Bootleg's 2012 Graduation Rate Analysis

But there is NOTHING tangible to suggest that UMass will have even a remotely better future. Nothing. That's like saying back in 2001 that UMass has a better future. You have nothing to go off of, so you just blindly hope. Everything suggests UConn will have a better future.

I'll ask again, when was the last time UMass won an A-10 title?

Umass won a share of the A10 regular season title in 2007 under Travis Ford.

I think you don't know much about basketball outside of CT. What suggests? Umass had it's 1st 25 win season since the Travis Ford era. We have one player leaving due to graduation. There are about 4 left or incoming who can file his spot. No-one wants to transfer. The new offensive system has raised our APPG and improved our record. We are recruiting better. We are constructing a new state of the art dedicated practice facility. We have improved our TV coverage. And finally we no existing NCAA sanctions that would hinder our future.

Your "NOTHING Tangible" not only lacks substance but is completely untrue. As far as your future, recent events have raised uncertainty about your future in college basketball. It's in the media and even contained within the threads of this forum.

Your response to me is nothing more than a biased opinion about a team you don't like.

Clothy, how do you figure our program is reverting back to the past? You really can't compare Umass to Uconn, we have a greater following in MA than UMass does. Our program will overcome any sanctions or coaching changes, we have tradition and history and a great organization behine us. There's no comparison, one program is established, the other is struggling for an identity.

And your responses are somehow different than being a biased opinion about a team that you don't like?

You bring back a lot of players. That's great. You still finished 8th in the A-10. Let me repeat, you finished 8th in the A-10.

Also, I'm not sure where you're getting your recruiting numbers. Freeman is rated a three star on only one site. He's not even rated on rivals. I also don't see where you have a 4 star guard.

If you want to compare the teams based off of recruiting rankings, go ahead. UConn will have four RSCI top 75 players on the team next year. Will UMass even have two?

Why do people bother responding to this mental midget?

Clothy, you unsuccessfully try to make Huskymaniac's boasts of 3 NC's & 29 of 30 over UMess as ancient history. It's pretty damn recent. It's also something UMess will never achieve with incoming recruits like your 3 7 footer and your WKU transfer. Not ripping your recruits, but I doubt these guys will give you an NC.

Did your mother drop you on your head as a child? YOU are on a UCONN board, idiot. In comparison, I am NOT on a Kentucky board bashing Calipari. It is YOU that probably has a picture of Calhoun over his toilet, just above the jar of lube. You are hoping so much that Calhoun will finally retire and UConn will finally drop to umess' level. Sorry dope, it isn't going to happen. Calhoun will retire some day but UConn will live on as a blue blood. We have been too good for too long. Good coaches, unlike the ones that have followed the squid at uass, will look at UConn as a dream job for a long, long time. Even if the AD screws up the hiring of Calhoun's successor, he will have lots of choices of great coaches on his second and subsequent attempts. Like UNC, for example, UConn will have another coach that is good enough to win another championship. You know, like the one we won just a year ago!!! We aren't worried about anything. We are fans of one of the elite teams. You are still hoping the last 20 years was just a nightmare you will wake up from.

Tell us oh great basketball sage, when exactly should one "stop living in the past"? The day after the championship is won? Oh no, that would mean Kentucky fans and people with a man crush on Calipari have to "stop living in the past" already. Let me guess, a championship is hopelessly in the past when the next champion is crowned. Tell that to Kentucky fans that love to talk about their "storied history". They still worship a racist that won championships in the 50s! Come to think about it, it IS a perfect place for the slimey one. It is the land of scumbags and rednecks that marry their sisters.

It is difficult to comprehend ones' mindset when he/she/it comes on a board of the team that's beaten his team 29 of the past 30, and, the fact that his team hasn't made the big dance in 15+ years, while the team whose board he comes on, to taunt, has won the NC 3 out of the past 13 years, with numerous FF's & E-8's.
Yeah, I know that's a major run on sentence. But, that's what you deserve trying to paint our past 13 years (perhaps past 23 years) as ancient history. In addition you try to promote your 3* 7footer, and your transfer from WKU as your savior.
Basically you have little (nothing) to hang your hat on over here Clothbreath. You can hope that UConn falls off the national wagon, but, one can make a very strong case that UMess has fallen off that wagon immediately after the squid's departure. And that's a long time to be insignificant.
Yeah, UConn's staff has made serious mistakes. And they will pay for it dearly. But, Jim Calhoun (the guy UM @ss holes call mumbles, while everyone else calls him the greatest college hoops coach New England has ever seen) will never retire until this problem is completely fixed. Book it!!

My apologies if this has already been addressed elsewhere on this thread. The 25% graduation figure is an NCAA metric that does not penalize transfers (if they left in good standing). It also does not penalize players who leave for the NBA (if they leave in good academic standing).

There is another metric, compiled by the federal government, where transfers and players leaving for other reasons do hurt the result. UConn has an 8% graduation rate for players based on the Federal Graduation Rate.

