Chris Davis stands in front of a computer cluster in the Iocolano-Petty Football Complex. Players on the Syracuse football team enter the vicinity to prepare for a study session. Davis, a graduate assistant and current master’s student, was once one of those players.

Now Davis sounds frustrated. He throws his right hand above his head and makes a circular motion as if to accuse the players surrounding him.

But instead, Davis is talking about the past. His irritation brims from depicting the ex-Syracuse athletes who failed to graduate.

He recalled some athletes who made it to their last semester before assuming their future rested in the NFL. The players who took that risk often flunked out of school and the pros.

Davis was one of the few lucky enough to make it professionally. But his NFL career was fleeting. He spent two years as a Seattle Seahawks fullback before recurring knee injuries forced him into retirement. Fortunately for Davis, he always had a sociology degree sitting in his back pocket

‘(The pros are) a revolving door,’ Davis said. ‘You never know what happens. You may get hurt. I try to stress the importance of a college education because without it, the possibility of you landing a great job are very limited.’

Davis serves as one of the many individuals who work with Syracuse athletes on academics. The purpose of these mentors – to try and help athletes realize it can be a lot more comfortable to clutch a diploma than grasping a football or basketball.

Athletics and academics have grown in prominence for athletic programs across the country. Schools are facing stricter punishments for academic indiscretions. Last March, the NCAA announced 99 sports teams from 65 colleges and universities, many of them major Division I programs, lost scholarships due to academic failures.

Kenneth Miles, the associate athletics director for student-athlete support services, monitors the academic development of SU’s athletes. When it comes to checking the progress of athletes, it starts where it ends – graduation.

‘You’re here for a reason,’ Miles said. ‘You’re here for a purpose. You have to leave here with something. There was no way in hell I was going to go to college and not come back without a degree.’

Academic reforms by the NCAA have resulted in graduation rate serving the utmost importance when trying to measure academic success. Both athletes and the student body earn diplomas at a 79 percent rate, according to the figures available on the NCAA’s Web site.

The data allows each group six years to graduate, which could be deceptive since the standard student graduation is four years. Also, new NCAA reforms require athletes to complete 20 percent of his or her degree every year, said Erik Christianson, director of media relations for the NCAA. This makes the six years seem even less significant.

Nevertheless, students who receive athletic aid at Syracuse graduate in almost four-fifths of the time. All receive help from Syracuse’s support program.

All, however, do not achieve graduation with flying colors.

Michael Wasylenko, Syracuse’s faculty athletic representative who acts as a liaison between the university and the athletics program, stated Syracuse athletes, on average, have a lower GPA than the rest of the student body. The statistic remains a national trend and Wasylenko attributes it to the workload athletes have to adjust to in college.

‘Time management is the buzz word,’ Wasylenko said. ‘Time management is extremely

important for athletes. And a lot of them, in the beginning at least, haven’t totally got it all figured out.’

In addition to school and games, coaches often have athletes take advantage of all 20 practice hours athletes are allotted by the NCAA during the regular season.

It’s for this reason Miles deems it necessary for athletes to have an academic support system available. Syracuse has one in the Stevenson Educational Center, a place that focuses its services on time management issues.

Private tutors serve each sport. Graduate assistants aid athletes in studies. Athletes work in computer clusters that offer the same technology as what’s found on the main campus.

The support system has athletes set up meetings with their mentors to discuss upcoming classes and test preparation. Tutors will provide criticism on papers and help an athlete set up a schedule that does not conflict with practice. Mandatory study sessions exist during the week and sometimes while a team is traveling. A student’s GPA and class dictate how mandatory these activities become for athletes.

‘It was harder in junior college because not having tutors and stuff, I was like mostly on my own,’ said Taj Smith, JUCO transfer and SU starting wide receiver.

‘I think without the tutors, sometimes it’d be so hard dealing with football and school. You’ll be so tired you just want to relax.’

Miles is evaluating whether to expand his tutoring staff (currently five members, not counting graduate assistants), and certainly would not oppose an expansion of the educational program, either.

The New York Times reported in November the University of Southern California spends $1.5 million each year on its academic support program, making it one of the heaviest spenders in the nation. USC’s athletic program assists more than 500 students. Miles did not know the budget of the academic support program at Syracuse.

To players, the system can prove invaluable. Senior lacrosse player Danny Brennan missed last season because he was academically ineligible. Brennan said he was reinstated this spring after improving his GPA back above a 2.0. He deemed the support system and tutor Terry MacDonald’s guidance as a ‘tremendous help’ in his return to the field.

Some critics fear problems can arise when schools maintain an athlete’s eligibility by spending heaps on the support system. Dr. Dave Ridpath, president of The Drake Group, an academic reform group, stated the pressure schools face in keeping athletes qualified leads to advisers focusing on finding the best way to keep an athlete eligible instead of finding him or her the best career path.

