South Carolina's Hyman introduces academic improvement plan

COLUMBIA, S.C. - South Carolina athletic director Eric Hyman wants to step up the academic credentials of his athletes and will start a plan for some to improve classroom performance or face a loss of practice and playing time.<br> <br> Hyman briefed the University of South Carolina&#39;s board of trustees&#39; intercollegiate activities committee on the program, which he said starts Oct. 1.<br> <br> Those incoming athletes and transfers with grade-point-averages of less than 2.5 and SAT scores of less than 950 will be subject to tutoring sessions and extra work to improve their academic performance. Returning South Carolina athletes with GPA&#39;s of 2.3 or less will also take part.<br> <br> Should athletes miss class or study halls, Hyman said they miss practice times and athletic events. ``I don&#39;t have a lot of leniency in this area,&#39;&#39; he said Thursday.<br> <br> The program is meant to shore up South Carolina&#39;s academics in the wake of the NCAA&#39;s Academic Progress Reports (APR), an academic points system that requires teams to meet minimum requirements or face potential loss of scholarship money when academically ineligible athletes leave school.<br> <br> ``What we&#39;re trying to do is put our young people in a position where they can have success and you have to go to class to be able to do that,&#39;&#39; Hyman said.<br> <br> In February, South Carolina released its APR report for the previous two academic years (2003-04 and 2004-05). The report showed seven teams had scores of less than 925 out of 1,000. Anything below 925 is the cut line set by the NCAA Committee on Academic Performance. Those teams were baseball, men&#39;s basketball, football, men&#39;s soccer, men&#39;s tennis and men&#39;s indoor and outdoor track. However, because of the small sample size for analysis, only the men&#39;s basketball team would&#39;ve faced the loss of scholarships.<br> <br> Hyman says he&#39;s run the plans through several South Carolina administrators, officials and coaches, who provided suggestions and supported the initiative. He does not expect to go toe-to-toe with coaches who could face losing a key player because of the policy.<br> <br> ``My expectations are that a student athlete will go to class,&#39;&#39; he said. ``If they don&#39;t then we&#39;ll reinforce having more study halls as opposed to practice. Eventually, if an individual still follows the same pattern, then we&#39;ll take away playing time.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Hyman also updated the committee on a planned Academic Enrichment Center, which he called the department&#39;s top priority.<br> <br> Such a project, part of the athletic department&#39;s overall facility plans, could cost an estimated $8 million to $10 million, ``somewhere in that ballpark,&#39;&#39; Hyman said.<br> <br> It could be located in a revamped Carolina Coliseum or an updated Roost area. ``These are concepts,&#39;&#39; Hyman said. ``If that concept comes to fruition, I don&#39;t know. But at least it gives you a starting point.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Other items Hyman mentioned were:<br> <br> South Carolina is scheduled to take possession of land for the new baseball stadium and is on track to have the park opened in time for the 2008 season.<br> <br> the addition of women&#39;s lacrosse next spring will give the university a ``50-50&#39;&#39; breakdown among its male and female athletes.<br> <br> the department&#39;s goals for this year included increasing men&#39;s basketball attendance from 9,491 a game to 9,965, and increasing women&#39;s basketball attendance from 1,455 a game to 1,673.<br> <br> (Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)