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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 16, 1999)
PROP from page 11 culate, as it eliminates the problems with fractions. letes, including minority athletes. The 1998-99 NCAA Guide for And, in fact, as a result of the stan- the College-Bound Student Athlete dards, more African-American stu- lays out the requirement for the 13 dent-athletes graduate each year than core classes. They include English, did before the standards.” math, social sciences, natural sci Sifting through the number- ences and additional classes, crunching of the NCAA ranks in dif- Students can take more than 13, from ficulty with reading a novel by which they are then able to pick the Tolstoy, but here’s a rundown of the best 13 grades. Partial qualifiers, like evolution of the academic eligibility Stella, only fill one of the require in college athletics. ments and can’t compete during their In the beginning (that’s[before freshman seasons. 1986), athletes had //- Those who to be admitted to the institution. That’s it. No NCAA standards. Papik said there “wasn’t much of anything athletes had to do.” They did have to acquire a 2.0 grade point average, but it didn’t have to come through any core classes. That all changed with Proposition 48. Passed in 1986, Proposition 48 required athletes to «« Sitting out that first year killed me. You re on the team, but you really aren’t. Just being able to practice would have helped a lot.” Troy Piatkowski NTJ basketball player fill neither requirement are nonqualifiers and most likely are headed for junior colleges. The Big 12 Conference doesn’t allow nonqualifiers, but others do. Both Propositions 48 and 16 were developed with an understand ing (confirmed by extensive research) that, nave a minimum 2.0 grade-point average in 11 academic core courses and a minimum SAT score of 700 or ACT of 15. It lasted until 1996. Proposition 16, instituted for the 1996-97 season, increased the num ber of required high school core courses to 13 and introduced an ini tial-eligibility index (of “sliding scale”). Time to get out the abacus. Using the index, a student-athlete could establish eligibility with a GPA as low as 2.0, provided the student also presents an SAT score of 1010 or an ACT sum score of 86. At the other end of the index, a minimum 820 SAT or 68 ACT sum score establishes the floor for stu dents with GPAs of2.500 or higher. Does the sum score of 68 on the ACT look contusing? It’s the equiva lent of a 17 on all four areas of the test. But the sum score is easier to cal based on high school academic crite ria, the best predictor of college suc cess is a combination of a student’s GPA in core academic courses and standardized test scores. Papik said the system has helped students who are currently in high school, as the average athlete is tak ing about 14.5 core classes. Steve Mallonee, the director of membership services and the Division I governance liaison for the NCAA, said while there has been some concern that the rules exclude athletes, the NCAA is doing the best it can. “We are very sensitive to the issue of access,” Mallonee said. “We have to always look at the rules and deter mine whether or not they are sensitive enough to the prospective athlete.” But there’s more to getting into Nebraska, like the university’s own admissions standards. - — F#t ' ■ *** ;■ ate _ ^ , 1418 'O' Street www.bodtgosaUey.com It isn’t Harvard, or even Missouri for that matter, but Papik said NU coaches have had to turn down cer tain athletes because they wouldn’t have the two years of foreign lan guage or the four years of math UNL requires to get in, among other requirements. “We’ve had some problems with the admissions standards here,” Papik said. “Some people don’t have an interest in math, or haven’t taken the foreign language. “But basically, they just don’t know what the admissions standards are. It happens with out-of-state ath letes more than anything, because the athletes don’t know what the admis sions are here.” Proposition 68 was approved ear lier this year at the NCAA Convention. It cleared up some of the complaints about discrimination in testing by allowing partial qualifiers a fourth year of competition, provid ed they pass 75 percent of the classes toward their major before the fifth year starts. Stella falls into that category. So does teammate Eric Johnson and bas ketball players Troy Piatkowski and Larry Florence, who all enrolled at NU in 1995 and had to sit out because of Proposition 48. But one of the biggest differences between the NU athletes is that Stella was allowed to practice his first year rather than sitting out as Johnson, Florence and Piatkowski and former basketball player Alvin Mitchell (now at Cincinnati) had to.. That stip ulation was added when Proposition 16 wait into effect Piatkowski said allowing partial qualifiers to practice the first year was a big step forward. “Sitting out that first year killed me,” Piatkowski said. “You’re on the team, but you really aren’t Just being able to practice would have helped out a lot I would have gotten to know the system. “I would have learned a few things: just all the basic fundamentals of college basketball, which I didn’t know until my second year here. Even watching, that just doesn’t do a whole lot” Piatkowski, Florence and Mitchell could only play pick-up games in the Campus Recreation Center to