Ncaa, Facing Suit For Bias, Notes Rebound From Prop 48

The number of black athletes enrolling in Division I schools that grant scholarships is on the rebound after falling off when Proposition 48 was adopted 10 years ago, the NCAA said Wednesday.

The first long-term study of the academic standards rule’s impact was released on the same day the NCAA was hit with a lawsuit alleging discrimination against black athletes from the use of SAT scores to determine freshman eligibility.

In its graduation study, the NCAA also said rates for all student-athletes at such Division I schools continue to exceed those of the general student populations.

The NCAA said blacks made up 27.3 percent of all student-athletes entering the schools in 1985, falling to 23.6 percent in 1986. By 1989, it had recovered to 25 percent.

The study also showed a rise in graduation rates among black male student-athletes - from 34 percent of the freshman class of 1985 to 43 percent of 1989 freshmen.

Two 1996 graduates of Philadelphia’s Simon Gratz High School are the official plaintiffs in the suit, Tai Kwan Cureton, a freshman at Wheaton College, and University of Miami student Leatrice Shaw.

Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, a Washington, D.C.-based organization, claims hundreds of young black athletes have suffered because the NCAA uses SAT scores to decide who can play in college sports. It asked the U.S. District Court to issue an injunction against the NCAA and to rule it in violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.