Daily Word: Hit the Books

Daily Word: Hit the Books

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New for the 2011-2012 seasons, the America East Daily Word, a collaboration between AmericaEast.com and AExtra, will recap the previous day's games and on goings on our nine campuses and provide links to previews, recaps, features and exclusive coverage.

Amidst all of the fall sport drama, bigger news came out of the NCAA yesterday that will impact Division I collegiate athletics across the board.

The NCAA Division I Board of Directors approved proposals yesterday that “toughen academic standards and provide increased academic and economic support to student-athletes.” As part of the accepted proposals, a certain level of academic performance must be achieved in order for teams to participate in postseason competition. The eligibility requirement will begin a phase-in process beginning in the 2012-2013 academic year.

Currently the Academic Progress Rate (APR) needed to participate in the postseason is 900 but the new plan calls for a 930 APR that will be phased in over the next four years. That jump would have kept a number of teams out of tournaments last year and will potentially keep them out until academic progress is up to standard. UConn men’s basketball team, for example, would be ineligible next season because it’s four year APR is below the required 900 and the two most recent years of data would be below 930.

University of Hartford President Walt Harrison serves as the chair of the Committee on Academic Performance, the committee that recommended the tougher academic standards which were adopted yesterday.

In addition to the academic changes, the board also passed legislation allowing scholarship athletes to receive “athletics aid up to the full cost of attendance or $2,000, whichever is less.” That according the official NCAA release. That’s huge news on the long-debated “should collegiate athletes be paid?” front and will most likely cause even more debate now that the legislation allows it.

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