U. officials unworried about hoops team

The University of Utah men's basketball program is doing well academically and shouldn't be in danger of NCAA penalties next year, say U. athletic officials in response to an NCAA report released earlier this week.

New numbers show the Utah basketball program has fallen well below the minimum number on the NCAA new "Academic Progress Rate," which is being implemented as a way to "improve the academic success and graduation of all student-athletes."

After being just off the minimum 925 mark in an initial report released in February, the Utah men's basketball program was downgraded in a revised report released Monday. While it is a concern to Utah athletic director Chris Hill and basketball coach Ray Giacoletti, both believe the basketball program is in great shape academically and should be able to avoid NCAA penalties in 2006.

"I am always concerned about academics, but I know how much Ray cares," said Hill, who is in Indianapolis for NCAA basketball meetings.

"Everyone on the team is doing well academically, and I'm confident in the future we'll do just fine. The bottom line for me is that Ray's staff has a plan in place to fix the problem."

The "problem" actually stems from Giacoletti's predecessor, Rick Majerus, since the APR numbers are from the 2003-04 season, Majerus' last at Utah. That year, two players left the Utah program early and two others didn't graduate on time, which was enough to drop Utah below the NCAA minimum.

The APR is an assessment of a team's academic performance, which awards two points each term to scholarship student-athletes who meet academic-eligibility standards and who remain with the institution. A team's APR is the total points earned by the team at a given time divided by the total points possible.

Utah's original number released in March was 921, but was downgraded to 857 in a revised report that was released Monday. One player who left the U. program early was overlooked and one who was thought to have graduated, actually had an incomplete in a course and couldn't be counted as a graduate.

That player has since passed his course and met graduation requirements, and Hill is hoping that Utah's number can be upgraded as a result.

The APR consists of two parts, eligibility and retention, and the main problem with Utah basketball is the latter.

"We knew it would be tough sledding because of retention problems," said Hill.