Athletics at UNLV a matter of degree

By Brian Hilderbrand

Monday, July 30, 2007 | 7:06 a.m.

Mike Hamrick vividly remembers his first Board of Regents meeting shortly after taking over as UNLV's athletics director nearly four years ago.

"Regent Doug Hill, who is no longer on the (board), absolutely chastised us for our poor graduation rates - and he should have," Hamrick recalled.

At the time, a measly 30 percent of UNLV's student-athletes went on to receive a degree.

"I was embarrassed," Hamrick said.

And he set out to do something about it - first by making coaches accountable for their respective student-athletes and then by making sure a system was put into place to help them succeed in the classroom.

Four years later, UNLV is graduating 63 percent of its student-athletes (compared with 41 percent of the general student body). UNLV also finished third among Mountain West Conference schools with 84 representatives receiving Academic All-MWC honors this spring , and nine of its 16 sports teams boast a cumulative grade-point average of 3.02 or higher.

Hamrick focuses on graduation rates, not grade-point average, although he says it "continues to get better every year."

Overall, UNLV's 430 student athletes had a 2.91 GPA (the cumulative average of student-athletes on the teams since they enrolled at UNLV). The tennis, golf and swim teams lead the pack and the football and track teams are at the bottom - although the women's track squad has a 2.62 GPA.

Although Hamrick deflects credit to his coaches and the academic services available to the student-athletes, he said he made improving the department's academics "my No. 1 priority" when he took the job.

"The credit goes to our coaches, who are recruiting good student-athletes, and also the fact that we've put in a good academic service - advising and tutoring.

"Plus, a part of each coach's evaluation each year is how well their teams do academically."

Owen Hambrook, UNLV's fourth-year men's head tennis coach, said it is clear to all UNLV coaches that academic success is a priority of Hamrick's administration.

"Obviously, the athletic administration places a huge emphasis on the academics , and that's evident in the graduation rate," he said. "You can tell that the administration has really made it a priority , and I think it helps us with recruiting and everything else."

Hambrook's squad leads all UNLV sports teams with a 3.35 GPA, and said a big factor in his team's success in the classroom is the support system the university has in place for its student-athletes.

"Under Mike Hamrick's direction, we've had very good academic advising for our student-athletes," he said. "They really do a good job in keeping them on track and progressing toward their degree and are always very open to the student-athletes coming in."

Another factor in the student-athletes' academic improvement, Hamrick said, has been the department's ability to send them to summer school and to provide them with "fifth-year aid."

"Let's say you come to school here and you do everything you're supposed to do academically and you play football for four years and you're a semester short (of graduating)," he said. "We'll pay for a kid, a full scholarship, to finish up that fifth year. We do that with all our athletes if they do what they're supposed to do."

UNLV has been able to fund both programs through athletic department fundraising, Hamrick said.

In addition to excelling in the classroom, Hamrick is quick to point out , many of UNLV's teams have enjoyed success on the field . UNLV has won 15 Mountain West Conference championships since 2003-2004, including five this past school year.

"The point is, they're good athletes but they're also good students," Hamrick said.

"That's something that needed to change here and we changed it."