The 58.8 percent graduation rate for ISU football players as determined by the NCAA may not seem impressive, but it’s in line with the rate for all males at Iowa State.

According to the 2002 NCAA Graduation Rates Report, 62 percent of all males who enrolled at Iowa State in 1995 graduated from the university within six years.

Head football coach Dan McCarney said steps have been taken in the right direction concerning graduation rates since he took the job in 1995. He said he makes commitments during the recruiting process that his players will get their degrees. Not fulfilling that commitment would be an injustice to the player and his family, McCarney said.

“We have had real good graduation rates since we’ve been here, no doubt about it,” he said. “It’s going to continue.”

McCarney’s words are backed by the fact that 11 players out of the 13 who played their last game for Iowa State in December’s Humanitarian Bowl are still enrolled at Iowa State and progressing toward their degrees.

Only one, Matt Word, who was one of the top tacklers on last season’s squad, has left Iowa State without a degree. The linebacker has been training in Tallahassee, Fla., for the NFL draft, which is set for April 26-27.

“Mo has a personal trainer and is working out there,” McCarney said. “He’s doing everything he can to try and make it and, if not, he definitely wants to get his degree. And he’ll continue to hear from me on that.”

McCarney said Word, whose brother plays for the Cleveland Browns, was honest and upfront with him about his decision to leave Iowa State. McCarney said he didn’t try to persuade Word to stay in school because he is a grown man, but he did stress the importance of completing his education eventually.

Unlike Word, his former teammate Jesse Arnold has already received his bachelor of science degree. He completed his academic career at Iowa State 10 days before the Cyclones took the field for the Humanitarian Bowl.

Besides Word and Arnold, the rest of last season’s senior football players are in various stages of their degrees. Atif Austin, a four-year starter at cornerback, will graduate in May and defensive lineman Beau Coleman will complete his degree this summer, McCarney said.

McCarney said he keeps close tabs on his former players’ academic progress even though they’re off the collegiate gridiron.

“I stay after those guys that haven’t finished yet. I don’t just forget about them because they’ve played their last snap here at Iowa State,” McCarney said. “It’s important those guys get that done.”

It’s not uncommon for standout college football players with professional potential to leave school to concentrate on their draft status, like Word has done. Many who have left school early do return to complete their degrees, but some NFL prospects choose to finish them before the start of their professional football careers.

Former ISU quarterback Seneca Wallace has spurned thoughts of leaving school to focus on training for the draft. He said he never really seriously considered leaving school and doesn’t regret staying at Iowa State to complete his final two classes.

“I just figured if the draft didn’t work out, I could do everything I wanted to do here,” Wallace said. “If the draft didn’t work out and I got my degree then I could hopefully work it out to get a job.”

Former center Zach Butler also stuck around. He said he and the rest of the NFL hopefuls are getting the best of both worlds by staying put.

“We have a really good strength coach here — in fact he was national strength coach of the year on the collegiate level,” Butler said. “He spends a lot of time with us. He does a lot of things for us and prepares us the right way. We’re doing that for free with him. He’s taking the time out to help us and at the same time we’re also getting our degrees. It’s kind of a win-win situation.”

Butler said McCarney has invited former players to practice with the team while they’re in town if they so desire.

“In our situations — either Seneca, myself or Jeremy Loyd — I don’t understand why you wouldn’t just stick around and work out,” Butler said.

But in spite of the advantages that have been presented to the former players at Iowa State, Butler said completing his degree is just a way of holding up his end of the bargain.

“I owe it to Coach McCarney, who gave me the opportunity to come to school and play football for him,” Butler said. “I owe it to him to get my degree and finish things up on the right note and be a true student-athlete.”

Butler said if his football future works out, it may last five or 10 years, but his education will be a valuable resource down the road. He has six credits left to complete his marketing degree and expects to graduate next month.

Former tight end Kyle Knock, whose future football career is less certain, agreed with Butler. “They offered me a free education and it’d be wrong not to fulfill everything involved with that,” he said.

Sticking around Ames hasn’t affected Butler’s draft status as far as he’s concerned.

“From what I’ve heard, I’ve got a really good shot at making a team as a free agent or maybe even getting drafted in the later rounds,” Butler said. “Anything can happen and that’s why I’m pursuing it.”

Butler and Knock both said McCarney has placed an extreme emphasis on academics during their Cyclone careers.

“It’s a big deal to Coach Mac,” said Knock, who plans to graduate in May with a degree in sociology. “They weren’t winning when he took over and he was going to do everything the right way and he has done it the right way. He talks about it probably once a day at practice or at some point in the day.”

Butler said McCarney has a simple rule when it comes to academics. “If school work isn’t going well, you’re not going to play,” Butler said. “He always puts that first.”

“You’re here at this university to be a student-athlete, not an athlete-student, and that’s one of the first messages I send,” McCarney said. “If they hear it often from the head coach, that’s not lip service, and we do follow up on it. I send a strong message about the importance of making progress toward your degree.”

From study table — a group session required for freshmen — to Big 12 and NCAA rules, Iowa State has a first-rate program in place to nurture academic success, Knock said.

“Especially with the younger guys to kind of make sure everybody gets started off on the right foot,” he said. “They have class checkers who check to make sure we’re in class. They have scoreboards, which are an update on the grades assigned by our teachers every couple of weeks.”

Butler said study table helped him set his priorities his first year. He said it makes students who don’t place much importance on academics do things the right way. The academic counselors also make a big difference academically with the student-athletes, he said.

“It gets your priorities set and they teach you how to study and how much time you need to devote to get good grades,” Butler said. “I think it all comes down to our academic counselors and what they do for us. I think that’s the biggest reason why kids are able to graduate.”

McCarney said he realizes how tough it is on his players to manage their time in a way that they can succeed academically and athletically. He said as hard as it might be, he’ll still keep emphasizing the importance of academics, because the players will thank him for it in the future. In fact, many former players already have.

“I’ve lost track of all the examples, so that I’m not going to change,” McCarney said. “I don’t bend on that.”