THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY DECEMBER 1, 2006
SPORTS
NCAA
3B
Missouri waives admission rules
Athletes allowed as 'special admits'
BY ALAN SCHER ZAGIER ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLUMBIA, Mo. — University of Missouri athletes are nearly five times more likely to gain admission under a waiver of the school's entrance requirements than their counterparts who don't play varsity sports, an Associated Press review of university data shows.
The University of Missouri system's flagship campus in Columbia exempts up to 10 percent of each freshman class from normal entrance requirements if those students — athletes or not — show academic promise. Missouri athletes
are benefiting disproportionately from that exception to the rules, although it's unknown how the university compares with other colleges.
At Missouri over the past five years, 34.6 percent of all newly
enrolled athletes were classified as "special admits." That compares with just 7.48 percent of newly enrolled non-athletes.
"We have to make sure everyone who is admitted has a reasonable chance of graduating."
A brief mention of those statistics is buried deep in a 179-page "self-study" submitted by Missouri to the NCAA as part of a 10-year certification process. The college sports governing body certified Missouri earlier this month.
Neither the Big 12 Conference nor the NCAA maintain statistics to compare university policies on special admissions.
Also, Lori Franz, a management professor and Missouri's faculty athletics representative, noted that entrance requirements vary. She noted that unlike Missouri, some NCAA members grant admission to athletes who don't initially meet NCAA eligibility requirements for participation.
athletes who showed up on campus that year. Among non-athletes in their first year of school, only 6.2 percent were special admits in 2004, the AP analysis shows.
"The admissions standards of institutions are not comparable," she said.
Missouri's response to questions posed by both an NCAA review committee and a peer-review panel highlight broader numbers that portray athletes as a tiny percentage of the total number of special admits.
REX CAMPBELL Missouri professor
A task force of university presidents appointed by NCAA President Myles Brand recently issued a report on the future of Division I sports.
Missouri athletic director Mike Alden declined to discuss the special admissions program, refer
Among its recommendations: a cap on the number of special admits "to alleviate suspicion that student-athlete admission is based more on the need to recruit winning teams than on academic integrity."
For instance, the response notes that in full 2004, athletes accounted for fewer than 1 percent of the 313 freshmen admitted under a waiver of normal admission standards.
But that group of 28 athletes represented 29.2 percent of all first-year
program, referr ing inquiries to admissions director Barbara Rupp. A campus spokesman said Rupp is out of town this week and unavailable for comment.
In its NCAA report, the school noted and the review committee
agreed — that "there is no difference between the way student athletes and non-athletes who enroll at the University of Missouri as part of the 10 percent exception are treated for admission purposes."
Not everyone on campus shares that perspective.
Rex Campbell, a rural sociology professor and member of a campus athletics oversight committee, said the athletic department's heavy reliance on admissions waivers compromises the university's standards.
"We have to make sure everyone who is admitted has a reasonable chance of graduating," he said.
The school's response to the NCAA committee concluded that "graduation rates for student-athletes generally do not indicate any reason for concern for exceptional admissions"
All students admitted under the waiver are placed on academic probation and must earn a 2.0 gradepoint average to shed that status.
Until this semester, specially admitted athletes had to spend their first school year on academic probation and earn at least 24 credits. Non-athletes spent just their first semester on probation and without a minimum credit requirement.
Now, the probationary period for athletes — minus the minimum credit requirement — matches that of other students. University officials said the change was made for consistency.
》 BOXING
Mayor steps into ring for charity match
BYWOODY BAIRD ASSOCIATED PRESS
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — It won't be the "Thrilla in Manila," but Mayor Willie Herenton promises a good show when he steps into the ring with former heavyweight champion Joe Frazier.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Memphis Mayor Wille Herenton, right, spars with his boxing coach Lt. Clarence Hawkins on Nov. 22, in Memphis, Tenn. It has been 40 years since Herenton's day as an amateur boxer.
The mayor, a 66-year-old former amateur boxer, and 62-year-old "Smokin' Joe" are fighting a three-round exhibition bout Thursday for charity.
More than 30 years removed from his legendary 1975 battle against Muhammad Ali in the Philippines, Frazier said his once deadly left hook isn't what it once was and he was unsure if he would try it on Herenton.
That is, as long as the mayor doesn't "have the butterfly in mind." Frazier said, referring to Ali's self-described style of "float like a butterfly and sting like a bee."
"I might get some flashbacks," Frazier said Wednesday night at a pre-fight party.
Frazier, who held the heavyweight title from 1968 to 1973 and retired from boxing in 1976, runs a gym in Philadelphia and stages occasional exhibition bouts.
The exhibition at the Peabody Hotel in downtown Memphis will raise money for the city's drug court, which offers rehabilitation services to drug abusers as an alternative to jail.
Herenton turned to boxing while growing up in poverty in Memphis and credits the sport with building the self-confidence that helped him become the city's first black mayor. He's now in his fourth term.
The bout may also show detrac
tors that he's still a fighter.
"I know there are some people in Memphis who would like to see me carried out," he said with a big smile.
MORNINGSTAR (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
either game, he learned a lot by watching so many talented players on the court, especially during the Kansas vs. Florida game.
The two teams could potentially meet again this season, possibly in the Final Four, which is a situation Brady has already experienced — albeit a humorous one.
In 1990 at the Final Four in Denver, UNLV was playing and a shark mascot, made in honor of famed coach jerry "the shark" Tarkanian, was performing. Four-year old Brady wanted to get a closer look at the shark, so his father picked him up and carried him
closer. When near, his father lifted Brady up high enough so he could see inside the top of the sharks head. Brady saw a human in the costume and thought the shark had eaten someone.
The Morningstar family was quite amused by this, and over the years, Brady and Linsey have played many pranks on each other. But now that they are mature adults, they hang out at each other's place and enjoy each other's company.
"Actually, it wasn't always like that," Linsey said. "But we get along really well now."
Kansan sportswriter Jeff Deters can be contacted at jdeters@ kansan.com.
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