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The NCAA explanation for their "Graduation Success Rate" metric (the one where UConn had a 25% graduation rate):

"The NCAA developed the Division I Graduation Success Rate in response to college and university presidents who wanted graduation data that more accurately reflect the mobility among all college students today. The rate measures graduation rates at Division I institutions and includes student-athletes transferring into the institutions. In that regard, it differs from the methodology of the rate mandated by the federal government, which does not count incoming transfer student-athletes at all and counts student-athletes who transfer out as not having graduated, regardless of whether they actually did. The Graduation Success Rate also allows institutions to exclude from the computation student-athletes who leave their institutions before graduation, so long as they would have been academically eligible to compete had they remained."

I take big issue with this post.

First of all, who says UConn recruits aren't committed to becoming juniors and seniors? Why stay to make the university happy when you may have a better opportunity elsewhere? To think that UNC and UK recruits are more committed to graduating is laughable. Guess what, it isn't the 1940's anymore, kids come to UConn because they think it offers them their best opportunity to forge a career in basketball, not because they want to graduate.

The "Calhoun promotes a poor culture" is just a load of sh*t. How do you know what Calhoun is telling these players? Did he not hold them accountable enough? That can't be true, because the majority of them slacked off academically after their careers had ended (Adrien/Gavin). There isn't much Calhoun can do at that point besides encourage them to get their degree, and even then, if they want to prioritize basketball--their immediate future--over academics, their distant future.

Just because a player left without his degree does not mean their academic experience at UConn was insufficient. Why can't people understand this? People go to college to get their degree, and if you don't need it to make a living, you are going to prioritize it accordingly.

Again, a player not receiving his degree does not in anyway mean he did not strive to achieve as much as he could academically. There just comes a time when you need to put off your degree until tomorrow so you can pursue your dream of becoming a professional basketball player. For others, they simply transferred because they felt they their was a better opportunity elsewhere.

Butler having a better A.P.R. does not necessarily equate to a better promotion of academic achievement, as you would say. It means Butler has a low turnover rate, it means they don't take a chance on questionable character kids, and it possibly means that their players enroll in softer classes than a student at UConn might (see UNC fiasco).

Ideally every player would get their degree, but life is about choices, and no matter what Calhoun tries to promote, players aer going to make the best decision for them. Those of you condemning Calhoun for it are simply missing the point.

Delete the first sentence, insert Rutgers for UMASS and I swear you have Rutgersal posting.

In any case I think most are missing the beauty of the APR in that Hathaway got canned because of it.

I know I'm a little late to the fray, but whoever made the list of graduating players forgot Kemba.

Reverting back to the original discussion that you still out recruit us. How do you out recruit us this year? And I never presented our recruiting class as saviors, just stating we are recruiting better. That WKU transfer probably won't start 'til he's a senior and the 7 footer will have alot on competition for minutes up front.

I am well aware of your impressive resume which qualifies as past accomplishments even as recent as you '11 NC but not many of those players remain.

Holy , you are a full-fledged idiot.

You're honestly comparing recruiting now? Newsflash: UConn never rakes in the 5 stars, yet they still always manage to have more talent than 90+% of the country. That won't change this year, and they certainly will have more talent than UMass.

There isn't a single quality team in that garbage athletic program of yours. It's an embarrassment that you're still over here talking s* when UMass' glory days were now nearly two decades ago.

I never said we out recruited you this particular year. All I said, in addition to our whuppin' you 29 of 30, and 3 NC's, and UMess not makin' the dance for 15+ years, is.....I wouldn't come over to this board and mention the class that you have coming in..........
Let's face it, UConn is in it's worst period, but Omar Calhoun, Philip Nolan, and the kid from Germany, and the transfer from Holy Cross stack up damn well to the guys UMass brings in in their best season in many years. IMHO, UConn's incoming class is better.
Couple that with a returning Daniels & Boatright, along with 4 returning players who have an NC on their resume, we'll probably be much better in 2012-13 than most expect, tourney or not. Come 2013-14 we pick up 2-3 more players (of which UMass couldn't recruit) and we're right back in the national picture.
BTW, your 11 mil donor is great for you, but, unless UMass has the means to raise another 20-25 mil it means you've got a long ways to go before you break ground for this practice facility.
My info on UConn breaking ground, last week, was a bit premature. They break ground today.
Last I knew was UConn has raised 20 mil towards a 35-40 mil project. I doubt we would break ground if most of the remaining money wasn't nearly all in place.
We did complete a 100 mil football practice facility 5-6 years ago. Most say this facility is as good as any in the country. The hoops facility was to come next. With the economy in shreads this project got delayed. Make no mistake, the way UConn does business this hoops facility will be like the FB facility, being the best in the country. Last I knew, UMass has few big time donors, and little help from the Mass. legislature. Good luck getting the extra 25 + mil.