CINCINNATI — Xavier, a Jesuit university in Cincinnati, is entering the men’s NCAA Tournament seeded sixth in the West Regional with a 24-8 record. But Sister Rose Ann Fleming is a perfect 77-0. Since she became the academic adviser for Xavier athletics in 1985, every men’s basketball player who has played as a senior has left with a diploma.
Apparently, such meticulous shepherding of college athletes toward degrees does not occur throughout the 65-team field for the NCAA Tournament. This season, 19 percent of the tournament teams have graduation rates below 40 percent, according to a study released Monday by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida. Across 36 sports monitored by the NCAA, men’s basketball has the lowest graduation rates, with fewer than two-thirds of players earning degrees.
The report also found 45 teams graduated 70 percent or more of their white players, up from 33 teams last year. But only 20 teams graduated at least 70 percent of their black players, the same as last year.
Footnotes.
Iowa fired coach Todd Lickliter. He had four years left on a seven-year contract. The school will pay Lickliter roughly $2.4 million.
• Charlotte fired coach Bobby Lutz after his 12th year at his alma mater. Lutz leaves as the school’s all-time winningest coach (218-158).
• Central Florida said it would not retain 17-year coach Kirk Speraw (279-233) after a 15-17 season. Associate head coach Mike Jaskulski will serve as the team’s interim coach.
• The mother of Murray State guard Picasso Simmons was killed in a car crash in Nashville, Tenn., on the eve of the team’s departure for the NCAA Tournament.
• A felony assault charge has been dropped against UCLA forward Nikola Dragovic, who was accused of assaulting a man after a concert in Hollywood.
• Kansas (32-2) finished the season on top of the AP top-25 poll a unanimous pick, the Jayhawks’ 15th week this season on top of the rankings.
Denver Post wire services