‘We’ve taken away a lot of individual responsibility, a lot of individual choice,’ Ridpath said. ‘(Advisers) are under a tremendous amount of pressure to keep these kids eligible.’

Miles rejected the notion. While procedures like scheduling and tutoring occur through athletic department staff, Miles said athletes are integrated into the school. They take the same classes as other students and use the same advisers. The only difference is the extra help athletes receive in learning to manage their time, Miles said.

Miles plans to do whatever it takes to give athletes a well-rounded experience at Syracuse. He plans to reach out to other areas of the campus. He wants to arrange programs with SU organizations. Integration is a key aspect of his program.

So is candidness. Miles will dare any skeptics to take a look at his program and find a mistake. That approach should sit well with Wasylenko.

The faculty oversight committee he oversees observes such matters as trends in grades and classes. Moreover, the committee evaluates athletes’ tendencies to choose specific majors. Wasylenko explained trends in majors indicate that although the athlete was an NCAA qualifier, some of the qualifiers passed the admissions standards for only one particular college. Miles said Syracuse athletes can be found in all SU colleges other than architecture.

In addition to oversight, Syracuse takes other measures to make certain academic integrity remains a top priority. Chancellor Nancy Cantor moved Director of Athletics Daryl Gross into her Cabinet. Consequently, Gross can listen to athletics-related comments made by other departments such as admissions or student affairs. Gross also reports directly to Cantor instead of a vice chancellor

Wasylenko stays involved in the hiring processes of coaches at Syracuse. He looks to make sure potential coaches don’t see the athletes as one-dimensional – as solely athletes. It’s the same qualities Wasylenko looked for when he was a member of the search committee that hired Gross.

Although in non-revenue sports eligibility often is a rare problem, coaches have implemented strategies for helping a student with academics.

First-year softball head coach Leigh Ross asserted she increased the standards for academics on her team. She implemented longer mandatory study hours to help rise what she called a disappointing team average.

Women’s soccer coach Pat Farmer acknowledged playing a college sport is often the final step in a sports career for an athlete, which results in players concentrating on academics.

‘For most of them – 99 percent of them – this will be the top level of which they play,’ Farmer said. ‘They understand they’re getting a degree in addition to that. And that’s their primary focus. We just don’t have very many problems at all. None, actually, since I’ve been here. Not one.’

The more common academic ineligibility stories come from the more ‘high profile’ sports, Christianson said. At SU, the football team currently has three players – Cornelius Campbell, Lee Williams and Eugene Newsome – trying to attain eligibility for next season. It’s vital to keep up with the players’ progress, Syracuse head coach Greg Robinson said.

‘Our support system of people – their job is to monitor and to setup the mentoring and the tutoring,’ Robinson said. ‘But I think the coaches should help maintain the discipline. And so that’s the coaches’ end of it. So they have to be involved. Each position coach has got to be involved with his players and totally understand what their world is all about in academic affairs.’

Another frequent problem for revenue sports occurs in an athlete’s final semester. A player with intentions of going pro becomes swept up with impressing scouts and falls a few credits short of graduation, said Bernie Fine, associate head coach of the Syracuse men’s basketball team.

Syracuse administrators arrange for its students to take summer courses to help make the course load lighter during the spring. The NCAA recently announced scholarships could cover summer school before a student’s freshman year. SU has utilized this opportunity, Fine said.

Former SU basketball players like Gerry McNamara and Darryl Watkins needed to take only one or two classes in their final semester. Kueth Duany, a senior on the 2003 championship team, completed enough credits to graduate by his junior year. During his senior year, he took graduate classes, Fine said.

The recent departures of DeShaun Williams, Billy Edelin and Dayshawn Wright were related to academic issues. Fine blames all on apathy.

Still, Miles attempts to understand what motivates all athletes who enter Syracuse. A day at work requires him to show the gamut of emotions.

One afternoon, Miles runs into Syracuse basketball power forward Terrence Roberts, who Miles has nicknamed ‘Little Brother.’ The two have a friendly chat before heading their separate ways.

On the same evening, Miles walks into a disorganized study session in a computer cluster in the football wing. He speaks sternly to a handful of athletes, bringing order to the room.

Miles hopes athletes identify with the message he tries to teach at Syracuse. He said he feels his background permits him to understand the juggling act athletes go through in college. Miles speaks to athletes as an associate athletic director, a former University of Virginia football player and a current Ph.D. student. His implication seems clear, as does the purpose of the program he runs.

‘Some individuals think life after their sport will continue,’ Miles said. ‘Some recognize, ‘I’m pretty much going to be a collegiate athlete and that’s it.’ What I try to do is get everybody to understand that your degree will last you a whole lot longer than your athletic ability ever will.’

Published on May 6, 2007 at 12:00 pm