Louisiana Tech Tackles Quarter System and Transfer Issues

Louisiana Tech played in the 2016 Conference USA Championship Game without two players, Jordan Harris and Dalton Santos. Both Harris (Iowa State) and Santos (Texas) were graduate transfers from other four year universities. Both players were ruled academically ineligible at the start of Tech's winter quarter, November 30th. Story

One year later, we look back at this issue and we also found out what Louisiana Tech is doing about the situation. The quarter system has been both an advantage and a disadvantage to Tech over the years. In 2014, Tech had six players that were not able to play in the Conference USA Championship Game, and four of those players (Mitchell Bell, Tre Carter, Tony Johnson, and Terrell Pinson) were junior college transfers. Story

BleedTechBlue.com has learned that Louisiana Tech officials met with the NCAA during the summer and player eligibility requirements have been modified to fit within the quarter system.

This is huge news given what transpired in both 2014 and 2016. Do other schools have players that fall short of academic requirements in the fall? Of course they do, but we don't hear about it because spring semester at most schools start after the majority of bowl games are played.

This isn't an issue for just transfers, but for all student-athletes. APR is a team-based metric. The NCAA does not evaluate graduate transfers differently than undergraduate student-athletes with regard to earning retention points when it comes to APR. An incoming graduate transfer has to maintain their coursework just like undergraduate students.

Timing of the quarter calendar is the most difficult transitional aspect.The majority of transfers are coming from a semester institution where they have fifteen weeks to complete the coursework. The quarter is ten weeks long so it is imperative to get started on the right foot and stay caught up.

The quarter calendar enables Tech to get transfers in classes for both the winter and spring quarters if their fall semester is completed early enough.This allows a transfer football player to workout with the team and adjust to the culture of the program in the classroom and on the field for two quarters as opposed to the one semester they may otherwise have at a different school. Of course the speed of the quarter is challenging.

Players that transfer out of the program have an effect on APR as well. If the player has a 2.6 grade point average at the time of the transfer and transfers to a four-year university, it does not affect the APR. If they fail to meet either of those criteria, they could cost the program either 1 or 2 retention points.In the most recent APR release, Louisiana Tech football increased both their single year and multi-year score.

So what is Louisiana Tech doing to keep transfers and all of their student-athletes on the right path? Dual advising is set up at Tech.They have worked with the on campus academic advisers to strengthen the relationship and ensure that the student-athletes are in the most appropriate class schedule for the time of year. They redesigned the tutor program to offer one-on-one scheduled appointments with student-athletes.That has made a major difference when it comes to academic performance. Tech also brought on an additional full time staff member that enabled them to allow one staff member to devote their academic support efforts to football specifically.

Louisiana Tech structures the football student-athletes’ time in the Academic Center to be utilized effectively. They have also partnered with on campus resources to provide programming on study and test taking skills, time management, and organization. Tech is fostering a culture of academic success through accountability and integrity. When your goal is to develop champions on the field and in the classroom, it is a 24/7 effort that cannot rest. The student-athletes remain central in any decision made within academic support they continue to find new programs and opportunities to provide student-athletes a level of academic support that will foster excellence all the way around.

Skip Holtz and the Bulldogs won 3 of their last 5 games down the stretch, including Saturday's 20-6 over UTSA. Tech is now 6-6 on the season and bowl eligible. The administration has taken the steps necessary to help the team stay out of the headlines for any academic missteps. Now the team waits for their bowl destination as they look to help Holtz win his fourth straight bowl game.