Fear The Turtle Of Illiteracy

Things are amiss in Garyland. The men's basketball team has a weakness for academic failure like Pacman does for strip clubs.

The Baltimore Sun reports that Maryland is in danger of losing two scholarships if its Academic Progess Rate doesn't improve next season. Two out of six seniors are not graduating on time and "if one or both of those players don't graduate by the end of the summer, and the team's four-year average is again under the 925 cut score, the program could lose 10 percent of the total allotment of 13 scholarships". The Terps currently have a three-year average of 908.

While this isn't a Cincinnati/Huggy Bear-type situation, this is a matter of some concern as Maryland men's basketball academics have been dicey for quite some time.

The APR is a formula developed by the NCAA to provide a real-time gauge of how many athletes are staying in school, staying eligible and graduating. The best score is 1,000.

Nationally, teams from historically black schools and colleges affected by Hurricane Katrina did not fare well. About 13 percent of the schools that received warning letters or could lose scholarships were predominantly black colleges and universities.

As long as teams are above 900 and do not lose an ineligible student from the university, they will not lose scholarships. If teams fall below 900, they will receive a letter of "public notice."

If teams fall below 900 a second straight year, it could lead to scholarship losses and reductions in practice and playing time. Third-year penalties would restrict postseason competition, and four straight years of poor academic performance would result in restricted Division I membership for the entire athletic department.

Teams can earn bonus points if an athlete returns to school to complete his degree, and Goff said Maryland expects at least one former athlete to do that.

It seems a bit cruel to penalize schools affected by Hurrican Katrina. The only other men's basketball teams in the ACC that need improvement are Virginia and Clemson. Rage, what's up with your boys? Ralph Sampson and Mustapha Farrakhan must be furious.

Good to see Maryland is keeping track of their former players even though it's a backdoor way to get their APR up. Maybe more players will be inspired by Pacman going back to WVU to get his degree in Astrophysics. I'm looking at you, Stevie Franchise.