NCAA Overturns 5/8 Rule

Coach Bob Huggins likes the change (story here)............... While Coach Hewitt likes the dropping of the 5/8, the academic reform package that replaces it is not one of his favorites (story here). Quote - "The last I checked, across this country, high school students are receiving an education that varies in levels," he said. "If we have such a wide range in the quality of education that is given to young people, why should we blame them for coming from a school district that doesn't have the best funding? People at the NCAA have made an awful lot of money on kids they are going to turn their backs on." .............. Here is another quote from Coach Hewitt - "Two things are going to happen out of this rule - athletes are going to be encouraged to take the easiest major possible, and if you decide to change majors and you don't have the necessary credits in your major, you're going to become ineligible," Hewitt told the Baltimore Sun."............. Obviously Coach Hewitt feels strongly about this, because here is another quote to the Washington Post - "Walking in the door, if your desire is to find what computer science of engineering is all about," Georgia Tech men's basketball coach Paul Hewitt said yesterday, "and you decide after a year to change majors then you are going to lose credits and there would be no way for you to meet the percentages. . . . Instead of improving the opportunity for a kid to get an education, we are going to absolutely dumb down college athletics."

And check out the last part of that article - "Coaches and the NCAA are not on the same page, said Hewitt, pointing to a July meeting in Indianapolis between NCAA administrators and coaches regarding the academic reform proposal. There, he said, an NCAA administrator said: "It's simple, guys. All you have to do is start recruiting guys that look like graduates. I was offended by it, but I didn't take it personally," Hewitt said. "It reaffirmed in my mind that there is a major disconnect between what we're doing as coaches, what students are trying to achieve and what [NCAA administrators'] perception is of us."