UO doesn't make the grade on graduation.

Byline: Ron Bellamy The Register-Guard

NCAA president Myles Brand commended college athletes for their academic improvement, based on statistics released Thursday, but the numbers at the University of Oregon, where Brand formerly served as president, weren't flattering.

The latest federal graduation rates, measuring incoming scholarship athletes from the freshman class of 1999-2000, showed UO student-athletes with a graduation rate of 47 percent, lower than the graduation rate for all UO students in that class - 63 percent - and second-lowest in the Pacific-10 Conference.

"In my 20-some years here, I don't think we've ever been under 50 percent, ever," Oregon associate athletic director Gary Gray said. "I'm very disappointed with that."

Nationally, the latest measurements released by the NCAA showed that scholarship athletes from the 1999-2000 freshman class held a two-point advantage, 63 percent to 61 percent, over those students who did not play sports. Athletes also had a one-point overall increase over last year's figures.

At Oregon, however, figures showed a graduation rate of 38 percent for football players from that freshman class, which consisted of 13 athletes. In men's track and field, the Ducks graduated 11 percent of that class, which consisted of nine athletes. The Ducks graduated 67 percent of athletes in other men's sports.

"We have a couple of sports in which the percentages aren't very good," Gray said. "Certainly, we're disappointed to be at 38 percent in football. Being 11 percent in men's track certainly isn't very good. The other sports are OK. We always want them to be better, but the rest are all above 50 percent."

UO women athletes fared better, with a 75 percent graduation rate in women's basketball (one to five athletes in that class, according to NCAA figures), 57 percent in track and field (six to 10 athletes) and 54 percent in other sports.

There was no rate given for the UO men's basketball team, which in 1999-2000 school year had no freshmen on scholarship. That was the year the Ducks had five new players, all of them transfers and thus not figured in the NCAA graduation rate.

The overall academic performance for the 1999-2000 freshman class of student-athletes dropped Oregon's four-year graduation rate - that year plus the previous three years - to 56 percent, compared with 61 percent for the general student body. The four-year average for UO football players was 52 percent.

"I think the four-year average is a little better reflection of how you're doing, and quite frankly I'm not very pleased with that right now," Gray said. "Because we have dropped down a little bit."

In football, Gray pointed out that of the 13-player freshman class, five athletes graduated, but three transferred to other schools, and federal graduation rates penalize schools for that, even if the athletes left in good academic standing. That class also produced five athletes for NFL rosters, including tight end George Wrighster, who left without completing his eligibility.

"The kids that have the opportunity to play professionally sometimes don't hang around and end up working out for teams, and it's very difficult to get them to finish their degrees, especially once they make it with a team," Gray said.

In men's track and field, seven of the nine athletes transferred out, Gray said.

"I don't think all of a sudden that we've fallen down on (academics)," Gray said. "We continue to beef up our academic support program every year."

Oregon State University graduated 66 percent of the student-athletes in that freshman class, compared with a graduation rate of 61 percent for all students. The Beavers showed graduation rates of 60 percent in football (with 11 to 15 athletes in that class, according to NCAA figures), 67 percent in men's basketball (one to five athletes), 40 percent in baseball, 47 percent in other men's sports, 60 percent in women's basketball and 84 percent in other women's sports.

Oregon State's four-year average graduation rate for student-athletes was 61 percent, compared with 60 percent for the OSU student body in general. The four-year rate for football players was 58 percent.

Best performance in the Pac-10 for the 1999-2000 class was at Stanford, with an 89 percent graduation rate, including 94 percent in football. Arizona was 10th with 40 percent.

Academic reform has been Brand's top priority since he took over as president in 2003. He presided over a movement that made eligibility standards for student-athletes more rigorous and created more stringent standards for freshmen to play. Brand also pushed for a new, more effective calculation to measure academic success among student-athletes.

Under that formula, called the Graduation Success Rate, 77 percent of student-athletes graduated.

The difference between the two calculations is that, unlike the federal rate, the GSR doesn't penalize schools when athletes transfer in good academic standing, and it gives schools credit when incoming transfer students earn degrees.

Under the GSR measurement, UO graduated 72 percent of student-athletes in the four-year period that culminated with the 1999-2000 class, about the norm in the Pac-10, with the range from Stanford at 93 percent to Arizona at 65 percent.

The GSR for Oregon football players was 59 percent, compared with 60 percent at Oregon State, and for men's track and field it was 71 percent.

The GSR for men's basketball players was 50 percent at Oregon and 58 percent at Oregon State.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.