Remember Dominic Waters and Todd Follmer?

The University of Hawai'i men's basketball team could have reason to.

The two former Rainbow Warriors are among examples of why UH could be walloped with the loss of two scholarships for the upcoming season today when the NCAA is scheduled to announce its latest Academic Progress Rate scores. They are among the faces of a lingering turnover problem for UH.

The APR measures track records in the academic eligibility, retention and graduation of athletes and schools that lag below the national average can be docked scholarships under the three-year-old get-tough policy, as UH is learning the hard way.

According to people with knowledge of the situation at UH but not authorized to speak on the issue, three sports — men's basketball, baseball and football — will be hit with NCAA academic sanctions today.

Men's basketball could receive the maximum penalty for the sport, the loss of two scholarships, in a single year. In a sport that awards 13 scholarships, that amounts to a 15-percent setback.

Not the fast-track way to go about rebuilding a program that hasn't been to the NCAA Tournament in six seasons or any postseason in four. With seven seniors having departed, head coach Bob Nash already has a major renovation under way. Problem is if UH is docked two scholarships, that takes a significant bite out of the manpower that can be employed. Especially if opponents have a full bench.

That's where the ghosts of Waters and Follmer, among others, may linger. Both lettered in 2006 and left for other parts. But the hangup is that both had not completed their eligibility at UH and, we're told by the school, allegedly contributed to leaving the 'Bows in an APR lurch.

In the APR accounting, leaving with time on the eligibility clock is one thing. Departing with academic deficiencies can be double trouble. Pile up enough black marks and you face the kind of reckoning that could be awaiting the 'Bows today.

The idea is to recruit good players who are also good students and encourage them to stick around for graduation. If they choose to transfer for greener pastures before they get a diploma, then it needs to be with good academic standing.

To be sure, it isn't just a basketball problem. Baseball and football have been sanctioned in the past and, likely, will get penalized again today despite what appears to be improving but still-lagging numbers.

Athletes, of course, shoulder a responsibility to make the most of the educational opportunities with which they are blessed. The lesson that comes out of this is that since the teams ultimately pay an NCAA price, it behooves UH to do all it can to keep its players as competitive in the classroom as they are on the court.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.