stay in shape. For Florence it was extremely hard. He was a long way from Phenix City, Ala. He wasn’t even sure college was the place for him. He didn’t even think about going to college until his junior year of high school. Florence’s sister, Therita Florence-Moore, said Larry was aware of the importance of education, but he didn’t really have anyone nag ging him to do it in high school. “In the school he was in, (acade mics) were never stressed,” Florence Moore said. “I guess it was the jock syndrome. They weren’t made to do it.” The Prop 48 -label relegated Florence to street clothes. It also brought other negative connotations. Florence still vividly recalls walking into opposing arenas and being heck led by fans. “Hey Florence, ‘Can you spell this, can you spell that?’” he said. “It makes you seem like you’re dumb. (Prop 48) is not saying you’re dumb, it’s saying you weren’t able to pass a test at the time. It can hurt, but you have to be a strong individual, like I whs, to get around things like that. But certain times when you hear peo ple say that, it makes you feel like you’re dumb or don’t belong in col lege.” Members of the Athletic Department academic support staff helped Florence feel he belonged. Once he realized Nebraska was a good place for academics, he didn’t worry about returning to Phenix City as a college dropout “I never thought about flunking out because I didn’t want to fail,” Florence said. “I didn’t want to fail my mom. I wanted to do what I had told myself and family. Why would I embarrass myself like that, being able to go to college, get there and then flunk out? That would have been crazy. That would have been a waste JonFrank/DN of time.” Florence credits the positive influences he found at NU for allow ing him to survive that Frst year away >, from home. “If you have the right people around you, who feed you good infor mation about yourself, making you feel you are smart, then it’s kind of good,” Florence said. “I didn’t really let (the insults) bother me that much. But it was difficult.” Piatkowski said being labeled a Proposition 48 player didn’t bother him: Piatkowski had the ACT score, but he didn’t take enough high school math classes. He didn’t realize the mistake until the summer after he graduated. Stellads happy he didn’t have to go through the trials and tribulations of Proposition 48. “I don’t know if I would have made it through under the old rules,” Stella said. “I got to play, practice and participate right away. I got to know the program right away. It’s a lot bet ter (than Prop 48). It keeps you tuned into school. I’m in now, and so I have to make the best of it. I have to do this so I can stay in.” Senior editor Sam McKewon contributed to this report. “ Core GPA ACT " ^^ . 2.500 & above 68 820 2.475 69 830 2.450 70 840-850 2.425 70 860 2.400 71 860 2.375 72 870 2.350 73 880 2.325 74 890 2.300 75 900 2.275 76 910 2.250 77 920 2.225 78 930 2.200 . 79 940 2.175 80 950 2.150 80 960 2.125 81 960 2.100 82 970 2.075 83 980 2.050 84 990 2.025 85 1000 2.000 86 1010 Reggie White retires from Pack GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) - This time, Reggie White put it in writing. The NFL’s career sacks leader turned in his retirement letter to Green Bay Packers general manager Ron Wolf - and gave no indication he intends to return. “He’s officially retired. It’s oyer. I think he’s had it,” Packers spokesman Lee Remmel said. The 37-year-old White had said last season would be his last. But there had been hints the All-Pro player might change his mind after the Packers hired his longtime friend, Ray Rhodes, as new head coach, replacing Mike Holmgren. White wound up making 16 sacks and earning defensive player of the year honors in what was to be his farewell season, and that also raised speculation he might not be ready to retire. Then came reports during the weekend that a return by White would cause trouble for the Packers in staying within the NFL salary cap. White, an ordained minister, said last April he intended to retire. But after repeating to Holmgren he would n’t come back. White said he had a rev elation while having back therapy. “God spoke to me and said, ‘You made a promise,’” White said at the time. “When I signed the deal last year, I signed a five-year deal with the promise that I would play for two years.” Last month, after the Packers lost to San Francisco in the playoffs, White said he expected to retire and focus on his other interests. But when he was in Hawaii earlier this month for his record 11th Pro Bowl appearance, he seemed to leave a slight opening when he told an inter • ' f viewer he was “intrigued” about die idea of returning to play under Rhodes. “If anyone else had gotten the job, I wouldn't have been intrigued,” White told Fox television at the time. “I’ve really been praying about it and think ing about it. Right now I’m retired.” Wolf had acknowledged the Packers were counting on White’s $4.4 million salary to provide room under the salary cap to pay defensive tackle Santana Dotson and linebacker George Koonce under the long-term deals they agreed to last Friday. The team also has yet to sign All Pro wide receiver Antonio Freeman, who was designated last week as the Packers! franchise player. The Packers this week lost their first free agent since the signing period began, as guard Adam Timmerman signed a five-year contract with the St Louis Rams.
