ESPN Independents and Others Blog

Posted by ESPN.com's Graham Watson

Akey

SALT LAKE CITY -- A media day isn't a media day without a good rant from a coach. And while few rants will equal that of New Mexico's Rocky Long a couple days ago, second-year Idaho coach Robb Akey had an interesting beef with the NCAA on Wednesday.

See, Akey and his Idaho squad lost eight scholarships (leaving them with 77 total scholarships for those counting at home) this year after falling below the NCAA's mandatory 925 APR score. There's a lot that goes into calculating the APR, but know that it takes into account the number of players that don't graduate from your program relative to how many are on the team. Akey lost 17 players when he took over the program last year. Some to discipline, some to academics, and some who just didn't want to play anymore. It was a nightmare scenario for any coach, but one that Akey knew was necessary if his team was going to be better than its 1-11 record last season.

"There's something that's affecting this game right now and that's the APR and the way that it's being brought down on our institutions," Akey said. "That's what we need to put out efforts on, getting that fixed. Is it well intended? Yes. Should it be playing out the way that it is? I don't think so. If you're doing things that better a program, why get penalized for that? I think that there are things to be done to fix that. That's what I'd like to see, efforts go toward fixing that.

"If we're worthy of a penalty, come spend 48 hours on our campus. Anybody. I'm not talking about Idaho, it could be San Jose, it could be anybody in the country. Go spend 48 hours there and you will know if those decisions are happening for the right reasons, the wrong reasons and making it better? Or is the coaching staff into what's going on there that's wrong. If that's the problem, administer the penalty. If not, help people get the job done."