Oklahoma State loses women's basketball scholarship

STILLWATER _ Quick roster turnover helped Oklahoma State's women's basketball team go from the bottom of the Big 12 to the NCAA tournament. It also cost the Cowgirls a scholarship.

Oklahoma State received a one scholarship penalty because it fell short of academic progress rate standards set by the NCAA. Associate athletic director for compliance Scott Williams said the school knew the penalty was coming and decided to dock itself one scholarship last season.

Oklahoma State's four-year APR of 914 was just shy of the 925 needed to avoid penalties, but it ranked among the bottom 10 percent of women's basketball teams in statistics released Tuesday. The Cowgirls were one of only 10 programs in the sport that were penalized by the NCAA.

Associate athletic director Marilyn Middlebrook said the low APR was a result of several players departing when coach Kurt Budke was hired and that all players who remained either graduated or are moving toward their degrees.

Five of the 13 players on the Cowgirls' roster for Julie Goodenough's final season as coach did not return when Budke took over as head coach prior to the 2006-07 season.

That put the Cowgirls in position to revamp the roster with the addition of players like Andrea Riley, Danielle Green and Maria Cordero, who helped take the team to the round of 16 in this year's NCAA tournament. It also put the team on weak footing with the APR.

Oklahoma State's baseball team also fell below the 925 benchmark but has received a waiver from the NCAA as it continues to raise its APR. The baseball team's mark of 877 was a 25-point increase over last year's number.

The school's other 15 programs were all in good standing, and the men's golf team recorded a perfect score of 1,000. Women's outdoor track (995), women's indoor track (993), men's cross country (992) and men's tennis (991) also had nearly perfect APRs.

The scores are calculated by giving teams one point for each athlete that stays in school and another for each athlete that remains academically eligible. The point totals are then divided by the team's maximum points possible to derive a score equivalent to a percentage.

"I would like to hit 1,000 on all of them but that's unrealistic, and we have to set realistic goals," Middlebrook said.

Oral Roberts' baseball team, which had an APR of 865, was the only other team in the state that was penalized. The Golden Eagles had practice time limits added to scholarship reductions that were imposed last year.

The rest of the teams at Oklahoma's Division I schools had APRs above 925 or received waivers to improve their scores. Tulsa's softball team (993) was the only other program in the state to pass the 990 mark.

Oklahoma (942) had the highest score among the state's three football teams, although Tulsa (936) and Oklahoma State (935) were both slightly ahead of the national average. In men's basketball, Oklahoma State (957) had the highest score of the four programs. Oral Roberts (943) was also clear of the APR mark, while Tulsa (921) and Oklahoma (911) need improvement.

"We support the premise of the NCAA's academic reform program and as a result have developed a number of strategies to help student-athletes perform at a higher level academically while completing a degree in a timely fashion," Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione said in a statement.

"We recognize that this is an ongoing process and that we still have work to do, but it is gratifying to see our initiatives making a positive impact in the lives of the young people we serve."

Middlebrook said the APR has resulted in coaches paying closer attention to academics, but there have also been unwanted side effects. She believes the system is more an indicator of retention than academic success, and it unfairly sets the same standards for students regardless of their academic background or their sport.

The academic standards also set athletes apart from the general student population because it is more difficult for them to change majors and even take courses outside their major without jeopardizing their mandated progress toward their degree, Middlebrook said.

"It just doesn't give students enough freedom to try and find their way," Middlebrook said.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press