NORMAN -- Gerald Gurney, a former senior associate athletic director at Oklahoma, said that he "made sure" OU student-athletes graduated to comply with the NCAA's academic reform initiative.
The Oklahoma professor agreed when asked if his work helped Saturdays happen at OU football games.
"And there's one like me at every big-time university in the country," Gurney said during a segment airing at 9 p.m. Tuesday on HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel."
Oklahoma, North Carolina and Memphis are featured during an investigative report by HBO correspondent Bernard Goldberg titled "Gaming the System." A press release said "lower admission standards, coupled with higher graduation requirements, meant that many top-flight schools needed to commit resources for learning specialists to ensure that student-athletes measured up."
An advance copy was provided to the Tulsa World by HBO.
Four student-athletes were interviewed, including former OU offensive lineman Eric Mensik, who graduated in 2010.
An Oklahoma athletic department spokesperson said the school would not have a comment -- if any -- until after Tuesday's broadcast.
In 2003, the NCAA instituted an academic reform initiative to reemphasize a commitment to the education of all student-athletes, mandating that schools graduate a majority of each team or face punishments ranging from a loss of scholarships to a ban on postseason play.
"Can you imagine what it might be like if the University of Oklahoma could not go to a bowl game?" Gurney said. "Could you imagine what might happen? I mean that's an impossibility."
Gurney is currently an assistant professor of adult and higher education. Among his accomplishments while with the athletic department, according to an OU bio, is that he "merged all support functions into one area with a focus on graduation and preparation of the student-athlete for the world after college and competition."
The HBO broadcast said part of his mission was "making sure the prized football program didn't get hurt by the NCAA's new graduation rules."
Gurney, who was in charge, said he "did make sure" that players stayed eligible and enough graduated so OU could go to a bowl game.
The segment heavily featured North Carolina and learning specialist Mary Willingham, a UNC learning specialist who has been an advocate for academic reform. Willingham said she had to help some former football players learn to read while they were taking college courses.
Mensik, now an office worker, said he received a degree in multi-disciplinary studies. He said it hasn't helped him during his job search following school.
"It's just kind of a degree that you were able to put together and say 'Hey, I got a diploma,'" Mensik said while being interviewed.
"It's a football degree."
http://espn.go.com/blog/big12
http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsext...cle_c9249e6a-9b9a-5e6f-853e-3ec0effbc773.html
The Oklahoma professor agreed when asked if his work helped Saturdays happen at OU football games.
"And there's one like me at every big-time university in the country," Gurney said during a segment airing at 9 p.m. Tuesday on HBO's "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel."
Oklahoma, North Carolina and Memphis are featured during an investigative report by HBO correspondent Bernard Goldberg titled "Gaming the System." A press release said "lower admission standards, coupled with higher graduation requirements, meant that many top-flight schools needed to commit resources for learning specialists to ensure that student-athletes measured up."
An advance copy was provided to the Tulsa World by HBO.
Four student-athletes were interviewed, including former OU offensive lineman Eric Mensik, who graduated in 2010.
An Oklahoma athletic department spokesperson said the school would not have a comment -- if any -- until after Tuesday's broadcast.
In 2003, the NCAA instituted an academic reform initiative to reemphasize a commitment to the education of all student-athletes, mandating that schools graduate a majority of each team or face punishments ranging from a loss of scholarships to a ban on postseason play.
"Can you imagine what it might be like if the University of Oklahoma could not go to a bowl game?" Gurney said. "Could you imagine what might happen? I mean that's an impossibility."
Gurney is currently an assistant professor of adult and higher education. Among his accomplishments while with the athletic department, according to an OU bio, is that he "merged all support functions into one area with a focus on graduation and preparation of the student-athlete for the world after college and competition."
The HBO broadcast said part of his mission was "making sure the prized football program didn't get hurt by the NCAA's new graduation rules."
Gurney, who was in charge, said he "did make sure" that players stayed eligible and enough graduated so OU could go to a bowl game.
The segment heavily featured North Carolina and learning specialist Mary Willingham, a UNC learning specialist who has been an advocate for academic reform. Willingham said she had to help some former football players learn to read while they were taking college courses.
Mensik, now an office worker, said he received a degree in multi-disciplinary studies. He said it hasn't helped him during his job search following school.
"It's just kind of a degree that you were able to put together and say 'Hey, I got a diploma,'" Mensik said while being interviewed.
"It's a football degree."
http://espn.go.com/blog/big12
http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsext...cle_c9249e6a-9b9a-5e6f-853e-3ec0effbc773.html
