Follow up on APR

A quick follow up on the APR, Zach Silka of The Blade has a story where he talks to Greg Christopher.

He first confirms what I had recalled from the day Brandon was let go: we have already given ourselves the penalty, which was the right thing to do.

Now, here is what Christopher released concerning the APR penalty.

“I see the penalties as a one-time occurrence,” Christopher said in a statement. “We saw this coming, so we served the penalty by reducing scholarships a year ago. The football program has never fallen below the APR cutline before, and our score is more a reflection of attrition from the program than on poor academic performance.”

I hope he's right about the one-time occurrence. He is certainly accountable for making it be true, as he should be. Now, there's a little spin here. To say that it is a reflection of attrition ignores the fact that much of the attrition was due to academics (Nate Brown, Glen Stanley, others) in the first place. I just think that the conclusion that we recruited some guys who were not set up to succeed here but were good football players.

However, I agree with the general tone of his comments. Having the most severe penalty is humiliating, and I probably reacted at least a little to that. But, this problem is not endemic to the university, and when it occurred in football, it was dealt with in the strongest possible terms.

“Our athletic department GPA of 3.02 is higher than the general student body GPA at Bowling Green, and our NCAA graduation success rate is the highest in the MAC,” Christopher said. “Our student-athletes should be commended for the way they balance their academic and athletic commitments.”

And I agree.