Report: UConn Proposes Alternative to Postseason Ban for Academic Woes

Facing banishment from the 2012-13 National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament because of its men's basketball players' academic underperformance, the University of Connecticut has proposed an alternative set of penalties in exchange for remaining eligible for the postseason, ESPN and the Associated Press reported. The AP said that the university's waiver request to the NCAA -- which the news service obtained through an open-records request -- said that if the team was allowed to participate in the 2012-13 tournament, UConn would limit the number of regular season games it played, limit Coach Jim Calhoun's role in recruiting, and forfeit the funds due to the Big East Conference because of UConn's participation in the 2012-13 tournament. "Collectively, the university's proposal will clearly send the message that the institution fully accepts the responsibility for past failings," the AP quoted the university as saying in its waiver request. "It will result in the economic equivalent of a postseason ban without harming the very students the NCAA is trying to protect." (Note: This item has been updated from an earlier version to correct the reason for UConn's postseason ban.)

UConn faces the penalties under the NCAA's system for imposing penalties on teams that fail to reach minimum scores on the Academic Progress Rate, the association's measure of athletes' classroom performance. The university's president, Susan Herbst, said in a statement to the AP that the university had made significant progress in improving on its historical performance and that its officials will be "deeply disappointed if our request for a waiver ... is denied."