In response to various reports in the media and message board misperceptions about the graduation rate of basketball players under Bob Huggins, Bearcatnews.com has compiled some of the many articles that have covered this topic.

The collection below includes some negatively slanted articles that BearcatNews feels propagates incorrect info on the academic achievements of these players.

We hope the below helps basketball fans and media alike give the Bearcats a fair shake based on the facts, and not message board drivel or uninformed, out-of town writers.

Originally published, Nov 9, 2003.
Revised Dec 5, 2006

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Huggins takes brief break, then grief from Reilly Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Cleaveland Plain Dealer

A little fishing never hurt anybody.  During his year away from coaching college basketball, Bob Huggins said that was how he passed some time, going for largemouth bass in Tuscarawas County, and not trolling for a job.

But when the Kansas State job came calling in March, well . . . "I wasn't out campaigning to get a job," said Huggins, whose Wildcats (4-3) take on Cleveland State (5-4) tonight in Manhattan, Kan. "In all honesty, I had some opportunities [in the NBA], but it's not what I wanted to do. I went back and spent time with my family. I enjoyed it immensely."

For the former University of Cincinnati coach -- his contract was bought out by the school in August 2005 after 16 seasons -- it really was just a matter of time before he got back on the bench.

Will it be a kinder, gentler Huggins? Has the time away mellowed him?  "You will have to ask my players about that," said Huggins during a Monday phone interview.  Or will it be business as usual for the college game's dressed-in-black Darth Vader? 

It will be if you agree with Sports Illustrated's Rick Reilly, who took a page full of shots at Huggins in an Oct. 23 column written for KSU as a "user's guide" to Huggins. From his attire to graduation rate, ethics to sideline demeanor, Reilly let fly.  Wrote Reilly, "During games, [Huggins] screams at his players and they scream at him. It's like dinner at Ozzy Osbourne's house. Your fans will love it. They will be able to hear much of his halftime speech without leaving their seats."

Huggins has heard it all before, but never from Reilly, according to the coach.  "Rick Reilly doesn't know me," said Huggins, ranked eighth in coaching wins with a 571-202 record. "As far as I know, he's never been to one of our games or practices. He's never talked to me. It was an uninformed article by an uninformed guy. I consider the source. He doesn't know anything about my program.  What bothers me is taking shots at the kids. We've had some wonderful kids. We've had some bumps in the road. But the difference is 16 years coaching at the same place."

Huggins spent three seasons at Walsh College (1980-83) before heading the University of Akron for five seasons (1984-89), including an NCAA trip in 1986, before going to Cincinnati.

He said he didn't consider the Cleveland State job -- eventually taken by Gary Waters --during his sabbatical.  "I know Gary Waters," Huggins said. "Gary will do a great job, just like wherever he's been. Kent was considered a dead-end job, and he made it one of the premier programs in the MAC. He did a great job at Rutgers."

Huggins has hit the road running. Last month he signed 6-10 Michael Beasley from Washington, D.C., considered one of the top high-school recruits in the nation. On Dec. 16, 6-6 Bill Walker from North College Hill in Cincinnati will become eligible for the Wildcats. Walker was named the Division III tournament MVP in March.  "It's been phenomenal since we got here," said Huggins. "But we got beat twice [last week], so I've kind of stayed in the house. People want us to win. We'll get that done for them."

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In a surprising column by Cincinnati Enquirer writer Paul Daugherty, the previously anti-Huggins writer admits that the past wasn't all bad.

Stop Deriding UC
We get the point; move on
Paul Daugherty
Cincinnati Enquirer, Jan 14th, 2006

He says he meant no offense. He says he intended no insult.  "My comments were not in any way specific to the University of Cincinnati," said Mike Thomas, the school's athletic director.

He is new to the job. He is feeling his way around the minefield that is UC basketball.

In an interview this week with The Enquirer's Bill Koch about the search for a permanent men's basketball coach, Thomas reiterated the need for the new guy to "bring in good citizens."

"I could be sitting here as the athletic director of the University of Kentucky or anywhere else, and I'd say the same thing," he said. Fair enough. There is no reason to doubt Thomas, unless you think an A.D. who needs to heal gaping wounds in the Bearcats fan base would deliberately arm himself with big bags of salt.

Here's some unsolicited advice: Just stop it.

To Thomas, UC president Nancy Zimpher and anyone else in Clifton advocating a new day for UC athletics: Please turn the page. Please stop making references to citizenship when it comes to Bearcat basketball. Enough already.

Forget for an instant how self-defeating it has become. What university sells itself short this way, again and again? It's almost as if the administration is perpetuating the very image it seeks to eliminate.  But forget that.

Here's the bigger issue:

It's unseemly.

It makes you look small.

It implies that the previous regime did not import good citizens, and that the jury is out on the current regime's ability to attract the, um, proper element. It stings every player who ever graduated from Cincinnati, to read and hear, over and over and over, the new sheriff's wish to bring in "good citizens," as if the program were Outlawville before she arrived.

It wasn't, actually.

Even if it were, the message has been delivered, gracelessly, for months. "The university is now ready to take the next step by striving to win national championships with academically successful and socially responsible students," the school's lawyer wrote to Bob Huggins' lawyer, way back on Aug. 8. Ah, do tell.

We got the picture then. We get it now.

Stop whacking us over the head with it.

Stop alienating fans.

Stop insulting former players.

The deeds of the bad citizens have been well documented. If you are Anthony Buford or Terry Nelson or Jason Maxiell or Leonard Stokes, to name a few of many, many good citizens, you should direct your irritation at Thomas and Zimpher and the like. They did as much to bring down the program's reputation as any player or coach.

The administration doesn't need to perpetuate it. Please turn the page.

"It's unfortunate they make comments like that," said Buford, who earned his bachelor's degree in economics in 1992. "They continue to perpetuate a fallacy."

Said Alex Meacham, who earned a bachelor's in communications in 2000: "I don't understand why they keep throwing that good citizen stuff out there when there are so many good ambassadors for the program right here in the city."

Nelson, with a bachelor's of liberal arts/social sciences in 1998, offered a list of 18 former Huggins players still living and working in the city. It took him less than a minute. The seconds-per-good-citizen ratio was impressive. "In a roundabout way, they keep labeling people who have come through this program as thugs," Nelson said. "They're bashing people who have put them in the position they're in."

Please stop.

