EDITORIAL & OPINION: Saving the student-athlete

A court decision ending the NCAA's existing academic eligibility standard may do more harm than good. Yesterday, a federal court judge denied an NCAA request to stay the invalidation of the existing eligibility statute while the NCAA appealed the invalidation. The ruling set the stage for a chaos. With only a month remaining before the signing date for several collegiate sports, including basketball and football, schools are, for the moment, free to play the recruiting game by their own rules. The train of events was set in motion two weeks ago, when federal circuit Judge Ronald Buckwalter invalidated Proposition 16 -- the NCAA's now-expired eligibility standard -- on the grounds that it unfairly discriminated against minorities in its emphasis on SAT scores. Accept, for the moment, that Proposition 16 illegally discriminated against minorities by placing too great an emphasis on SAT scores. Also, accept that as such, each day the law remains on the books represents a continued injustice. Even so, Buckwalter is creating a greater injustice in his attempt to instantly end a smaller one. In other words, the ruling means that schools may face the irresistible temptation of taking the "student" out of "student-athlete." The message that would send to high school athletes struggling academically is troubling. Fortified with the knowledge that academic achievement will not play a role in their ability to secure an athletic scholarship, what will keep such students in class? Worse still, what will motivate future students to focus on academic achievements when the gates of higher learning stand open to those who can dunk, illiterate or no. Both sides in the case profess to recognize these issues, and both acknowledge that the NCAA must work to develop a new set of uniform standards for its member institutions. We agree, and hope that a stay is granted on appeal. But regardless, the NCAA must act quickly to implement an adjusted eligibility standard as soon as possible. Ultimately, nothing is more important than ensuring minimum academic standards are in place.

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