NCAA graduation rates reveal stark racial disparity

It’s not surprising that after the bright lights fade from the floor of the Final Four championship games some college basketball players dream of going pro. But if you don’t go pro, what do you do? The NCAA has tried in recent years to make it clear that they value academic success as much as athletics, but a new study reveals that their efforts may not be working. At least not among black male athletes. A recent study by The University of Florida’s Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports reveals that the statistics are bleak: White male student athletes graduate at 80 percent versus only 58 percent of their black teammates. Michigan State had the greatest disparity in graduation rates among the Sweet 16 teams: All of its white players graduated, but only 43 percent of the black players got a diploma. Two colleges?Arizona and Gonzaga?didn’t graduate any black players at all. Some teams are doing better, the NCAA Basketball Champions, UNC, graduated 80 percent of its black players. And African American women in the tournament graduated at a rate of 78 percent. Joining us to discuss these troubling statistics is Dr. Boyce Watkins, professor of finance at Syracuse University and founder of YourBlackWorld.com.