You've said you want to move on. So move on, already.

UC basketball has had its share of bad guys. In the name of winning, it has cut devil-deals and crossed its fingers. This describes about 99 percent of would-be big-time programs in America. Winning and good citizenship should be compatible. Everyone hopes the new sheriff can pull that off. Perpetuating a stereotype from days gone by doesn't further that dream.

As Buford said, "There are (coaches) from other staffs, using this to recruit against Cincinnati. They'll show these (articles) to a recruit and say, 'They make judgments against players without even knowing them.' "

Stop judging and start looking forward. The good citizens will thank you.

Caption under a photo of Anthony Buford -
Anthony Buford helped UC become prominent. When university president Nancy Zimpher and athletic director Mike Thomas deride it, they're criticizing successful graduates such as Buford.

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Cincy, Kentucky programs not exactly opposites March 18, 2005
By Gregg Doyel. SportsLine.com

INDIANAPOLIS -- Cincinnati plays Kentucky on Saturday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, and you know what's coming next. Stories in the media -- awful stories -- about Beauty and Beast. Stories -- ugly stories -- about the renegade program with the academic deficiencies, arrests and players generally doing stupid things to embarrass the team. But really, people, Kentucky hasn't been that bad.

Caught you leaning the other way, right? Figures. Everyone leans on Cincinnati and nobody leans on Kentucky, but these programs are not the polar opposites they are generally presented to be. This is not Good vs. Evil, as the Duke-UNLV meeting in the 1990 NCAA championship was (mistakenly) hyped.

Cincinnati is perceived to not graduate its players, but in the first NCAA Academic Progress Report released last month, Kentucky was well behind Cincinnati. Kentucky, in fact, was well behind almost everybody. Of the 65 teams in the 2005 NCAA Tournament, Kentucky was No. 63. Cincinnati was No. 44. The NCAA red-flagged 10 schools in the 2005 field, and Kentucky was one.

Cincinnati was not. Surprise, surprise.

There are surprises everywhere. Cincinnati has had its share of legal problems in recent years, but you could knock me over with a rolled-up search warrant if the Bearcats have had more problems than Kentucky. The Wildcats haven't had anyone punch a police horse, but their players and/or recruits have been caught using fake ID's (Gerald Fitch and Erik Daniels), charged with DUI or DWI (Desmond Allison and Jules Camara), and arrested for selling marijuana (recruit Michael Southall).

Ex-Wildcats of recent vintage also have been in trouble, with Heshimu Evans charged with vehicular offenses including leaving the scene of an accident, and Wayne Turner being arrested after police found a loaded handgun in his car.

Since Kentucky coach Tubby Smith began cleaning house in 2002, the Wildcats have been mostly trouble-free, and that's the image of Kentucky basketball. Cincinnati, though, fights all kinds of image issues.

Here's another: In recruiting circles, there are two areas to get players: traditional high schools, and everywhere else. "Everywhere else" includes Division I transfers, junior colleges and basketball factories masquerading as prep schools.

Cincinnati's rotation has four players (transfers Nick Williams, James White and Jihad Muhammad; and prepster Roy Bright) that came from "everywhere else." Kentucky's rotation? It also has four (transfer Patrick Sparks and prepsters Rajon Rondo, Ramel Bradley and Lukasz Obrzut). But this, typically, was one of the questions asked Friday of senior forward Chuck Hayes during Kentucky's press conference: Chuck, Cincinnati recruits from different circles than Kentucky. Do you think they'll come in with chip on their shoulder?

And this, unfortunately, was the meat of Hayes's answer:
"I know their players attend all the AAU camps as we did," he said. "Coach Huggins and his staff and Coach Smith and his staff were there, scouting players. I don't know what Coach Huggins looks for in his players, but Coach Smith likes to bring in players that are respectful, who know the game and are good kids."

You mean like Mike Southall?

Sorry. Cheap shot. But why, in this neighborhood rivalry that's not a rivalry at all -- more on that in a minute -- are the cheap shots usually saved for Cincinnati?

The NCAA has looked at Cincinnati, yes, but it has never found anything remotely close to what it found at Kentucky in 1989. DerMarr Johnson is held against Cincinnati as the ultimate one-and-done renegade with no interest in a degree. Do you know the difference between DerMarr Johnson and NBA-hungry Kentucky center Randolph Morris? Johnson had the chance to turn pro after his freshman season. Morris won't.

If Kentucky and Cincinnati were as morally far apart as the typical media coverage would have you believe, Smith and Huggins wouldn't be friends. They are. When Huggins hosted his annual coaches clinic this past fall, Smith was his keynote speaker. They have hosted a charity golf tournament together. Both have volunteered for the other's charity foundation. "Tubby is what I think all coaches ought to be," Huggins said. "His players have great respect for him, he works extremely hard, he's involved in his community, he's involved in the betterment of basketball. I don't know what else a guy could do. If they have the word 'coach' in front of your name, I don't know what more anybody could expect."

On the Ohio side of the Interstate 75 corridor that separates the campuses by roughly 80 miles, there is much clamoring for the 'Cats and 'Cats to sign a long-term series contract. That's been done before, actually. It was 1987, when the schools had a six-game deal that lasted two games. After Kentucky beat Cincinnati in 1990, Cincinnati people say, Kentucky asked out of the deal. Cincinnati agreed. The teams haven't played since.

They play Saturday. Neither team has a choice. The people watching the game will form opinions of both programs. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is your choice.

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Thursday, March 17, 2005
Bearcats polish reputation on and off the courtPat Harty, Commentary
www.hawkcentral.com (Iowa)
(excerpt)

The good news is that steps now are being taken to improve the image of the Cincinnati program as evidenced by the unusual fact box on page five of its postseason media guide. It highlights statistics, but none that have anything to do with shooting percentages, rebounds, assists or steals. They instead focus on the graduation rates of the Cincinnati players under coach Bob Huggins.

The fact box points out that eight of the 14 departing seniors over the past three seasons have earned their degrees. It also mentions that 24 of the players who completed their eligibility under Huggins have earned their degrees and that Cincinnati had a 100 percent graduation rate in men's basketball for the class that entered in 1995-96. Finally, it says that Cincinnati won the Conference USA Sport Academic Award in men's basketball in 2001 for having the highest team grade-point average in that sport.

