lives? and my answer is no. basketball's next big thing. he's nicknamed the crime stopper. >> when i'm on the court, everybody's dead. nobody's outside committing any crime. >> at only 5'7", he's selling out gyms from philly to d.c. the high school player you'll soon be hearing about. revealing investigations. fascinating characters. stories with impact. this is "cnn presents." with tonight's hosts, randi kaye and drew griffin. >> while march madness has grown into one of the most popular sporting events in the country, we begin tonight with some unpopular statistics off the court and in the classroom. >> the orangemen of sear -- syracuse began this year's post-season play without its top rebounder and scorer. fab mellow was suspended for undisclosed reasons. he missed games in the past because of his academic struggles. syracuse is not alone. >> according to a new study a total of 14 teams who made the tournament this year failed to graduate at least half their players. including last year's national champion. >> it's been a problem for years. but now it appears the ncaa is putting pressure on teams to take the student part of the term student athlete seriously. we decided to investigate the real march madness. >> reporter: when it came down to the big dance last year, the university of connecticut men's basketball team was the big winner. national champs. >> welcome. >> nationally praised. >> and congratulations to the huskies. >> reporter: standing behind president obama alongside the team and the coach was the university of connecticut's new president, susan herbs. amid the championship smiles were hiding a huge failure. uconn may have been the best basketball team in the land, but in the classroom, they were darn near the worst. just 25% of uconn's men's basketball players graduate within six years. and if you break it down racially, a black player's chances of graduating from uconn is just 14%. and uconn isn't the only big-name, big-dollar programs that can't graduates its student athletes. the university of florida graduates just 38% of its players. michigan's basketball team, 45%. indiana, 47%. and, yes, that figure excludes star players who leave school early for the nba. >> you've got to break harder than that? for uconn, it's a pathetic record, and jonathan handledove is one of the statistics. you didn't make it all the way. >> i did not. grade troubles as far as, you know, myself and staying up with the studies and stuff like that. and staying up with the help that i was given. it just didn't work out for me. >> reporter: mandeldove, a 7 foot center, has been a coveted basketball player since he was 14 years old. >> watch your feet! it's all about footwork, ladies! >> reporter: now 24, he helps coach his younger sister in skills drills. but without a degree, his chances for actually being a coach are limited. >> i'm only short three classes. three classes. >> why can't you just get it done? >> you know what? i had to leave the school because my gpa wasn't where it needed to be in order to graduate. so they told me i have to leave school, come back and finish up with the three classes. just take some time off. it's looking like classes right now, i was struggling. >> reporter: now he is struggling with his future, and uconn is struggling with his past. >> there's plenty of blame to go around. at least in our men's basketball program. >> reporter: susan herbs came on board here as president about a year ago. she inherited uconn's basketball graduation rate, but now she's dealing with a real uconn crisis. under new rules instituted by the ncaa, uconn, the 2011 men's basketball champs, will be banned from postseason play next year. banned because of its terrible record graduating basketball players. so what did happen here at uconn for so long, and how was it allowed to last? >> it's very complicated, the story of how you get there. i do think it takes a village. you know, that it's not just a coach or it's not just a player. it's not even an athletic director or president. it's everybody together trying to support the team. in our case not supporting the team as well as we could. >> reporter: the past athletic director is gone. the team and school are now making classwork and education a huge priority and, according to herbst, the student athletes are doing much, much better. in fact, she and the school are trying to desperately get the ncaa to lift its postseason ban. citing their progress. but one thing has not changed here. long-term, heralded coach jim calhoun. he stays. don't you feel that if it was important for this coach to get these kids to graduate, he could have done it? >> well, i think you have to talk to the coach himself. but i will say that, again, it takes a lot of people to support a basketball team. it's not just a coach saying you must do this. you must go to class. >> reporter: we did ask to talk to coach calhoun. instead, we were told president herbst would speak for the school. jonathan mandeldove who played for calhoun for four years doesn't blame the coach for anything. mandeldove admits he went to uconn with one goal in mind. get to the nba. >> i fault myself for my downfalls in class. i don't fault anyone else. i don't fault the institution. because they offered the help. it's just there for us to take it. we have to take it. if we don't, then that's a problem for us. >> reporter: and coach calhoun? >> coach calhoun does -- i think he does everything that he needs to do in order for guys to succeed. >> well, i think student athlete is taken kind of loosely. >> reporter: dr. richard latchard has tracked this problem for years. he says as a whole basketball players graduate less than any other team in college sports. according to his research, there are 14 teams in the ncaa tournament that fail to graduate even half their players. >> it's great that we can afford athletic scholarships to gifted student athletes, but if they come to our institution and just play