Winning or academics more important in college sports?

[oregonpackfan]

The big question for the major sports of college football and basketball rose again yesterday when the NCAA leveled sanctions against 200 colleges having players with poor academic performance and graduation rates.

Prior to this report a number of Oregon Ducks fans, sportswriters, and alumni have been putting pressure on UO Athletic Director Pat Kilkenny to terminate UO mens' basketball coach Ernie Kent.

Kent has consistently produced winning seasons but is not winning at the top 20 level some fans want him to win. He has taken the team to the NCAA tournament twice in the last two years, even the Elite Eight two years ago.

Regarded as a man of high character who genuinely is concerned about the academics and personal lives of his players, many fans still want him ousted. Kent has stated, "To me, its bringing in guys who want to be educated and who want to earn their degrees."

The drive to fire Kent took a blow yesterday when the U. of Oregon's mens basketball team scored an impressive 975 out of a possible 1,000 points. The score was the highest of any major sports team in the Pac-10.

Again, this brings up the question: Should a Division I coach of a major sport be evaluated by the academic standings of his players or the winning percentage of his team?

Share with us your thoughts.

http://www.oregonlive.com/ducks/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/sports/121012891675900.xml&coll=7

[Partial]

Most of these players are going to go onto the real world when they're done with college sports. Education should come first.

[3irty1]

From the school's point of view winning is more important.

[red]

fans aren't rooting for teams to to have high gpa's. they root for their teams to win

its up to the player. most of them are getting a chance of a lifetime to get a college education for free. its up to them to do the right thing. some will take advantage of the schooling and realize there is a life after college sports. others want to piss that opportunity away

if the players want to fuck up a chance of a lifetime then thats their own fault

and i don't want to hear an argument that the sport doesn't give them enough time to study.

bullshit. a lot of college kids have jobs while in college, they still find time to study. i went to a d-1 school, i've had classes with some athletes that were there every single day and studies their asses off. and i've been in other classes where i didn't even know the player was in the class until finals.

the schools and coaches gave them the opportunity that most wouldn't have received if not for sports. its up to the players to decide if they want to take advantage of it

[MJZiggy]

Red, while what you're saying is true and I agree with all of it, there are schools that base their reputation on the academic excellence of their student body. They attract non-athlete students based on the reputation of the degree that they expect to leave school with. If a school has a kick ass football team, but crappy academic reputation, they will attract a lot of football players, but not a lot of athletes. They need to have expectations for all the players and the ones who aren't doing their first job there (which is their academic career) shouldn't be in the sports arena until they are.