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USF won't tolerate excessive absences

Tribune file photo by MICHAEL SPOONEYBARGER

Under the new rules, players with a fifth unexcused absence will result in a one-game suspension.

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By BRETT McMURPHY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 17, 2009

TAMPA - In the past, University of South Florida football players who missed classes were required to run after practice.

This fall, the Bulls won't run - they will sit.

USF has implemented a new academic accountability policy. A fifth unexcused absence will result in a one-game suspension, and each subsequent absence will result in another game missed.

There will be no penalty for the first three unexcused absences (a player's parents will be notified after the third absence). A fourth unexcused absence will result in the player being held out of one practice. The absences are cumulative for each semester and not per class.

A new policy also will be in effect for the men's basketball program, but it hasn't been finalized, USF associate athletic director Amy Haworth said.

USF's football and men's basketball programs are the school's only two sports that have added these new attendance requirements. Not coincidentally, both sports ranked among the nation's worst in the NCAA's Academic Progress Rates.

Among BCS conference schools the past two years, USF's football team had the nation's worst and third-worst APR scores, while USF's men's basketball team had the third-worst and 10th-worst scores.

"This is what we believe we need to have in place to have the most positive impact on our programs," Haworth said. "If we need to adjust in the future we will. We want our teams to have the best performance academically and athletically and can do it by changing policy and having higher expectations."

If a player misses an "academic support meeting," such as tutoring sessions, study halls, etc., the player cannot practice until he makes up the session. Players will not be suspended from games for these absences.

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