Long has Arkansas last in SEC in graduation rates, too

At a time when the football program is in crisis, Jeff Long’s supporters have talked about how he was brought in to improve academics.

While the university put out a press release Wednesday touting the school record graduation rate, that’s only a small amount of the actual truth.

It’s dead last in the SEC.

Which means Long’s touting academics as a priority over wins and losses in football sounded like a reasonable argument, the fact is Arkansas is doing about as well in that as in football wins and losses.

Here are the latest numbers, released by the NCAA on Wednesday:

• Vanderbilt 96{e1768d0eec022f908d772ba0c0274d97d05d220b4341147789bdb671ddb19707}
• South Carolina 93{e1768d0eec022f908d772ba0c0274d97d05d220b4341147789bdb671ddb19707}
• Missouri 91{e1768d0eec022f908d772ba0c0274d97d05d220b4341147789bdb671ddb19707}
• LSU, Mississippi State, Alabama 90{e1768d0eec022f908d772ba0c0274d97d05d220b4341147789bdb671ddb19707}
• Kentucky, Tennessee 85{e1768d0eec022f908d772ba0c0274d97d05d220b4341147789bdb671ddb19707}
• Ole Miss 84{e1768d0eec022f908d772ba0c0274d97d05d220b4341147789bdb671ddb19707}
• Florida, Georgia 83{e1768d0eec022f908d772ba0c0274d97d05d220b4341147789bdb671ddb19707}
• Auburn 82{e1768d0eec022f908d772ba0c0274d97d05d220b4341147789bdb671ddb19707}
• Texas A&M 81{e1768d0eec022f908d772ba0c0274d97d05d220b4341147789bdb671ddb19707}
• Arkansas 80{e1768d0eec022f908d772ba0c0274d97d05d220b4341147789bdb671ddb19707}

The fact of the matter that was pointed out to me by someone recently was every school in the NCAA has seen an increase in graduation rates because, well, the NCAA has mandated it.

Arkansas just hasn’t improved as much as everyone else.

There have been a growing number of disgruntled boosters, ex-athletes and others that have said for years that many claims and statements from Long and his minions are half-truths, misleading and only giving part of the information.

It makes you wonder if the UA Board of Trustees should have listened to former Sen. David Pryor a couple of years ago when he publicly questioned Long’s claim of a need for new luxury suites in the north end zone in Fayetteville.

You know, the one that has the stadium under construction at a cost over $160 million (that has had some questioning how it was handled from a fiscal standpoint) while adding about 3,500 seats for folks willing to spend a lot of money.

The questions for Long continue.

And more evidence for the growing number of people that want a change not only in the guy at the top of the football program, but the athletic department as a whole.

Which makes the next month or so even more interesting.