The NCAA has imposed a sanction of one lost full-ride scholarship on the Ohio State men's basketball team for failing to meet the Academic Progress Rate standard, said John Bruno, faculty athletics representative. The university is petitioning to overturn the decision.
Bruno said OSU has a two-year time frame to petition the NCAA to keep the scholarship. Bruno did not mention when the reduced scholarship penalty would go into effect.
"We're optimistic that we won't lose that scholarship because we have a strong petition but that decision is in the hands of the NCAA," Bruno said.
Bruno said the sanction was triggered by one athlete who left the university during the 2006-07 school year while academically ineligible. Bruno did not disclose the name. Players Greg Oden, Daequan Cook and Mike Conley Jr. left the team that year when drafted into the NBA. Bruno did not release information about whether these players left academically eligible.
A student athlete is academically eligible if he or she has at least a 2.0 grade point average and has completed the required amount of credits toward their major determined by their rank, Bruno said. The APR tracks only student athletes receiving scholarships.
The sanction was also based on the latest 2007 APR scores, not available to the public until later this spring, Bruno said.
A university sports' program is penalized by the NCAA with either reduced scholarships or practice time when both the team's APR score falls below the 925-point threshold and when at least one player leaves the team before the end of the school year academically ineligible, Bruno said.
Bruno said this sanction will hurt the recruiting process for the team.
The basketball team's 2006 APR score checked in at 902, well below the requirement. The team in 2007 was able to avoid penalties when the score was adjusted because of its small roster size.
"Our men's basketball program has a strong academic value with oversight and supportive partners," said Dan Wallenberg, assistant director of athletics. "Though challenging, we are optimistic (we) will meet the challenge and have success," he said in an e-mail.
The APR is a four-year average point system for finding whether student athletes have "good academic standing," Bruno said. Each athlete receives two points, one for staying at the university and the other for staying academically eligible.
Ingrid Rivera can be reached at rivera.153@osu.edu.
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