The Wrong Idea essays

The Wrong Idea essays (Today) You have a society where every black kid in the country thinks the only way to be successful is through athletics, said Charles Barkley to Sports Illustrated. Therefore, these kids think that the only way to go to college is by being good at a sport. What they do when they get to college is the real question. The past is a good place to see exactly what college student athletes have accomplished. A study was done on the graduation rates of athletes in college. Immediately in this study, black male athletes were spotlighted. Between the years of 1991 and 1994, only seven division one colleges graduated all of their black male basketball players. There were 47 division one colleges that graduated zero black male basketball players in this four year span. They are on what is called the zero percent list. The reasons for not graduating a single black player are unpublished. One of them might have been too much pressure from coaches. Another possible reason is that the players didnt care about their futures beyond basketball. This has been problem has been expressed by players in the past. The reason the black players were asked to go to the schools wasnt because of academic achievements. Coaches recruited these players on scholarships due to their athletic ability. It is interesting to note that between 1991 and 1994, the four national champion teams were not on the list of zero graduation. Duke University, the 1991 and 1992 national champions, graduated 82 percent of all their black male athletes. This shows that successful athletic programs can also include success in the classroom. The rules have become stricter for high school athletes to be eligible for college sports. The minimum required score on the SATs has been raised from 700 to 820. This forced college-recruiting coaches to select athletes who work hard in the classroom as well as ...