Comments on: Let’s compare: Girls basketball vs. boys

By: Bballfan

Bballfan — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 17:21:15 +0000

Because of the 35 city league players (boys) that started this year, 3 were white.
Let’s say 30% of the players couldn’t make the grade.

Statistically you loose 10 non white players and 1 white player.

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By: J Long

J Long — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 22:47:48 +0000

Why would that be considered racist? Grades are grades. Last time I checked the numerical grade scale wasn’t different from one race to the next.

I believe that the process is simple. You can have all the athletic talent in the world, but if you don’t have the grades you don’t get the free ride. There’s no conspiracy to it.

Are the standardized tests culturally biased…maybe so. But as Vaughn said the higher the GPA the lower you have to score.

As an outsider coming in I’ll say that this issue isn’t one specific to Wichita. The same problem looms in almost every city in every state.

College is an institution of higher learning. If you haven’t proven you can do college work then you stuck playing at the Y or elsewhere. That’s LIFE.

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By: Bballfan

Bballfan — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 20:09:06 +0000

To “up” the GPA requirements for the “student athlete” would most assuredly be construed as “racist” or at least “racially biased”
Remember when the Georgetown Coach fought the “decrease” in basketball scholarhips on the basis that it was “racially” unfair?

He won.

So if you would really like to see more D1 players from the City or Kansas for that matter, you probably stand a better chance at getting the NCAA to lower it’s standard…..
But until then, coaches in the city will keep crankin’ out juco players or worse.
My opinion? Alot of wasted jerseys.
Ahhh, but to a USD 259 administrator?
Another graduation!
Don’t forget sports greatest claim to fame in the city…
“It keeps them off the streets and connected to their school.”

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By: CM Scott

CM Scott — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 19:02:06 +0000

Excellent point VT, I also believe that along with the KSHAA and School Districts that parents have to make sure their children are succeeding academically. I have a kid in High School and I approve every class schedule before they sign up for a class. I also believe that if you are not making the grades you need to succeed then you don’t need a lot of extra activities. That extra time can be spent learning so that their grades are in order. I think that girls by nature tend to be more academic minded than boys anyway. Another factor may be that the oppourtunities for girls to play professionally are a little less attractive than for boys as far as potential paydays are concerned.

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By: Vaughn Tolle

Vaughn Tolle — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:33:17 +0000

Onlooker has identified what, to me, is the core of the discussion about why there aren’t many male athletes from Wichita going “D-1″; it is, as I observe, not so much about their talent and athletic abilities,the existence or nonexistence of appropriate facilities, as it is about their failure to qualify academically under NCAA Proposition 42 (is that the current one, I recall its progenitor was labeled “Prop 48″).

Unless and until it is learned by the alleged “student athletes” that academic performance is important to be considered by a D-1 (or D-2, for that matter) NCAA college/university, there will I believe be a continuing wailing and gnashing of the teeth among the local high school sports fans/boosters about the perceived failure of the ATHLETIC programs to properly prepare these students for D-1 competition, ignoring what appears to me to be the 800 pound gorilla in the room; the academic requirements for eligibility for an athletic scholarship as a Freshman.

Yes, standardized test scores are also involved in this qualification, as this is a criterion to be sure; the higher the grades in the courses that the NCAA deems appropriate, the lower the test scores need to be. It is, after all, a combination of the two.

I would further suggest that the laughable KSHSAA eligibility standards are partially to blame. To my knowledge, USD 259 has no independent requirements greater than those required by KSHSAA. I will immodestly suggest that the district consider a minimum 2.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale in the requisite courses (namely those deemed needed under the NCAA rules, for athletes; for nonathletes involved in KSHSAA sanctioned activities, the Regents Recommended Curriculum) to be determined weekly as a condition for the student to be eligible.

Perhaps it would be better for these young folks to spend as much time on the academic skills as is spent on the athletic skills, rather than to concentrate on the latter to the almost exclusion of the former.

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By: Onlooker

Onlooker — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 13:55:44 +0000

There could be more D-1 boys in Wichita if there grades were more important to them. I heard that Adonis Gantt is now going to Cowley County instead of Georgia Southern. Anyone else hear this?

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By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 10:58:41 +0000

I think Joanna hits the nail on the head. The main problem with girls basketball in this area is the large number of mismatches. There are so many games, in the City League at least, where you know going in that it can’t be competitive for even a quarter. See a few 80-20 games and you lose interest in a hurry. It’s not even much fun if you’re a fan of the winning team in such a game. I’m sure the coaches at the weaker programs want to do better, but it seems the same ones are down year after year. Do you have any solutions, Joanna?

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By: Austin

Austin — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 02:32:27 +0000

show mw a girl that can do this:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=282qlYibN84

And all the haters will shut up

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By: Night

Night — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 21:44:12 +0000

None of it was really clear, i figured if you cleared up one it would clear up the others also. And personally I would rather watch a decent high school boys game rather then a WNBA game.

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By: Joanna

Joanna — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 19:41:18 +0000

OK, a little misunderstanding here, Night. Sorry I wasn’t clearer. When I say champs, I mean state champs. So read it as Six City League state champs, three area state champs. Same with the girls — 5 City League state champs.
Glad the area champs part was more clear.

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