basketball or whatever the sport is and don't get the education, then i think everybody's been shortchanged in the bargain. >> reporter: susan herbst insists the focus at uconn is now where it belongs, squarely on education. >> as a matter of fact, when i came, it was the first time that we had real communication in one room, you know, between the academic people, the provost, the president's people and the basketball coaches, and they were incredibly grateful. and to me that was very instructive. >> reporter: to me, it tells me it wasn't important before. >> you know, i think it was important to individuals. the institution, apparently not. >> reporter: but what about the rest of the country? up next, pressure from the white house to raise performance in the classroom. the problem may be bigger than anyone thought. >> if he wants to fix it, fix it at the high school level, the middle school level, at the elementary school level. problems in this country in our educational system lie elsewhere. 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the secretary of education is putting pressure on men's college basketball to bring up the grades. the ncaa has responded in a way that could seriously hurt last year's national champions. my special investigation into the real march madness continues. >> reporter: the secretary of education was watching college basketball as he loves to do and was getting mad. because he knew on average, nearly 44% of the players he was watching would never graduate. so last year he decided to do something about it. he wrote editorials and held phone conferences with the press. the ncaa had to do better. >> i want to reiterate my proposal to the ncaa that teams that fail to graduate 40% of their players should be ineligible for postseason competition. >> reporter: somehow, some way, all schools, according to secretary of education arne duncan, should be able to graduate at least 40% of their players. >> we have a few bad apples. that's where we've really tried to challenge the status quo. when players aren't going to class, aren't graduating. they're actually being used. that has to stop. >> reporter: to bobby fong, president of the butler university at the time, sure seems like a good idea. >> i didn't think the ncaa would go for it. but i would be in support of it. >> reporter: last year butler, which graduated 83% of its basketball players, lost in the ncaa championship to the university of connecticut. a program that at the time was graduating just 30%. to fong, getting student athletes to graduate seemed a no-brainer. duncan's ideas were not being welcomed by big-time coaches like tennessee's bruce pearl who said other coach's problems aren't his problem. >> if he wants to fix it, fix it at the high school level, at the middle school level, at the elementary school level. his problems in this country, in our educational system, lie elsewhere. >> reporter: even the ncaa at the time said a ban was probably not the best course of action. but in the fall of last year, something changed. >> kids ready? >> they better be. it's time. >> reporter: mark emretrois the president of the ncaa. did you need the white house to put pressure on everybody within college sports to get this going? >> it certainly doesn't hurt to have an advocate like secretary duncan as a good kind of push. we've got a society that teaches young men in particular that if you can play ball, you can dribble, focus on that, that'll get you into college. that'll get you into the nba. now we need to say that's important, but it doesn't work unless you have school work alongside it and you're prepared to be a college student. >> reporter: the first to be hit would be the school that won it all in 2011. uconn men's basketball team will not play in next year's postseason tournament, no matter how good they may be. the school is still trying to get the ncaa ban reversed. uconn's president says huskies basketball players are right now improving their grades, going to class and shouldn't be punished for statistics from the past. >> to see them get punished for something that students a few years ago failed to do is heartbreaking. >> reporter: the new ncaa rule is pretty simple. teams need to have a graduation rate of 50%. if a school fails to meet the mark four years in a row, the school's out of the tournament. that's tough news for uconn, but not so tough for many others like marquette. the perennial basketball powerhouse has graduated all its players in some years. this year it's at 91%. how do they do it? they put their money where they put their priorities. last year the school spent $10.3 million on men's basketball alone. that buys nice facilities and practice equipment. but also lots of educational support. larry williams is marquette university's athletic director. >> from the president's office to the field maintenance office, everybody in between has to embrace the culture that celebrates academic success and athletic success. >> reporter: players here start with academics before their freshman year even begins. incoming players go to summer school. it's where they get used to school, to class and the one person who isn't about to give them any slack. adrian ridgeway. >> from that point then we know how to approach the school year. >> reporter: ridgway is assigned to coach basketball players in academics. her assignment comes directly from the catholic university's president, father scott polaris, who gets his orders from an even higher authority. >> we have a moral obligation to all of our students including our student athletes that we are going to offer them a powerfully transformative educational experience. >> it's like having more coaches that don't yell, without whistles, basically. >> reporter: redshirt sophomore jameel wilson says he's never had this much attention both on and off the court. the school plays for chartered planes that take players back to class. tutors even fly with the team to