A few days ago, I posted on how important it is for athletes to think about their future after they are done with their athletics. I found another case in which a university’s academic reputation may be affected by how many athletes do not get their degree. The University of question is the University of Georgia.
When I was at Florida, I realized something very quickly– Florida has a lot of rivals in and out of the SEC! Of course you have FSU, and Miami– and then there is Tennessee and LSU. I would say one if not the biggest rivalry is between Florida and Georgia. They have to play the football game at a neutral venue in Jacksonville, FL (which is where they have the big tailgating party at).
The NCAA came out a few days ago and said that only 9 percent of the University of Georgia’s men’s basketball team earned degrees in the 1990s. In Football, 41 percent of athletes graduated, but according to this article, this percentage placed them last in the Southeastern Conference. It was only a few years ago that the Bulldog Basketball team was in the headlines– but it wasn’t for something positive, but it was a crisis for the university. The crisis was reported about in 2004, but it centered around a basketball class where Coach Jim Herrick Jr. taught and most of the players were enrolled in it. On their final exam, one of the questions was: “How many points are there in a three-point shot?” Wow– gee, I don’t know! 🙂
Athletes need to realize that the purpose of going to college is to get a degree– in the real world today, a degree is pretty much required. So, Georgia has a lot to do to reshape their image as an academic institution as well as a credible university– they have a lot of explaining to do with the alumni and donors. I guess we will have to watch and see what happens next. 🙂
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