and rules violations by the NCAA, so this has been compounded."
The men's basketball team faced penalties because while its multi-year APR score (816) improved for the third consecutive year, it fell below the minimum of 925. A perfect score is 1,000.
Athletic director Thomas Boeh said Fresno State appealed the ruling earlier this spring but was denied.
Susan Gutkind, assistant athletic director for academic services, said the NCAA uses many factors, including yearly improvement, to determine penalties.
"It doesn't seem like it because they were still pretty harsh, but they could have been worse," Gutkind said.
Boeh stopped short of calling the scholarship penalty unfair but said he would not be surprised if the NCAA alters future APR legislation.
"That's not what the system is set up to do; to double penalize a school," he said.
Baseball was the only other Fresno State sport to suffer penalties, losing 0.05 of a scholarship, or what amounts to books, with a multiyear score of 893.
"We have not seen the report, but we know that we have made tremendous academic improvements while winning back-to-back WAC championships," coach Mike Batesole said in a statement before the baseball team played at Long Beach State. "That is what it's all about: improving as students and athletes."
Eleven of Fresno State's 16 sports that use the APR had improved scores in the 2006-07 year. Football (946) continued to have one of the best academic performances.
Women's golf (991) had the highest multiyear score, followed by women's tennis (959), volleyball (962) and soccer (963).
Teams that fell below the 925 minimum were: men's golf (924), softball (910) and men's tennis (892).
Men's basketball received an initial APR score of 611 in 2003-04 under former coach Ray Lopes, the lowest nationally submitted to the NCAA. It rebounded the following season with 818. The 2005-06 season saw the program earn its best score of 905 during Cleveland's first year. It fell slightly to 885 last season.
Fresno State was issued a public warning last season because its multiyear score (787) remained below the minimum of 925.
Next year, Fresno State will still need help to avoid further penalties, which could include postseason bans. Sophomore Bryan Harvey was academically ineligible this spring, lowering the 2007-08 score. Even a perfect score of 1,000 would not prevent the program from remaining below 925.
Cleveland said eight players are on course to graduate by December, and he hopes the improvement, coupled with a strong fall 2008 APR score, could stop the program from suffering additional sanctions next spring.
Fresno State returns five scholarship players and has signed four recruits, including its lone spring signing: Paul George of Knight High-Palmdale. The last scholarship, Cleveland said, will likely go to the best player available.
"All of a sudden we're now were recruiting walk-ons [to fill out the roster]," Cleveland said. "We're going to take our time and try to make the best decision for the program."
What a spectacular postseason for Fresno State baseball. Though a total team effort, which Bulldog would get your vote for CWS MVP?
The MVP goes to the whole darn team. They wouldn't have won if they all didn't work together.
E-mail story
Printer friendly page
Subscribe to Print
Coach Cleveland on APR