And while I'm not ready to say that Cincinnati is to Conference USA what Northwestern is to the Big Ten, the academic situation under Huggins isn't as bad as I originally thought. I was under the impression that nobody graduated from Cincinnati, because according to how the NCAA used to calculate graduation rates, that was the case.

The NCAA still measures graduation rates on a six-year scale, but schools no longer will be penalized when a player transfers or leaves early for the NBA.

A player will be penalized, however, when he punches a police horse or ties up his roommate and burns him. "When a guy punches a horse, every writer is going to use that," said Lonnie Wheeler, columnist for the Cincinnati Post. "Some of the incidents they've had are dramatic. That has gotten a lot of people's attention."

In fairness, though, so has the Pierre Pierce situation at Iowa. As far as we know, Pierce never has punched a horse or burned his roommate, but he been involved in two assault cases. The second incident, which involved a female acquaintance in West Des Moines, led to him being kicked off the team in early February.

This just shows that trouble has no boundaries. Kids make mistakes regardless of their surroundings or their upbringing. Pierce supposedly didn't have any baggage when he came to Iowa out of Westmont High School near Chicago. He wasn't considered a high-risk recruit, unlike many of the players who sign with Cincinnati.

Huggins is forced to sign a lot of junior college kids because he doesn't have the luxury of being in a major conference or in a situation where he can dominate in-state recruiting. Of the 13 players listed on the Cincinnati roster, seven either transferred into the program or attended junior college or prep school. Cincinnati is expected to use a starting lineup today that features three kids from Texas, one from Maryland and one from North Carolina. There are only two Ohio natives on the entire Cincinnati roster.

Iowa, on the other hand, has nine in-state kids on its roster, including four starters. "They have had a high (number) of kids getting into trouble, and they've been somewhat tolerant of it for reasons that might be understandable if you look at it closely," Wheeler said of Cincinnati. "It's an urban campus, and it's not an easy place to recruit. It's not Duke. It's not even a place like Iowa that dominates a region. They're drawing city kids, who if they had sterling academic performances, they'd be in the SEC. Huggins doesn't have the opportunity of being that selective."

He does seem to have the respect of his players, however, both past and present. They learn to appreciate his tough-love approach to coaching.

Once you look past the graduation rates, the OWI charge and Huggins' history of heart problems, you realize that he has much in common with Bob Knight. They're both big and intimidating, and neither is very friendly to the media. They also seem to know every swear word in the book. "The barometer that I would choose to use is that almost all of his former players swear by him," Wheeler said of Huggins. "A lot of them stay in the city and help him out and come to practice and have Thanksgiving dinner at his house. A real distinctive quality about Huggins is that he can scream at somebody and curse at them and totally forget it."

And contrary to reports, it sounds like he might even scream at them to attend class.

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Some NCAA teams aren't progressing By Steve Wieberg, USA TODAY - March 15th, 2005

Ten teams in the NCAA men's basketball tournament have some shoring up to do - in the classroom, not on the court. The 10, including second-seeded Connecticut and Kentucky, were flagged by the NCAA last month for posting sub-par academic progress rates (APRs), a new indicator of how well schools are keeping players on track to graduate. If schools fail to raise their scores, they'll risk scholarship losses as early as next fall.

Men's tournament teams deemed deficient when initial APRs were posted in late February, in addition to UConn and the Wildcats: Louisville, LSU, Texas, Iowa State, North Carolina State, Texas-El Paso, New Mexico and Louisiana-Lafayette. In its latest effort at academic reform, the NCAA compiled an academic rate for every team at every D-I school, tracking whether scholarship athletes remain at the school and stay academically eligible and ultimately graduate. Points are awarded per player. The association has determined that teams should hit 92.5% of their possible total - an APR of 925. That, the association says, projects a 50% graduation rate.

Current rates are from the 2003-04 school year and will be folded into a two-year average. If that falls beneath 925, teams will be prohibited from replacing a scholarship athlete who leaves school while academically ineligible.

Here are the teams with lower academic scores than Cincinnati from the article. They are in descending order (bottom = worst) and are in this years NCAA Tourney -

West Virginia
Charlotte
Nevada
Iowa
Montana
Utah State
Delaware State
Minnesota
Pittsburgh
Florida
Washington
New Mexico
Connecticut
Iowa State
North Carolina State
Texas-El Paso
Louisville
Texas
Kentucky
LSU
Louisiana-Lafayette

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Transfer blossoms at Tennessee State Univ
Nashville 'City Paper'. December 22, 2004

(Rod Flowers is) one of those rare Division I basketball players who actually puts the "student" before the "athlete." Flowers began his career at the University of Cincinnati, where he experienced moderate levels of success on the basketball court, but excelled in the classroom. He graduated from UC in just over three years with a degree in psychology (before transferring to TSU).

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Players Graduate, But The Stats Say NoBy C. Trent Rosecrans, CincyPost.com 11/19/2004

Every time he goes into a recruit's home, UC assistant coach Keith LeGree must fight the stigma. UC's zero graduation rate for men's basketball players has been repeated so often that most people take it as a fact, even when a former Bearcat basketball player with a UC degree is sitting at their own dining room table.

LeGree was Bob Huggins' point guard on the 1994-95 and 1995-96 teams. Now he's one of Huggins' three assistant coaches. According to NCAA statistics used for graduation rates, he doesn't count as a UC graduate.

That's for two reasons. First, LeGree was a transfer, starting his career at Louisville before transferring to UC. Second, he didn't earn his degree in five years.

During the summers of his college career, LeGree played in the Minnesota Twins' farm system. After his basketball career at UC was finished, he went on to play professional baseball full time and didn't finish his academic coursework for an undergraduate degree.

But after two years in the minor leagues, where he reached Class AAA -- one step below the major leagues -- LeGree returned to finish his degree under UC's Recall Program. The program was started by athletic director Bob Goin to bring former athletes back to campus to finish their degree. LeGree was the first graduate of the program, earning a bachelor's degree in criminal justice. "We help finance them to get their degree, it doesn't fit in the window and we don't get credit for that," Goin said. "They count toward my degree, but they don't count toward the NCAA. And it counts toward the sensitivity to a university that shows compassion and heart."

Currently, former Bearcats Melvin Levett, Curtis Bostic and D'Juan Baker are taking classes at UC to complete their degrees. None of them will count to the NCAA. "It's just not accurate," LeGree said. "(Former teammate) Erik Martin (a 1993 graduate) and I don't count. People say we've never graduated anyone and it's just not true."

