[College Sports News]

NCAA President Myles Brand announced the establishment of the Division I Men's Basketball Academic Enhancement Group today. The group includes presidents and chancellors, head coaches, commissioners, directors of athletics and faculty athletics representatives and is charged with developing strategies to enhance academic performance and graduation rates in Division I men's basketball.

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."

NCAA Announces Division I Men's Basketball Academic Enhancement Group