Nun's Devotion Inspires Xavier Basketball Team
Sister Rose Ann Fleming inspires Xavier basketball players' academic excellence.
March 20, 2010— -- At 5-foot-4 inches tall, Sister Rose Ann Fleming is a towering figure of inspiration and determination to Xavier University in Cincinnati, one of 65 schools that made this year's NCAA college basketball tournament, better known as March Madness.
Xavier's regular seson record this year was 24-8. But it pales next to Sister Fleming's record, 77-0. That's 77 college graduates in the 25 years that she's been academic adviser to the sports teams at the small Jesuit college. Seventy-seven is also her age.
"If they have played for Xavier for four years, we have been successful in getting them through the degree program," Fleming says. "They deserve the credit for that. All I have done is, to some extent, guide them."
As athletic adviser, Fleming is known for her hands-on involvement in making sure the basketball players keep up with their studies. She knocks on dormitory room doors to make sure they get to class. She arranges tutoring if it's needed. She stays in touch with the players' teachers to know how they're doing academically.
According to a new study by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida, which looked at the graduation rates for freshmen players entering college from 1999 to 2004, 89 percent of Xavier basketball players graduated.
By comparison, perennial hoops powerhouse Kentucky saw 31 percent of its players graduate. The University of Maryland, which is in this year's tournament too, had the worst record, with only 8 percent of its players graduating from college.
"The students we recruit are very special," Fleming says. "They have extraordinary talent and they are also students. They have academic talent as well as athletic talent. My job is to make sure they don't waste their opportunities to also get their degree.
"You must fulfill all the academic requirements if you want to play ball," she says. "If you don't fulfill those requirements, we're not going to do any fudging. You are not going to play basketball."
Twice a semester, Fleming sends the players' teachers a questionnaire asking for an assessment how they are doing. She freely admits her monitoring is "intrusive."
Related Stories
ABC News Live