Still, perception to many is often reality. When the NCAA released its latest graduation rates, the Bearcats' graduation rate for the freshman class of 1997-98 was zero. That's because Huggins didn't have any freshmen that season. The rate was also zero for the 1996-97 class, which was one player. That player doesn't have his degree, but he has no trouble making rent. It's Kenyon Martin, who signed a seven-year, $92.5 million contract in July.

"I don't think it's necessarily fair," UC football coach Mark Dantonio said of the way the NCAA measures graduation rates. "It reflects all the people who have come into your program. If they quit, it counts against them. If they go to another university and graduate, it doesn't count. If they leave early, it doesn't count."

In the 2004 NCAA graduation rate report, 61 percent of UC athletes (in all sports) graduated within the allotted five-year time period. That was better than the general student population. Just 48 percent of the freshmen on campus who started in 1996-97 graduated within five years.

In all, 24 of Huggins' players have earned degrees. That number will grow before the end of this season, as senior guard Jamaal Lucas will earn his degree in March and then start graduate studies. Lucas will not count toward the Bearcats' graduation rate either, because he started at UC as a walk-on and then earned a scholarship. "The perception is wrong," Lucas said. "Players do graduate. I will graduate."

The latest NCAA report puts the Bearcats' four class graduation rate at 25 percent. "I've listened patiently to people on campus and sympathizers such as Dick Vitale that the way the NCAA counts graduation rates is flawed," said veteran Sports Illustrated basketball writer Alexander Wolff. "That would all be persuasive if the same standards weren't used toward every other Division I school in the country."

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UC's Image Took Big Hit With Article
By C. Trent Rosecrans, CincyPost.com

It was eight years ago around this time when the Bearcats' image took its biggest hit. The Bearcats with Danny Fortson and Damon Flint started the 1996-97 season ranked first in the country and were the toast of the college basketball world. For its college basketball preview, Sports Illustrated dispatched writer Alexander Wolff and special reporter Don Yeager to look how the Bearcats had ascended to one of the nation's top programs.

In its article, Wolff and Yeager for the first time nationally criticized UC's graduation rates. It was reported in the Dec. 2, 1996, issue that the Bearcats' had graduated just seven players in Huggins' eight seasons and only one in four years. In the article, Wolff compared UC to the infamous UNLV teams under Jerry Tarkanian. "We thought they were legitimately the No. 1 team in the nation," Wolff said. "What happened was our story came out and in days, it got worse. Maybe it kind of set the tone for conversation."

On Nov. 26, in addition to getting beat in the press, the Bearcats were beat on the floor, as Xavier University's Lenny Brown nailed a shot at the buzzer to give the Musketeers a 71-69 upset victory at Shoemaker Center.

On Dec. 5, 1996, Ruben Patterson was arrested on a felony charge of aggravated burglary. Patterson, now with the Portland Trail Blazers, allegedly kicked in his girlfriend's door and took her purse. A Hamilton County grand jury refused to indict him and charges were dropped. Still, the timing left a lasting imprint on the Bearcats' reputation. At the time, Huggins told The Post, "People will forget about it. They'll wrap their fish in it."

They haven't. That story and reputation has only grown since then, at least according to Sports Illustrated On Campus, which reused a quote from Wolff's article of eight years ago.

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NCAA's changes to grad rates long overdue
Nov. 3, 2004
By Gregg Doyel SportsLine.com Senior Writer

Graduation rates in college basketball have been a disappointment. Everyone knows that. Cincinnati has been the poster-boy program. Everyone knows that, too. But what if everyone was wrong?

In this case, the system has been the problem. The system has been screwed up. And the NCAA, bless it, is ready to heal thyself. "Things are about to change," Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins said. For the better. As if it could get any worse.

Under the old rules, devised by college graduates, a player who transferred from one Division I school to another counted as a zero against his previous school and didn't count at all, one way or the other, toward his new school -- even if he graduated in five years. Even if he graduated with honors. Even if he graduated No. 1 in his class. "I graduated with a 3.89 GPA," Huggins said. "According to the NCAA, I didn't exist."

Huggins started his college career at Ohio University, then transferred to West Virginia.

This isn't about Cincinnati, though maybe it should be. It has always been about Cincinnati in the past. You know, because you read newspapers and watch television. Whenever the latest "graduation rates" hit the news and the hand-wringing commenced about the low rate at this school or that school, Cincinnati always came up. There was a reason for the low "graduation rates" at certain schools, schools like Cincinnati: The system was rigged. It was rigged against schools that would stoop so low as to accept junior-college transfers, who didn't count toward the school's "graduation rate" even if they graduated in four years. It was rigged against schools that would accept transfers from other Division I schools, who also didn't count.

Most of all, it was rigged against schools that had a coach who told his players the truth: It would be better for them to leave school after their freshman season if they were guaranteed a spot in the NBA Draft lottery, or that it was OK to make a small fortune in Spain or Chile or Greece.

You can always return to school. You can't always make a six-figure salary playing a young man's game. And so when a guy like Melvin Levett returns to Cincinnati after spending years playing abroad, as he is doing now, he returns to get a degree that doesn't exist under the old system.

Like we said, the system is about to change. For starters, a Division I transfer who leaves one school in good academic standing and graduates from another now will be counted positively -- at both schools.

The new system, which will track a program's "Graduation Success Rate," will attach a two-point value to every player. It's a beautiful concept. Here's an example, and we'll use Duke -- typically a leader in "graduation rates" as reported by the NCAA -- to illustrate the benefits of the new system over the old one. Under the old system, Duke's "graduation rate" was a shocking 25 percent for its four recruits in 1997-98: Shane Battier, Elton Brand, William Avery and Chris Burgess.

Take a closer look, as the new system will do. The new system will recognize Brand and Avery left after their sophomore seasons for the NBA. It will recognize Burgess transferred to Utah. And it will still recognize Battier graduated. Because Brand, Avery and Burgess were in good academic standing when they left Duke, they wouldn't count against Duke -- they would count for Duke. Out of a possible eight points, Duke would get five (two for Battier, one each for Brand, Avery and Burgess). That's 62.5 percent -- much better than 25 percent, and frankly, much more accurate.

This matters now, more than ever, because the NCAA is about to up the ante on "graduation rates." Beginning next year schools at the low end will face punishment, including scholarship reductions and perhaps, after being labeled a repeat offender, ineligibility from postseason play.

