SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The NCAA announced Tuesday that 77 percent of black mens Division I basketball players who entered college in 2009 earned a degree within six years, up five points from a year earlier and a record high.That improvement helped the overall Graduation Success Rate match last years record of 86 percent of athletes graduating within six years, the NCAA said. Of all black Division I student-athletes, 74 percent graduated within six years. NCAA President Mark Emmert said in a news release the improved rates were hugely significant.Over the last 15 years, the overall Graduation Success Rate has dramatically improved, but the really good news is how college sports helps more and more minority students, especially those playing our highest-profile sport, earn a degree that will help them long after their athletics career is over, he said.The graduation rate for black basketball players is up 31 percentage points over the past 15 years, the NCAA said . Overall, all black male athletes have increased their GSR by 19 percentage points to 70 percent during that time. Black female athletes improved their rate 13 points to 84 percent over that same time.For all Division I athletes, the rate increased 12 percentage points during the past 15 years.B. David Ridpath, an associate professor and sports business and president of The Drake Group, an NCAA watchdog, said the GSR provides only a partial picture, pointing to reports of athletes at North Carolina taking courses aimed at boosting their GPAs in a department popular with athletes.Are we essentially practicing eligibility maintenance, potentially in a major with friendly faculty? he said. Are these kids graduating with a very meaningful, vital degree that can benefit them for the next 50 to 60 years of their life? In some cases, yes, this is happening. But all too often -- and I know this because I worked in college athletics -- were essentially pushing these kids through, keeping them eligible and in cases where they do graduate they might not be graduating with the requisite skills.Among football teams in The Associated Press Top 25 , the only teams with a GSR 65 percent or lower were No. 25 Troy at 65 percent and No. 13 Oklahoma State at 50 percent. Among Top 25 mens basketball teams , No. 4 Oregon had a GSR of 38 percent, No. 25 California 40 percent, No. 5 North Carolina, No. 18 Syracuse and No. 24 Cincinnati all had GSRs of 50 percent, and No. 13 Michigan State has a GSR of 63 percent.The University of Connecticut mens basketball team had one of the lower graduation rates at 22 percent, according to the latest results. But those 2009 numbers were actually a big improvement over previous years. The teams GSR rose from just 8 percent in 2006, 17 percent the following year and 20 percent in 2008.School spokesman Mike Enright said the poor graduation rate reflects the same time period for which UConn was sanctioned by the NCAA and missed the 2013 postseason because of an another indicator, the Academic Progress Rate, which measures whether players are in good academic standing.The school has reported perfect or near perfect APR scores since 2012-13 and is expecting similar numbers this year, Enright said. He also said all current members of the basketball team are on track to graduate.The academic achievement of our mens basketball team has been outstanding the past several years and I have a full expectation that this will continue, athletic director David Benedict said.---AP Sports Writer Pat Eaton-Robb in Storrs, Connecticut, contributed to this report. Authentic Spain World Cup Jerseys . 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Collingwood have confirmed Geoff Walsh will again head up their football department, replacing banned administrator Graeme Allan.One of the key figures in Collingwoods 2010 AFL premiership, Walsh served eight seasons with the Magpies before heading to North Melbourne in 2013.The Kangaroos on Monday confirmed they had accepted Walshs resignation, allowing him to return to Collingwood.Walsh will be the Magpies fifth football boss since 2013 and his appointment comes at a critical time for the Magpies, with coach Nathan Buckley and president Eddie McGuire under pressure to perform to keep their jobs.Geoff understands what is required to create a successful football environment, Magpies chief executive Gary Pert said on Monday.He played a pivotal role in building our last premiership team and under his watch the club featured in finals every year. I think that he is exactly the person Collingwood needs for a stable, seamless transition into 2017.Walshs appointment follows Allan stepping down in November after just three months as football boss over his role in the Lachie Whitfield affair.Allan, the Giants football boss at the time, was banned after Whitfield stayed at then-GWS welfare manager Craig Lamberts house for three days in May last year, allegedly to avoid a potential drug teest.ddddddddddddThe trio were ultimately penalised for breaching the AFLs rules and not the anti-doping code.Whitfield will miss seven games of the 2017 season after accepting a six-month ban and Lambert has copped a 12-month suspension, with all sanctions ticked off by ASADA.Allan replaced Neil Balme in August after initially joining the club in more of a development-based role in May, with the Pies aware he was under investigation when they hired him.But in accepting his resignation, the club revealed they were not made fully aware of all facets of the investigation.Collingwood received from Allan, in the form of a statutory declaration, a satisfactory account of the events in question, a club statement read.Collingwood was not aware or informed of the fact the matter was with the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority at the time of Allans appointment.A former North Melbourne chief executive, Walsh stepped down as football boss in October but had remained involved with the Kangaroos until resigning on Monday.He will start with the Magpies on December 12, with interim football boss Marcus Wagner to return to his role of football operations manager. 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