Gopher Graduation Rates Leap Forward

[Bronko Nagurski Gopher]

Link to story on Gophersports.com: http://www.gophersports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=8400&ATCLID=204836073

From the article: "The latest graduation rate figures released by the NCAA and the academic strides made by our student-athletes represent a significant achievement for Gopher Athletics," Director of Athletics Joel Maturi said. "We place a high priority on academic success and degree completion and it's great to see positive results from that commitment. Our student-athletes, coaches, faculty and McNamara Academic Staff should be commended for the progress that has been made. Continued improvement remains our goal; however I could not be more pleased with the current graduation rate trends of this department."

The Federal Graduation Rate for Gopher student-athletes showed even greater improvement. Minnesota was one of just three Big Ten athletics departments to score better than 70 percent as the fed rate for Gopher student-athletes surged to 71 percent.


I wonder if that hit-man and all-around piece of crap sports editor Dennis Brackin over at the Mpls Star Tribune will be publishing a series of stories on this?! Perhaps Fatrick Reusse? J-Bag Jim Souhan? Probably not, considering it is positive news about Golden Gophers athletics. Brackin and his henchmen only like to publish the overly speculative and negative variety of story when it comes to the U of M. They pass on the large number of positive stories WHICH are out there.

Anyways, just wanted to say nice work to the Gophers athletes! Way to work hard both on the field of play as well as in the classroom.

 

[From the Barn]

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/70422067.html?elr=KArksi8cyaiUjc8LDyiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUr

 

[jamiche]

I'd like to know the current football and basketball rates. Men's golf and women's volleyball have never been a concern.

 

[aero74]

I'd like to know the current football and basketball rates. Men's golf and women's volleyball have never been a concern.

Check the Pioneer Press, I read their article this morning and it was split out by sport. The stats are necessarily from an earlier time frame than the most recent. The article had that info also.

 

[Friend Of Tubby]

I'd like to know the current football and basketball rates. Men's golf and women's volleyball have never been a concern.

Since 2007-08 every Gopher senior has graduated. 4 in 2008 and 4 more in 2009. PLUS junior Damian Johnson graduated last year, too. So 100% graduation lately.

The results from the 1999-2000-01-02 recruiting classes (measured by THIS NCAA report) are less sterling. I think I read 40% of Gopher recruits from those years graduated.

 

[go 31]

Choose your spin

Compare the opening lines for the stories in the Stribe and the Pioneer-Press. Marcus Fuller in the Pioneer Press writes: (Minnesota) showed significant gains in its Federal Graduation Success Rate for student-athletes. Dennis Brackin in the Stribe writes: football and basketball at the bottom of the conference. Of course as Friend of Tubby says all of this is very old news (1999 to 2002 data). The Stribe continues to deserve no loyalty from Gopher fans.

 

[anonymous]

Go 31,

Did you read the story in the Star Tribune? I thought it was provided a very accurate picture. Here's the lead:

Although the University of Minnesota's latest Graduation Success Rate (GSR) for student-athletes improved in many areas, the school still lagged behind its Big Ten counterparts, both in overall graduation of athletes and in the major sports of football and men's basketball.

The headline reflected improvement as well.

I'm going to post what I posted on the other board:

If you look at the full report, however, you will see that a football, men's basketball or men's hockey players -- the only three sports at the school that make money -- have only about a 50 percent chance of graduating.

Is that good enough? All three are significantly below national averages for their sports.

It's great work by the non-revenue athletes. That is for sure.


And a later post:

I don't dispute that the Gophers numbers are improving. But as was reported in the Star Trib this morning, the Gophers are last in the Big Ten for football and tied for 10th (or last depending on perspective) in men's hoops. That, to me, isn't good enough.

The men's hockey numbers are also absolutely brutal. The Gophers are 30 points below the national average and those students are not from disadvantaged backgrounds or products of inner city/underfunded high schools.