The high-falutin' Knight Commission, an egghead think tank spreading elitist poison, recommended to the NCAA a 50 percent "graduation rate" be the cutoff for schools getting punished. Fortunately, the NCAA didn't accept the suggestion, leaving the Knight Commission to go back to what it does best: sip hot tea.

See, the NCAA is finally getting the picture that a program's "graduation rate" is not the same thing as its ability to graduate players. Look again at Cincinnati basketball, a program infamous for not graduating any of its players.

Well, except for the 24 players who have graduated under Huggins. Some of those guys were transfers, so obviously they don't count. Others played professionally, returned to school after retiring and then graduated -- so obviously they don't count, either.

The NCAA deserves commendation for recognizing the flaws in its "graduation rates." The NCAA also deserves a question: What took so long?
==============

March 29, 2004
UC's graduation numbers:
22 players who completed their eligibility under Bob Huggins have completed their degrees at UC. Within the next week, we should have confirmation that Field Williams ups the total to 23. Seven of UC's last 11 seniors have graduated.

Tom Hathaway
Asst. AD/Media Relations

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(negative article)
Bearcats new beasts of Big East
Nov 7, 2003
By Frank Fitzpatrick, Philadelphia Inquirer Columnist

Cincinnati will be joining the Big East Conference, news that has enlivened basketball fans and police chiefs up and down the Atlantic seaboard. The announcement was made this week by gleeful commissioner Mike Tranghese, who revealed that he had set his sights on the Bearcats as soon as Rahway State Prison opted to remain in the New Jersey Correctional Facilities League.

The addition of Cincinnati, along with Louisville, South Florida, Marquette and DePaul, will not come without headaches, however. The 16-team Big East, for example, now plans to split into two divisions - On Probation and Under Investigation.

The Bearcats should be an immediate threat when they begin Big East play. They'll be returning a point guard, a center, two veteran power forwards, a defense attorney, and a pair of probation officers.

Some have expressed fear that Cincinnati's reputation as an "outlaw program" might lend it an unfair advantage in conference play. That's unjust. The Bearcats, after all, will start each season with the same winning percentage as every other Big East member, .000 - which, coincidentally, is also the team's graduation rate under coach Bob Huggins.

Sources indicate Huggins will be pressured to clean up his image. He may, for example, be asked to serve as a mentor in a conference-sponsored program in which at-risk youngsters are taught how to berate officials and evade university admission standards.
Contact staff writer Frank Fitzgerald at 215-854-5068 or ffitzpatrick@phillynews.com.
1995-2003 Knight Ridder Digital, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Big time beckons as UC joins Big East
November 5, 2003
By Bill Koch, Cincinnati Enquirer

(snippet)
Dr. Nancy Zimpher, UC's president, said the engine that drove UC's acceptance by the Big East was its academic reputation.

"We had to present ourselves," Zimpher said. "We were personally interviewed by the presidents of the University of Pittsburgh and West Virginia University. It started with our academic enterprise."

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UC gets high grade from graduates
Oct 2, 2002
Michael Perry, Cincinnati Enquirer

When athletic director Bob Goin talks about "the package" for the University of Cincinnati's sports programs, he is talking about success on and off the field. He had just taken a look at some pleasing numbers from the 2002 NCAA Graduation Rates Report for the freshman class of 1995-96.

UC graduated 61 percent of its student-athletes during the six-year window, its best mark since the NCAA started monitoring the freshman class of 1983-84. The national graduation rate is 60 percent, and UC's overall population graduation rate is 57 percent. "If your graduation rate overall for your athletes is better than the general student body, that's got to make you proud," Goin said.

The men's basketball team had a rate of 100 percent (1-for-1), which accounted for Ryan Fletcher. (When it was 0 percent for 1989-90, that was for two players; and when it was 0percent for 1990-91, it was one player.)

Perhaps the impressive numbers come from the football program, which had a 73 percent graduation rate, including 78 percent for its African-American student-athletes. "You talk about where we are on the field, where we are in the stands, now where are we academically?" Goin said. "All three are measuring sticks that are stacking up to be fairly decent."

UC's graduate rate in the 2001 NCAA report for the 1994-95 freshman class was 59 percent.

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UC basketball team is champion in classroom
July 12, 2002
Michael Perry, Cincinnati Enquirer

The University of Cincinnati men's basketball program, often battered for perceived academic deficiencies, had the highest team grade-point average among the 14 teams in Conference USA and earned the league's Sport Academic Award for the 2001-02 academic year.

Of all the sports sponsored by the conference, men's basketball was the only one in which UC had the best team GPA. "I certainly hope that people will start saying, "Hmmm, either something's changed or I was wrong," ' UC President Joseph Steger said Thursday. "I think this will make a point with the public. It certainly should."

The team's GPA was 2.57, according to a university source. The league did not release team GPAs. Three Bearcats - freshmen Jason Maxiell, John Meeker and Jamaal Lucas - were on the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll for maintaining a 3.0 or better GPA. Men's basketball coach Bob Huggins could not be reached for comment.

Cincinnati had 135 student-athletes, including 13 football players (quarterback Gino Guidugli was among them), on the honor roll, and 19 who received the C-USA Commissioner's Academic Medal for maintaining a 3.75 or higher GPA. "I think that there is an atmosphere now in the whole athletic department about the value of what they're here for," Athletic Director Bob Goin said. "People ask in the hall, "How are things going in your classes?' You've got to have a feeling that people look at you as a whole person."

While eight of UC's teams finished with GPAs better than 3.0 - and six finished second or third in their sport's rankings - men's basketball stands out mostly because of its reputation.

Geoff Schimberg was hired in Summer 2000 as assistant to the athletic director for basketball operations and was charged with overseeing the team's academics.

For two years, the team's GPA climbed, as well as the number of hours per quarter student-athletes were taking, he said. Mr. Schimberg recently left to work at the University of Miami in Florida and has been replaced by former UC football player Joel Dolinski (1994-97). "I think basketball gets good services, they get good support and they're responding to it," Mr. Goin said. "I think everybody's always wanted the same thing and always had the wishbone. Now, I think, we have the backbone, too."

