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The Chronicle, Thursday, January 30, 1986-Page B5College NotebookProposition 48 may be a boon for small schoolsBy BARRY COOPERSyndicated ColumnistQuestion: Are black people afraid of tests?Answer: Of course not. There are black lawyers, black doctors, black engineers, black airline pilots and black policemen, all of whom had to pass exams before being admitted into their professions.Now young black athletes who want to eventually make millions by playing in the NBA or NFL will first have to pass a controversial test - the Scholastic Aptitude Test or the American College Test.The NCAA recently passed legislation called Proposition 48, which will require prospective college athletes to graduate from high school with a “C” average and score at least 700 on the SAT or the equivalent 15 on the ACT. Until now, there had been no national minimum requirements.It must be pointed out that it is difficult to score less than 700 on the SAT, no matter how culturally deprived one is. Upon writing your name on the test, you are awarded a whopping 400 points. From then on, the trick is to correctly answer enough questions to score 300 additional points.Most colleges require their students to score at least 800 and many students have been known to score 1,000 or more points. But never mind all that. Our topic today is limited to athletes and whether they should be required to live up to some kind of academic standards.Some black educators, particularly Grambling President Jesse Johnson, are howling long and hard about Proposition 48, likening it to South African apartheid. Theirs is a classic overrac-tion. It is clear that something must be done about the exploitation of big-time college athletes, young men and women who sjjfend four or five years at top universities but fail to learn much of anything except how to block and tackle or make a layup.Proposition 48 is a step in the right direction, although it is sureto be a bitter pill to swallow. If the rule had been in effect four years ago, it is possible that basketball star Patrick Ewing, who graduated from Georgetown University, would not have been admitted to school.Other well-known sports figures also might have been left behind.But times have changed and a resulting by-product is an increasing of standards. For sure, Proposition 48 will be a slap in the face for untold numbers of black athletes, many of whom attended inner-city high schools where the quality of education is not as good as it is in, say, the mostly white suburbs. And it has been proven that tests like the SAT are racially and culturally biased.However, if anything, black athletes are fighters and survivors. They have taken over major sports, simply by working harder and playing with more determination than their white counterparts. Given the chance, the black athletes will meet the challenge in the classroom, too.Take Ewing, for example. When he graduated from Georgetown, his high school coach informed the Hoyas that Ewing would need daily tutoring, including help with his reading and aid in taking notes in class.Ewing got that help, made the most of it and parlayed it into a degree. His is a heartwarming success story. But what about all the young athletes who arrive at college ill-prepared and don’t have a burning desire to correct their academic weaknesses?How does a player with a poor academic background and inferior study habits compete in top college classrooms? He cannot, unless there is some push, some impetus, whether it be a burning inner desire or a rule like Proposition 48.What Proposition 48 will do, hopefully, is send a message to young high school players. Now they will know that they must understand the theory of evolution as well as the quickest path to the end zone.It will be a while before the trickle-down process filters through the high schools. In the interim, some very good high school athletes, many of them black, will find the doors to major college sports slammed shut.That is not all bad, though. Proposition 48 affects only the major universities. Division II schools like Norfolk State, Winston-Salem State, Central State of Ohio and Virginia Union will not have to abide by the ruling. Perhaps some high school athletes would be better off at smaller schools like those, where they would be able to get more individual attention and perhaps take advantage of remedial programs that already are in place. Besides, what’s so bad about the smaller schools getting a shot at the top athletes for a change?If black schools like Grambling are so disenchanted with Proposition 48, perhaps they should drop down from Division I-AA (major-college status) and into Division II. Perhaps then we would return to the glory days when all the top black talent played at black schools.Whatever the case, academic belt-tightening is needed at most major schools. And those players who do not meet the new standards will still find themselves with a safety valve. They can be admitted to school and can sign an athletic grant-in-aid. They just will not be able to play or practice that first year.For some, Proposition 48 may prove to be a headache. That, however, will be a small price to play. What’s most important is education, not wins and losses on the athletic field.The College Scene• South Carolina State College has hired Dennis Thomas to be its new football coach. Thomas, assistant head coach at Alcorn State, replaces Bill Davis, whose contract was not renewed. “We are privileged to have Coach Thomas join our staff,” said S.C. State Athletic DirectorWillis Ham. “We believe that his football philosophy and extensive recruiting experience will help revitalize the program here.” S.C. State, once among the top black college teams in the country, has fallen on hard times. Thomas was one of at least two men the Bulldogs contacted about the job. Former S.C. State Coach Willie Jeffries, now head coach at Howard University, declined to be interviewed ....• Sources say that Georgetown University basketball Coach John Thompson has delivered the law to his team: no more fighting. The nationally ranked Hoyas, still formidable after losing center Patrick Ewing to the NBA, have been involved in scuffles in four different games this season. “I’m not interested in who to blame as much as I’m interested in it stopping,” Thompson said. “So much attention has been given to us being aggressive and so much attention has been given to how we are supposed to play. We play full-court and we play aggressive defense .... and everybody will be ready, at the drop of a hat, to be irritable,” he said ....• Delegates at the NCAA convention passed the controversial academic proposal Proposition 48 but turned down several other major proposals, many of them dealing with money. The delegates voted against allowing athletes to have five years of eligibility instead of four; against allowing student-athletes to receive financial aid during the summers before their freshman years, and against allowing the schools to pay for a student-athlete’s drug-rehabilitation expenses ....• College basketball was full of pro prospects last year, but the pickings will not be as plentiful this season, NBA scouts say. ThePlease see page B7ppmBennie McBrideWhat con Bennie do?1. Match you to just the right new or used car at the right price.2. Make sure your new car fits your budget.3. Help you finance your car at just the right monthly payment.4. Be available when you or your car need attention.Bennie can do It all!!!MODERN722-4197West Fourth and BroadCome by our showroom and see me at the “Quiet Dealership.”Wouldn’t you really rather have a Buick?mm UK. RICHARD JOHNSONBill Harris Buick1725 LINK ROAD WINSTON-SALEM723-0365Don’t let the smooth taste fool you.COLLEGE STANDINGS
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Winston Salem Chronicle
Winston Salem, North Carolina, US
Thu, Jan 30, 1986
Page 19
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