Making student-athletes

Saturday, May 10, 2008 | 2:06 a.m.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association issued warnings and penalties Tuesday to 218 Division I sports teams that failed to meet academic standards.

The NCAA reviewed the academic success of athletes on more than 6,000 teams at 329 colleges, and officials said they had expected a higher number of teams to fail. The standard that had to be met was a graduation rate of roughly 60 percent.

Of the teams that failed to meet the standard, 174 had scholarships taken away, which will put them at a competitive disadvantage in the seasons to come. Teams punished included six that played in this year’s men’s basketball championship tournament and two teams that were part of the football Bowl Championship Series last year.

Teams were reminded that this is not a one-time event. The NCAA promises more penalties next year for teams that don’t improve, and that may include restrictions on practice time and postseason play.

Three teams at UNLV were sanctioned. The football team lost one scholarship and the men’s soccer team and women’s indoor track team lost partial scholarships. The baseball team was issued a warning.

More than a third of the nation’s Division I schools had at least one team penalized, and NCAA President Miles Brand said the goal is to “change the behaviors” of athletes, coaches and administrators so that academic success becomes a priority.

So far, it appears the message has been heard. Overall academic achievement among college athletes has improved over the past four years, including in the three sports that have had the greatest academic trouble in the past — baseball, football and men’s basketball.

That is good. In major college sports, it is often forgotten that the athletes are also undergraduates and very few of them ever make a career in professional sports. Equipping them for life after their playing days are over is important. We are under no illusion, given the money in big-time college athletics, that “football factories” and their like will disappear. But we hope the NCAA’s initiative reminds colleges that the players are supposed to be student-athletes.