Over the years, UC's zero graduation rates have come under heavy criticism, while Mr. Huggins has repeatedly pointed out that the most-often cited NCAA statistics do not count transfers from junior colleges or other universities, walk-ons or students who take longer than six years to earn a degree. Mr. Huggins talked about that in March on ESPN's Outside the Lines.

Prior to this spring, 15 former UC players under Mr. Huggins had earned degrees. Five others either graduated June 7 or are expected to finish courses needed for their degrees in summer school. "The perception over the years is all wrong," Dr. Steger said.

Said Mr. Goin: "Let me tell you about perception: I don't put much stock in that. I put stock in facts and reality, and reality is we really work hard with our young men and women to get their degrees. It's not lip service. Are we the best ever at it? No. But are our energy and our efforts right? Yes."

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UC's grad rate at 100 percent this time around
Oct 2, 2002
By Jason Williams, Cincinnati Post

The University of Cincinnati basketball program graduated just one player according to the NCAA's latest graduation rate figures. And that's pretty good - perfect, actually.

The only player to enter as a freshman in 1995-96 graduated within the six-year window which the latest report entails, giving the Bearcats a 100 percent graduation rate. That player is Ryan Fletcher.

Overall, UC graduated 61 percent of its athletes from the freshman class of 1995-96, the school's highest mark since the NCAA began tracking the rates starting with the 1983-84 freshman class.

That is higher than the national average (60 percent) and the UC student body (57 percent). "I put it all on our kids," UC athletic director Bob Goin said.

The latest figure likely will continue to improve the basketball program's national perception. Maligned for its numerous annual zero percent ratings in the past under coach Bob Huggins, UC graduated four players in 2002 and finished with the highest grade-point average of the 14 Conference USA team's in 2001-02. Nineteen players have graduated under Huggins, who took over the program in 1989.

Geoff Schimberg had been overseeing the program's academics for the past two years as assistant to the AD for basketball operations. He left this summer for a similar position at the University of Miami. Former UC football player Joel Dolinski now oversees the players' academic progress.

UC administrators expect continued progress from the program. "We just have to continue to hold them accountable and responsible,'' said Bruce Ivory, associate athletic director for academic services.

http://www.cincypost.com/2002/10/02/ucgrad100202.html

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Bearcats have eyes on sheepskins
June 8, 2002
Michael Perry, The Cincinnati Enquirer

(A photo was included in this article of UC basketball graduates are Leonard Stokes, Jamaal Davis, Rodney Crawford and Donald Little.)

Naturally, University of Cincinnati senior Jamaal Davis wants to earn his college degree for himself. But a part of him also wants to graduate for coach Bob Huggins and the Bearcats basketball program.

In fact, five players from last season's team either participated in graduation ceremonies Friday or expect do so this weekend. "It should change the perception," said junior Leonard Stokes, one of the five. "This is a big deal for the program. It's kind of like turning the tide."

UC has received criticism nationally for having a zero graduation rate, which comes from the NCAA's statistics most often publicized by the media. Those statistics do not count transfers, walk-ons or players who take more than six years to earn degrees. The NCAA does release numbers that count transfers, but those statistics rarely get media attention.

Prior to this weekend, 15 of Mr. Huggins' players graduated. They are pictured on the wall in the UC basketball office, along with Jackson Julson, who left UC after four seasons (including one he had to sit out because of injury) then graduated from Georgetown (Ky.) College. In addition to Mr. Stokes and Mr. Davis, Jimmy Hubbard, Donald Little and Rodney Crawford are expected to graduate.

UC students participating in this weekend's commencement ceremonies don't know for sure whether they have completed their requirements. Final exams were taken this past week, and final grades won't be posted until next week.

All five Bearcats were invited by their colleges to participate because they had reasonable chances of completing their requirements in the spring quarter or this summer.

A closer look at each:

- Mr. Stokes would be the first Bearcat under Mr. Huggins to earn his degree in three years. Mr. Stokes needs summer-school classes in liberal arts, then will begin taking classes toward a master's degree in the fall. He missed Friday's ceremony to attend his brother's high school graduation in Buffalo. Mr. Stokes said he planned to walk with Evening College classmates Sunday.

- Mr. Little expects to earn his degree in liberal arts. He would become just the second freshmen recruited by Mr. Huggins to graduate in four years (Keith Gregor was the first in 1996). Mr. Little was dismissed from the program in April after being arrested and charged with felonious assault and kidnapping. His hearing is set for July 1.

- Mr. Hubbard, a junior, is in position to be the first junior-college transfer to earn his degree in one year. He needs two summer-school classes to complete his degree in criminal justice, then he plans to begin taking graduate-school courses in labor and employment relations.

- Mr. Crawford, a Withrow High School graduate, came to UC from Bakersfield (Calif.) College. He expects to earn a degree in criminal justice.

- Mr. Davis, who started his college career at Purdue and came to UC from Barton County (Kan.) Community College, expects to earn his degree in criminal justice. He missed Friday's ceremony to attend a basketball workout in Louisville. He hopes to play basketball professionally. "Graduating depends on the person," Mr. Davis said. "You're either going to do it or not. I think it helps people know (Mr. Huggins) really does care. He was on me all the time. He was on me more about graduating from college than playing basketball."

When NCAA statistics from this class come out in two years, the only player who will count according to the most-often-cited NCAA stats is Mr. Little. Mr. Davis, Mr. Crawford and Mr. Hubbard are junior-college transfers, and Mr. Stokes is a member of the Class of 2003.

UC was featured in March on ESPN's Outside the Lines. On the program, Mr. Huggins talked about what he believes to be a flawed NCAA graduation-rate formula. "We've had a lot of guys graduate; we just haven't had five at once," he said this week.

Plenty of credit for the program's academic success can be traced to the hiring of Geoff Schimberg in summer 2000. A former UC video coordinator, he was brought in as assistant to the athletic director for basketball operations and charged with overseeing academics for the basketball program.

His office is just steps away from Mr. Huggins'. He monitors players daily and reports to athletic director Bob Goin.

Mr. Schimberg, currently a candidate for a similar position with the University of Miami (Fla.) basketball staff, said three UC underclassmen - sophomores Rod Flowers and Field Williams and freshman Jason Maxiell - are also on pace to graduate in three years. Taron Barker and B.J. Grove, who will be seniors in the fall, are on target to graduate next year. "Schim's done a great job," Mr. Huggins said. "He's not a 9-to-5 guy. He's there pretty much whenever he needs to be in there, whether it's early in the morning to check on 'em or whether it's staying at night. And I think there's a lot greater commitment from our administration."

