U freshmen post lowest reported ACTs in conference

The eligibility issues surrounding prized recruit MarQueis Gray typify the academic question marks associated with the first full recruiting class of Gophers football coach Tim Brewster, according to data obtained by the Star Tribune.

Gray was the centerpiece of a group of 31 February signees that was ranked among the nation's top 20 by several recruiting services. But high-ranking university officials admit it was also a class filled with academic concerns.

The Star Tribune requested college entrance scores for incoming freshman football players from every Big Ten school last summer under the nation's Freedom of Information Act.

Minnesota's freshman class had the lowest scores among the eight Big Ten programs that complied with the request, and the scores were significantly lower than for the recruiting classes in the final years of Glen Mason, who coached the Gophers from 1997 to 2006.

The test score data does not include Minnesota's seven junior college signees -- an unusually high number -- that school officials said represent a greater academic risk than the incoming freshmen. Six of the seven JC signees were non-qualifiers academically after graduating from high school -- lower grades and test scores disqualified them from receiving an athletic scholarship directly after graduating from high school.

"I think we know from the beginning, by looking at the numbers, that we have some academically disadvantaged and challenged kids," Minnesota athletic director Joel Maturi said in an interview discussing the data in late July. "There's no question [about it]. ... But we believe we have the necessary support to allow them to be successful, or they wouldn't be here."

Gray, a 6-4, 215-pound freshman quarterback from Indianapolis, has been dropped from the program at least temporarily while the NCAA Eligibility Center reviews his academic records. Gray's college entrance scores were red-flagged because of a dramatic increase from previous test scores, according to persons familiar with the situation.

What the numbers mean

Among the findings from the data request:

• Minnesota's average ACT test score in February at signing day was 17.2 (combining ACT scores and ACT-equivalent scores for players who took the SAT). The next-lowest score among the eight conference teams responding was Indiana at 17.8. Several Gophers recruits retook the test in June, raising the average ACT for the recruiting class to 17.78, but the second set of scores didn't include the low score of one recruit who was not admitted, and includes Gray's scores that are currently under review.

• The average ACT equivalent among nine Gophers recruits taking the SAT was 15, an extremely low ACT score. ACT administrators consider a student to be college-ready if they score at least 18 on the English portion of the test, 21 on reading, 22 on math and 24 on science. Any student scoring below 18 generally requires remedial help in college.

• Mason, who was repeatedly criticized for low graduation rates during his tenure as Gophers coach, had an average ACT score of 19 for five recruiting classes between 2001 and 2005, according to data collected by the Star Tribune in 2006.

Several of the February signees already have encountered academic problems. Junior college transfer Tim McGee and high school recruit Vince Hill did not gain admission to Minnesota. Linebacker Spencer Reeves, like Gray, is unable to practice because of eligibility issues being examined by the NCAA Eligibility Center. Reeves and Gray would have been true freshmen this fall.

A history of problems

The university football program has been plagued by graduation rates ranked at or near the bottom of the Big Ten for at least a decade. The Gophers were ranked 11th and 10th in the Big Ten in the latest two NCAA Graduation Success Rate studies (measuring six-year graduation rates). In both years Minnesota and Michigan State ranked at the bottom of the Big Ten, and were the only conference schools failing to graduate at least 50 percent of their football players.

The Gophers football program scored 927 -- two points above a level that might have resulted in a loss of scholarships -- in last year's NCAA Academic Progress Report that measures eligibility and retention of current athletes. The number was below the national average of 931 for Division I football programs and ranked 10th in the Big Ten.

The university has dramatically increased its college entrance scores in recent years for the general student population; the average admitted freshman last year had a 25.9 ACT score, and the number is expected to top 26 this year. But the entrance scores for football players have declined during the coaching transition from Mason to Brewster.

Robert McMaster, university vice provost and dean of undergraduate education, and Maturi said they are not automatically alarmed by low college entrance scores. The university relies on a holistic admissions philosophy in which entrance scores and high school grades are only two components considered in the process.

The key stat with at-risk students, McMaster and Maturi said, is not the ACT score but the ultimate graduation rate of the recruiting class.

McMaster said he believes the university has programs in place to help at-risk students, whether they are athletes or not. The athletic academic counseling unit has expanded in the past couple of years, and the university last year instituted a Bridge to Academic Success program. That program brings at-risk students to campus during the summer before their freshman year and takes them through a couple of courses to provide a preview of college life.

"Last year was the first year of the program, and we saw that the kids who came into the Bridge, both athletes and non-athletes, did really well," McMaster said. "We're really trying to enhance the programs like this to help at-risk students ... and provide that extra support."

Maturi said he pays attention to the academic profile of recruits, but said: "I'm not hung up on that. ... Obviously, I will be hung up about the [graduation] success rate, and we need to make sure that everybody that comes here will have the chance to graduate."

Need to improve

The Gophers finished 1-11 last season and had one of the nation's worst defenses, demonstrating the need to quickly upgrade the team's talent level with Brewster's first recruiting class.

Brewster declined to be interviewed for the story.

Said Maturi: "When you're 1-11, you know, you put yourself in a position where your [talent] pool is not as great. That's just reality."

Brewster turned to the junior college ranks, especially for help on defense. Of the six JC players who are new to the team this year, five are defensive players. Maturi admits that bringing six JC players into the program in a single year is an unusually high number, and agreed it's a stopgap measure intended to provide immediate improvement.

Maturi acknowledges there are risks for a school struggling to simultaneously improve its football team and its players' graduation rate.

"We know statistically that junior college kids don't always succeed academically, and that's our biggest concern," he said. "Our coach knows that, and our staff knows that. But I think the reality is that when you're 1-11, you're looking for some immediate improvement in certain positions."

McMaster and Maturi agreed that as entrance scores for the general student population continue to rise, at-risk athletes will find it more difficult to compete in the classroom.

But Minnesota finds itself in a difficult cycle. As long as the football team continues to struggle -- the school has not been to a New Year's Day bowl game since 1962, the longest such drought in the Big Ten -- it will be difficult to attract elite student- athletes. And if the school mandates dramatic upgrades in the academic profiles of football recruits, it's more likely the cycle of losing will remain unbroken.

And make no mistake, college athletics is big business. University officials admit there is pressure to win at a time when the school is building a new on-campus stadium set to open in 2009.

Winning, in fact, is the cure-all for all things, including recruiting a better caliber of student-athletes.

"The more successful we get athletically, I think the larger pool we'll get of better athletes," Maturi said. "I believe that's probably a natural progression."

The problem facing the Gophers: How do you get to that point?