June 15, 2007
Coach Sendek Named to NCAA Academic Panel (USA Today, May 29, 2007)
Arizona State head men's basketball coach Herb Sendek is part of a NCAA 27-member panel (including seven coaches) to be charged with developing strategies to enhance academic performance and graduation rates in Division I men's basketball.
NCAA President Myles Brand announced the establishment of the Division I Men's Basketball Academic Enhancement Group. The group includes four presidents and/or chancellors, seven head coaches, commissioners, directors of athletics and faculty athletics representatives.
Other coaches on the panel are Jim Boeheim (Syracuse), Paul Hewitt (Georgia Tech), Bo Ryan (Wisconsin), Phil Martelli (Saint Joseph's), Cy Alexander (Tennessee State) and Ron Hunter (IUPUI). Hunter was an assistant under Coach Sendek at Miami (Ohio) in 1993-94.
ASU's men's hoops team notched a 2.85 grade point average in the spring of 2007, topping the 2.83 set in the fall and its team cumulative GPA is 2.83, its highest in the past six years, as 85 percent of the team has at least a 2.5 grade point average. The four freshmen combined for a 3.33 GPA and 90 percent of the team had at least a 2.5. Three Sun Devils from last year played with degrees, as Serge Angounou (B.A. in Spanish) graduated in May of 2006 as did Robby Alridge (B.A. in sociology) while Allen Morill earned his B.I.S. degree in December. That trio joins Jonathan Howard (B.S., Management, 2006), Jeremy Veal (B.S.W., Social Work, 2006), Curtis Millage (B.I.S., Education and Family Studies, 2006), Kevin Kruger (B.S., Justice Studies, 2006), Jason Braxton (B.I.S, Business and Psychology, 2005), Jamie Andrisevic (B.S., Finance, 2004) and Kenny Crandall (B.I.S., Business and Communications, 2004) as ASU men's basketball graduates in the past three years.
Dubbed the Basketball Academic Enhancement Group, the panel will be chaired by UCLA athletics director Dan Guerrero and mirror a recent baseball study group that tackled academic issues in that sport.
Among others are athletics directors Debbie Yow (Maryland), former Arizona State leader Gene Smith (Ohio State) and Jeff Long (Pittsburgh), Southeastern Conference Commissioner Mike Slive and four presidents.
Specifically, the charge to the Division I Men's Basketball Academic Enhancement Group is to:
·Analyze available data, research and literature regarding the academic performance trends of Division I men's basketball student-athletes.
·Identify characteristics and factors in the sport that may be serving to impair the academic performance of Division I men's basketball student-athletes.
·Identify changes that would enhance academic performance and graduation rates in Division I men's basketball.
·Submit to the Division I Board of Directors, no later than the end of 2008, a set of recommendations and proposals that would enhance APR and graduation rates in Division I men's basketball.
·Maintain ongoing communication with, and seek reactions from, the NCAA governance structure, the NABC membership and conference offices during the course of the project.
"It is essential that NCAA constituent groups work together to evaluate the causes and develop meaningful strategies to improve academic performance in men's basketball," said Myles Brand. "Academic reform is here to stay and we need to work together to aggressively develop and implement solutions that ensure basketball student athletes are as successful in the classroom as they are on the court."
The group is expected to make recommendations to the Division I Board of Directors by the end of 2008, in addition to providing regular status updates during the course of the project.
In addition to Guerrero, other members include:
·Cy Alexander, Head Men's Basketball Coach, Tennessee State University
·Kevin Anderson, Director of Athletics, U.S. Military Academy
·Britton Banowsky, Commissioner, Conference USA
·Dr. Percy Bates, Faculty Athletics Representative, University of Michigan
·Jim Boeheim, Head Men's Basketball Coach, Syracuse University
·Pete Boone, Director of Athletics, University of Mississippi
·President Robert Bruininks, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
·Dr. Jack Evans, Faculty Athletics Representative, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
·President Walter Harrison, University of Hartford
·Dr. Alan Hauser, Faculty Athletics Representative, Appalachian State University
·Paul Hewitt, Head Men's Basketball Coach, Georgia Institute of Technology
·Ron Hunter, Head Men's Basketball Coach, Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis
·Jeff Long, Director of Athletics, University of Pittsburgh
·Phil Martelli, Head Men's Basketball Coach, Saint Joseph's University
·Reggie Minton, Deputy Executive Director, National Association of Basketball Coaches
·Mario Moccia, Director of Athletics, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
·President Sidney A. Ribeau, Bowling Green State University
·Bo Ryan, Head Men's Basketball Coach, University of Wisconsin, Madison
·Herb Sendek, Head Men's Basketball Coach, Arizona State University
·Mike Slive, Commissioner, Southeastern Conference
·Gene Smith, Director of Athletics, Ohio State University
·Jon A. Steinbrecher, Commissioner, Ohio Valley Conference
·Dr. John Watson, Director of Athletics, Pepperdine University
·President Steve Weber, San Diego State University
·Kevin Weiberg, Commissioner, Big 12 Conference (now Big Ten Network)
·Debbie Yow, Director of Athletics, University of Maryland, College Park
THE COACH:Herb Sendek finished his 14th season as a head coach last year and has averaged 18.7 wins per season. He led the NC State Wolfpack to five straight NCAA appearances from 2002-06 and is now 262-180 (.592) in 14 seasons and was 191-132 (.591) at NC State. The 44-year-old (born Feb. 22, 1963) Pittsburgh, Pa., native is the second-youngest coach in the Pac-10 behind only first-year coach Tony Bennett of WSU, yet his 254 career wins and six NCAA Tournament wins entering the 2006-07 were fourth in the league. Only Duke posted more ACC wins (regular season and ACC Tournament) than NC State's 53 victories from 2002-2006. Coach Sendek also led NC State to five 20-win seasons in his final seven years. Another overlooked note is his 10-year stay at NC State. To compare it to the Pac-10, since the league expanded to 10 teams in 1978-79, only five coaches have coached at their schools for at least 10 years: Lute Olson (currently 24 at Arizona), Ralph Miller (19 at Oregon State), Mike Montgomery (18 at Stanford), Ben Braun (11 at California) and Ernie Kent (10 at Oregon).
THE COACHING FAMILY: Herb Sendek has six former assistants who are currently Division I head coaches. Here's the list: Jim Christian, Kent State, Miami Assistant (1994-96); Charlie Coles, Miami (Ohio), Miami Assistant (1994-96); Larry Hunter, Western Carolina, NC State Assistant (2001-05); Ron Hunter, IUPUI, Miami Assistant (1993-94); Thad Matta, Ohio State, Miami Assistant (1994-95) and Sean Miller, Xavier, Miami (1994-96) and NC State Assistant (1996-2000). Coles, Miller and Matta all led their teams to the 2007 NCAA Tournament.