Brian Mand - senior associate athletic director for academics, compliance and student services - said UC has done a better job recently in getting players to attend summer school to help them progress toward degrees instead of just to maintain eligibility. "Hopefully, we've changed the climate," Dr. Mand said. "We've made a concerted effort each year to tweak what we're doing as far as the level of support."

Since Mr. Goin took over as UC's athletic director in October 1997, the overall budget for academics has increased from $267,060 to $440,109 in 2002. "A card my dad gave me as a young boy says: "What you've done in the past is splendid, but there's so much more to do,' " Mr. Goin said. "That's a pretty good theme that I've lived by."

"If you think we've gone from a one-bedroom apartment to a nine-bedroom suite with a fireplace in every room, we haven't. What we're doing is better, but we haven't scratched the surface."

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http://www.ncaa.org/grad_rates/2002/d1/Rpt00140.html
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Huggins defends grad rate on ESPN
March 1, 2002
By Michael Perry, Cincinnati Enquirer

University of Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins defends his program's graduation rates tonight during a segment of ESPN's investigative series Outside the Lines, which this month is titled: "Zero Percent: College Basketball's Graduation Crisis."

The one-hour program will air at 8p.m. today. Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson, Texas Tech coach Bob Knight and Duke guard Jason Williams are among those interviewed.

The segment on UC takes a look at whether the criteria used by the NCAA for calculating graduation rates is fair. The NCAA said its system is based on a formula created by the U.S. Department of Education, ESPN reporter Steve Delsohn said.

"If a guy transfers into your school and graduates, he doesn't count," said Delsohn, who worked on the Bearcats' portion of the program. "If a guy transfers out of your school and graduates, he doesn't count. If it's a junior-college transfer who graduates, he doesn't count. If he graduates in six years, he counts, but if he graduates in 6.5 years, he doesn't count."

"We're looking at whether the criteria is questionable, and we used Cincinnati as a case study because they are frequently labeled with that zero graduation rate. What struck me is that when you walk into the basketball office, you see these pictures of 15 graduates - and yet how can that be if they supposedly have a zero graduation rate?"

Huggins calls the NCAA's method for determining its statistics "terribly misleading."

http://www.enquirer.com/bearcats/2002/03/01/uc_huggins_defends_grad.html

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March 23, 2001

"I have guys that finish school after playing in Europe for eight or nine years, where they make $100,000 a year. I can't get them a job making that much straight out of college. I will not be self-serving, making them finish school right away to make me look good. I tell them to go to Europe, and they come back and finish up afterwards."

- Bob Huggins, Cincinnati Enquirer

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January 2001

Huggins said 17 of his UC players had graduated, about half the players who have completed their playing eligibility under his watch. That doesn't qualify UC's basketball program as a degree factory, but it's a lot better than 8 percent. And it's every bit as true of a picture, in its way, as the figures gathered by the Department of Education and distributed by the NCAA.

Those figures don't credit UC for players who come in from junior college. And it's not like Huggins discarded players like Danny Fortson and DerMarr Johnson, who came in as freshmen and left early for the NBA. Losing players like these to the NBA isn't the best outcome for Huggins, in particular, or college basketball, in general, but it makes sense for the players.

"It gets frustrating after a while," Huggins said. "We have guys who go to Europe to play, come back and finish. I have two guys coming back after eight or nine years in Europe. They can play in Europe for $100,000 per year, tax free. I can't get them a job like that. For me to say, 'Stay here and finish your degree right now because it makes me look better,' is ridiculous. It's self-serving."
- http://www.best-of-cincinnati.com/jocks.htm

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Huggins Can Bob, Weave By Criticism
December 31, 2000
Akron Beacon Journal

Bob Huggins asked a question. "You're a kid who just finished playing college basketball and you got a chance to make $125,000 -- tax free,'' he said. "And you can stay another year in school, graduate, then make $25,000.'' The Cincinnati coach paused. "Now, you tell me, what's a better deal?'' Huggins asked.

You are listening to the coach who supposedly never graduates a player, whose program annually is at near the bottom of the NCAA graduation rates. "First, I've graduated 17 kids,'' he said. "But no one talks about that. They just weren't graduated in the time frame (that the NCAA measures). Since when is it a race to graduate?'' Huggins paused. "And I've got three of my former players back in school right now,'' he said. "But no one talks about that, either.''

It has been 12 years since Huggins left Akron, a dozen sometimes stormy, always successful seasons, at Cincinnati. You often hear a lot about Huggins. Here's a chance to hear from Huggins, who spoke at length before his team's 69-66 loss to Toledo at the Gund last night. "Right now, I have about 20 kids playing pro ball,'' he said. "I have about a dozen in Europe, kids making that $125,000 -- tax free. You do that for 5-6 years, and you come away with a lot of money. The other eight are in the NBA, most making millions."

Three of Huggins' players from a year ago are on NBA rosters: Kenyon Martin (New Jersey), DerMarr Johnson (Atlanta) and Pete Mickeal (New York). A check of current NBA rosters reveals seven former Cincinnati players, so Huggins was pretty close. "I called Nick Van Exel (Denver Nuggets) about coming back to school,'' said Huggins. "He had just signed that $70 million contract. He was like, 'Coach, what do I need my degree in elementary education for?' I told him to come back to school and take economics, with all the money he's making. Instead, he asked me questions about how to save some money.''

In one breath, Huggins claims he doesn't care what people think of him. He said he is weary of the critics, and it's not worth trying to answer the charges. But in the next, he says, "I graduated (from West Virginia) magna cum laude. It's a complete insult to me and my family to say that I don't care about education. Only an idiot would say that.''

Well, a lot of people have said that -- and worse.

He has been accused of bringing in kids to win games, then just turning them over when their eligibility is up, regardless of how they did in the classroom or if they have a degree.
"The other day, I had a reporter call me and say that because I use so many junior college kids, and I stopped him right there,'' Huggins said.

Doesn't he have a lot of junior college players? "Open the press guide, for heaven's sake,'' he said. "How many do I have? Do some research!'' On the roster he had for last night's game against Toledo at the Gund, Huggins had three players on scholarship who attended junior college.

