Six Canes from Sweet 16 Team Earn Degrees
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Six members of the Hurricanes men’s basketball team have earned their college degree from the University of Miami and will be recognized in graduation ceremonies this Thursday and Friday at the BankUnited Center in Coral Gables.
Two Canes – Trey McKinney Jones and Julian Gamble – are accepting graduate degrees while four student-athletes – Garrius Adams, Reggie Johnson, Kenny Kadji and Durand Scott – will have their undergrad degrees in hand by Friday evening.
“We are very proud of this year’s senior class. They did an outstanding job both on the court and in the classroom,” said Coach Jim Larrañaga. “When we recruit a student-athlete our number one priority is to provide him the necessary support to earn his degree and then he must dedicate himself to reach that goal. Our basketball program is truly impressed with our six seniors, as each of them will graduate this year. It says our student-athletes are achieving the goal that they set for themselves when they chose the University of Miami. It also reinforces Miami’s commitment to our student-athletes.”
Miami men’s basketball has graduated 30 of 31 players in the past nine years and in just two seasons under Larrañaga, the team has had all nine seniors earn their degree.
A year ago Trey McKinney Jones accepted a bachelor’s of business administration with a major in marketing and has now earned his master’s of arts in liberal studies. Julian Gamble has a B.S. in education with a sport administration major, and will receive his master’s of arts degree in liberal studies. The duo will be honored during the May 9 commencement at 4 p.m.
“We’re very excited for our seniors to be getting their degrees after such a successful season,” said Heather Koutrakos, an academic advisor for student-athletes at The U. “We’re especially proud of Trey and Julian because they are getting their graduate degrees. The fact that they were able to get both their graduate and master’s degrees is something that they should be proud of.”
Garrius Adams, who will return to the court for the Canes next season, will complete his B.S. in education with a sport administration major this summer and will walk on Friday, May 10 at 12:30 p.m.
Durand Scott will receive a bachelor’s of liberal arts while Kenny Kadji will earn a B.A. in sociology during the commencement ceremony on May 10 at 5 p.m.
Reggie Johnson, who graduated in December 2012, earned a degree in liberal arts.
The University of Miami recorded a department-wide school-record Graduation Success Rate (GSR) of 93 percent, according to the rates released in October by the NCAA. As a department, Miami’s 93 percent GSR ranks fourth among ACC schools and is eighth overall among FBS schools. Overall, the University of Miami athletic department has improved from 77 to 93 percent from 2005 to 2012, a year after UM student-athletes posted a then-record 89 percent GSR in 2011. UM has exceeded the NCAA average GSR in each of the last eight years.
According to US News & World Report, the University of Miami is the top academic institution in the state of Florida and No. 44 in the nation. UM ranks No. 17 among BCS schools and UM, Northwestern and Duke are the only three BCS schools to record an APR score of 980 or better in football, men’s basketball and baseball.
