Posted on: Friday, June 10, 2005

Survey shows UH football's graduation rate among best

Advertiser Staff

The University of Hawai'i football team yesterday was honored for being one of 25 Division I-A programs with a graduation rate of 70 percent or better.

UH earned a share of the American Football Coaches Association's Academic Achievement Award. The AFCA tracked the graduation rate of the freshmen who first enrolled in the 1999-2000 academic year.

That was June Jones' first recruiting class as UH head coach. That group included wideout Justin Colbert, defensive end Kevin Jackson, and offensive linemen Vince Manuwai and Shayne Kajioka.

"It certainly is an honor," Jones said. "There's a lot of credit that needs to be shared."

Jones praised his assistant coaches "for being diligent in staying on the kids." The assistant coaches take turns monitoring the nightly study sessions.

"Of course, the academic program set by Jennifer (Matsuda) and Sara (Nunes-Atabuki) is first class," Jones added. "They've done a great job organizing the tutoring program. They stay up-to-date on the class checks."

UH's graduation rate for all students is about 55 percent, according to a report filed with the NCAA.

The Touchdown Club of Memphis coordinates the award presentation.

Duke and Northwestern had a 100-percent graduation rate for that period.

Boston College, Miami (Ohio), Notre Dame and Vanderbilt graduated 90 percent of their football players during that period.

Nineteen other schools had a graduation rate of 70 percent or better. Southern Methodist and UH were the only Western Athletic Conference schools honored. SMU is leaving the WAC on June 30 to join Conference USA.

Of the 120 Division I-A teams and probationary members, 103 responded to the survey. Of those responding, the average graduation rate was 58 percent, with 50 above the average and 53 below it.

The Mid-America Conference led the way with six schools earning graduation rates of 70 percent or better.

The study included freshmen who entered during the 1999-2000 academic year but did not receive a football scholarship until after their initial year and those who transferred from another institution and subsequently received a grant-in-aid.