The 46-year-old Huggins believes it's his job to prepare his players to be successful in life, to get a good job. For many of them, that's more basketball. "There was a TV reporter who told (top NBA pick) Kenyon Martin that he has to be relieved to be going to the pros because I won't be there to yell at him anymore,'' Huggins said. "Kenyon said I didn't yell at him. The reporter was speechless. Kenyon said if you play hard and listen, you don't get yelled at. That's the story no one wants to hear. Just like the fact that Kenyon invited me to the NBA draft with him. What does that tell you?''

Huggins doesn't claim to be a saint, nor is he saying his program is Harvard on the Ohio River. "But we don't cheat,'' he said. He paused. "We don't cheat,'' he repeated. "We have been investigated as much as anyone, and what did they find?''

A few years ago, Cincinnati was stripped of a scholarship for minor infractions, in which an assistant coach also resigned. "That investigation went on for a year and a half,'' he said. "What the found was very minor.''

In his 12 years at Cincinnati, there are been many rumors that the NCAA was going to blow the lid off the program, that Huggins finally would be exposed. There has been far more smoke than fire. The other shoe has never dropped; the NCAA has been mostly silent. "You know what bothers me the most?'' he asked. "What people say about my kids. I've had good kids playing here. People think it's a compliment when they write that I take these tough kids no one else wants and mold them into something, but that's an insult to them.''

In the past, some of Huggins' players have had some legal problems. But it hasn't been a scandal. A Xavier official -- an unbiased source if there ever was one on this topic since the two Cincinnati schools are intense rivals -- said, "This group of Bob's are pretty good people. They play with our kids in summer, and they handle themselves well.''

Huggins seems to have a split personality. On the court, he stomps and screams and glares and growls. "That's because I'm big (he is 6'4), and they always keep a TV camera trained on me,'' he said. "When a little guy like (Cleveland State coach) Rollie Massimino does the same things I do, it's cute. But when I do it, I'm a maniac.''

Huggins has a 285-89 record at Cincinnati, and he is the nation's sixth winningest active coach. He had a 97-46 record at Akron (1984-89), and he was 71-26 at Walsh College (1980-83).

He talked about making $13,000 at Walsh, about $30,000 in his first year at Akron. Now, his salary is said to be in the $700,000 range. "I'm the same coach now and doing it the same way I did it at Akron and Walsh,'' he said. Then he shrugged, as if to say, "No matter if people like it or not, that's just me.'' And he's not about to change.

http://www.ohio.com/bj/sports/2000/December/31/docs/034801.htm

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LeGree's life is a lesson
Bill Koch, Cincinnati Post
Oct 20, 2000

For the first time, Huggins has a full-time assistant coach who played for him at UC. That it's Keith LeGree, the point guard UC fans love to dis, may seem strange, but Huggins couldn't have found a better fit for his program.

UC followers may shudder at the prospect of LeGree trying to teach Kenny Satterfield how to play point guard, but the current UC players would do well to listen to what LeGree tells them, not just about how to play the game, but how to conduct themselves off the court, how to assume responsibility, and most of all, how important it is for them to take advantage of the chance to get a free education.

LeGree, 28, earned his criminal justice degree from UC in 1999, eight years after he entered the University of Louisville as a promising freshman.

His degree won't count in the NCAA statistics that track UC's graduation rate because it took him longer than the six-year window the NCAA uses. LeGree's life didn't fit neatly into that window.

He was a professional baseball player during the college off-season, trying to work his way through the Minnesota Twins farm system. While other players could spend the summer taking courses to try to catch up academically, maybe even get ahead, LeGree was off working at his job as a baseball player.

When he was released by the Twins on the last day of spring training in 1998, he decided to pursue a coaching career rather than attempt to latch on with another baseball franchise. He's the first UC basketball player to take advantage of the school's Recall Program, designed to assist athletes who completed their eligibility without a degree. ''When I came back here, I wanted to graduate,'' LeGree said. ''That was my number one priority.''

LeGree is aware of the pounding the UC program has taken nationally for its low graduation rate. And although he's one of the success stories who returned to finish his education, he understands it's not easy for everyone. ''A lot of guys are still playing overseas,'' LeGree said. ''A lot of guys have families to take care of and they have jobs. It's easy to say come back and get your degree, but it's harder than people say it is. It was important for me, but I didn't have a family and I only had one year left.''

He also knows how foolish it is for a college athlete to squander the chance to get a degree. He has seen players skip class and slack off on their schoolwork, assuming that they will get rich someday in the NBA. He never said anything to them because he had enough to do taking care of his own business.

Now, as an assistant coach, part of his job is to impart that kind of advice. He can speak from the viewpoint of someone who's been there, who knows how difficult it is to juggle the pressure of big-time college athletics with school - and in his case, with the rigors of another profession. ''They give you everything as an athlete and the players take it for granted,'' LeGree said.

LeGree is in the early stages of what he hopes will be a long and successful coaching career. He doesn't claim to have all the answers. But he does have his degree.

If anybody should have been tempted to put academics on the back burner, it was LeGree. He was a high school All-American basketball player and a professional baseball player, seemingly destined to be a rich and famous professional athlete.

It didn't happen. But when his playing days were over, LeGree made a virtually seamless transition to a new career. He used college athletics the way they're supposed to be used.

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(negative article)
Content with Catlett, heck with Huggins
Michael Pehanich's Point of View
March 23, 2000

The NCAA tournament's third round tips off this evening, and for the fourth year in a row, one of college basketball's "powerhouses" has already been sent packing.
Cincinnati, considered by many to be one of the best programs in America, failed to make the Sweet 16 again. Despite a consistent ranking among the nation's elite, the Bearcats last advancement past the opening weekend was in 1996.

The Queen City's king has amassed a combined 247-82 regular season record over the last ten seasons. The man at the head of that impressive mark - Bob Huggins (West Virginia Class of '77). The papa bear himself was born right here in Morgantown and graduated magna cum laude before attaining his master’s degree in 1978. Sounds like a man concerned with academics, right? Why then did Cincinnati graduate zero players during the entire 1990's? That's right, a goose egg, a doughnut, a whopping 0 percent. And throughout it all, Huggins has managed to transform himself into one of the most disliked coaches in collegiate sports.

There is a rumor spread around this state that Huggins has a clause in his contract up there in Ohio that permits him to leave his post any time there is a basketball coaching vacancy in Morgantown. A lot of people would probably like that. Coincidentally, there are consistent rumors flo