NCAA

Most student-athletes seem to think that they’ll go pro some day.

However, fewer than 2% of student-athletes go on to become professional athletes, according to the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA).

McKeesport Area School District (MASD) put the needs of students first this week when it postponed the Varsity and Junior Varsity Boys Basketball game because too many district players were ineligible.

Student-athletes are required to earn a passing grade in at least 4 different classes, not counting gym, in order to qualify at the western Pennsylvania school district.

The game with South Allegheny School District was initially cancelled but may end up just being postponed.

Throughout the years, US courts have upheld the idea that participation in athletics is a privilege – not a right. So school districts and athletics administrators can suspend or bar athletes from competing on teams for all kinds of reasons including not meeting academic standards.

This may come as a surprise to some folks, but sports and other extracurricular activities are not the primary purpose of school curriculum. Education is.

We need the next generation to be able to read, write and do math – not just dribble a ball. We need teenagers who comprehend and value science so they aren’t ready-made patsies to whatever charlatans come along – not just musclebound and flexible. We need good citizens who can evaluate political ideologies and come to logical conclusions – not just make touchdowns. We need people who remember the mistakes of history and can evaluate the claims of media and advertisers – not just the ability to score points.

That’s why most secondary schools and colleges require student-athletes to maintain a certain grade point average to participate – although the exact academic standard often varies by school district and on individual campuses.

If high schoolers want to play in college, they have to keep their grades up, too.

The NCAA requires a minimum grade point average and successful completion of core courses in order for athletes to participate in college sports.

Moreover, coaches usually recruit players with good grades because they want players who can handle college coursework. Someone who can dominate on the court is no good if he’s constantly on the bench. They want student-athletes who care about keeping scholarships and not being placed on academic probation.

Unfortunately, there are many unscrupulous individuals who try to circumvent the rules to boost athletic victories and sports revenues.

In our own school days, we all knew student-athletes who were failing classes but either secretly kept on the team or given special tutoring or other amenities to keep them eligible.

I remember I took a speech course back in college with a famous football star who was certainly not head of the class. He could barely read the assignments.

A 2014 CNN investigation found a massive achievement gap between college athletes and their peers at public universities across the country. Many students in the basketball and football programs could read only up to an eighth-grade level.

For example, at UNC-Chapel Hill, 60% of athletes who played football or basketball from 2004 to 2012 read between fourth- and eighth-grade levels. Between 8% and 10% read below a third-grade level.

In fact, in 2012 a North Carolina grand jury indicted a UNC professor for being paid $12,000 for a class he didn’t teach. Students at the university – many of them athletes – were given grades for classes they didn’t attend. They were only required to turn in a single paper.

So it is with great pride that I report the actions of MASD today.

The district has upheld its academic integrity and given students more incentive to put as much effort into their school work as their work on the playing field.

I just hope such a philosophy is widespread across the district and doesn’t only apply to varsity boys basketball.

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