away games. >> they monitor when you show up to class. what you're doing there. when you're in study hall, you slip in your id card. it tells them how long you've been there. they monitor everything you do on their computers. your homework, your papers, things like that. you're never really behind even if you are missing class. >> reporter: he hopes to graduate next year and then play ball while starting grad school. and after that, with a degree, maybe basketball. but prepared for a much bigger game. >> i'd like to play basketball until my body says, hey, this isn't for you anymore. i mean, you never know. maybe my impact in life is somewhere else. >> reporter: it's the kind of focus susan herbst has tried to bring to the university of connecticut. every aspect of the school and the team needs to support education, she says. and, yes, that includes long-time basketball coach jim calhoun. >> i don't want you to get the impression that he doesn't care deeply about them as people and about their success. he really does. and because he has that heartfelt interest in their success, he's bought into our academic plans. and he's demonstrated -- >> reporter: i must tell you i find that hard to believe when so many kids have left here without a degree. >> all i can talk about is the future going forward. presidents inherit all kinds of challenges at universities with regard to student success and all other aspects. what a new leader does when they come in is they try to take charge and move forward. >> that's one. >> reporter: meanwhile, former uconn center jonathan mandelldove says he wants to finish school, but right now he sees his future playing basketball. without a degree, it's really all he has. can you still get there? >> i think i can. i think i can. i'm still young. i'm only 24. sky's the limit. i don't think there's an age limit where they stop taking guys into the nba. so i'm going to continue to push forward and continue to work and do whatever i need to do to get there. >> drew, the number of college basketball players not graduating is pretty astonishing. and uconn's ban isn't even official? >> yeah. ncaa officials tell us it's a process. so even though they have already failed their first appeal, they get a second appeal to the same organized body. they will try to show that, look it, since the last time you looked at us, we're doing better. our students are doing better. we are going to graduate. but as of right now, this ban may not apply to uconn. >> and is it just basketball? >> no. it's every sport. the benchmark is 50% needed to graduate four years running, otherwise you're not going to be in the postseason no matter what sport you play. >> thanks, drew. coming up, the new face of bully prevention is a little scary. is his flashy performance what schools really need? 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[ female announcer ] from neutrogena® naturals. what to do about bullying. it's the burning question facing school districts across the country. and some of them are willing to fork over a lot of money to buy the services of experts to help them solve the problem. we caught up with one self-styled expert known as "the scary guy." he's built a business convincing schools he can help stop bullying. but does it really work? >> first down for the austin packers. >> reporter: homecoming in austin, minnesota. ♪ >> reporter: some are here for the friday night lights. >> good job, team! >> you selling a lot? >> reporter: others are here to raise big money. >> thank you. >> reporter: the ultimate goal? 20 grand. the price tag for what they hope will be a solution to school bullying. leading the charge, parents like danielle borgerson nezvelt who started a bullying committee. >> it opened my eyes that it's happening to my own child. >> reporter: on valentine's day last year, danielle's 11-year-old son sam was attacked walking home from school. >> out of nowhere a boy grabs my arms and holds them behind my back. there was another boy who's coming, and he says that he was going to beat me up. >> reporter: sam's mom is banking on an unlikely solution. to make her community bully-free. >> hey, buddy. >> i figured it's time for the scary guy. >> i'm in charge of the brain of zach. >> reporter: this is the scary guy. a former tattoo artist. he entertains the students by playing the bully. >> check out that geek in the wheelchair, dude. >> reporter: this is supposed to be bullying prevention. he calls it edutainment. >> stop talking on other people's rotten negative horrific words as energy and putting them back on the planet thinking you're defending yourself. >> reporter: his message may sound good, but his delivery is unconventional, to say the least. tattooed from head to toe, the scary guy commands as much as $6,500 a day for his performance. and a curriculum that goes with it. >> it's not your job to make it right, you let it go. >> reporter: for those looking to wake up a community with shock and awe, he delivers. >> i just love his approach. >> reporter: austin, minnesota, principal dewey shara. >> it's not perfect. it's not, you know, some would say not beautiful. maybe a little shocking to look at. but it gets everyone's attention. >> oh! i role play my behavior based on my young adult years where i would find fault with people no matter what. their height. short, tall, skinny, fat, blonds. and bald guys. >> reporter: scary, as he likes to be called, pushes the envelope. >> two guys to hug in the hallway of a school, this could be dangerous. gay. >> reporter: to get people's attention and prove a point. >> what a lie! >> reporter: what would be the strongest message that you have to kids about bullying? >> i think if i can get a message through to people to empower the mind. in other words, show them that they have the power to make a choice as to who they want to be and not become what they see and hear around them. >> now, sam, if i call you a rotten word, who's that rotten w