unusual. but does it work? >> has that really changed kids lives? my answer is no. basketball's next big thing. he's nicknamed the crime stopper. >> nobody was like out committing a crime. >> at 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. >> 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. >> orange men of syracuse began post play without its top rebounder and scorer. fab melo was suspended for undisclosed reasons. he missed games in the past because of his academic struggles and syracuse is not alone. >> a total of 14 team that is 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. when it came down to the big dance last year, the university of kentucky's men's basketball team was the big winner. national champs. >> welcome. >> nationally praised. >> congratulations to the huskies. >> standing behind president obama, alongside the team and the coach was the university of connecticut's new president, susan herbs. new the championship finals were hiding the 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 program that can't graduate its student athletes. the university of florida graduates just 38% of its players. michig michigan's basketball team, 45%. indiana, 47%. and, yes, that figure excludes star players who leave school early for the nba. for uconn it's a pathetic record and jonathan 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. >> mandeldove, a seven-foot center, has been a coveted player since he was 17 years old. now 24, he helps coach his younger sister in skills drills but without a degree, his chance s 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 had to leave school, come back and finish up with the three classes. just take some time off. it was looking like classes right now is -- i was struggling. >> now he is struggling with his future. and uconn is struggling with his past. >> there's plenty of blame to go along. >> she inherited uconn's basketball graduation rate. 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 sort of how you get there. i do think it takes a village, that it's not just a coach or it's not just a player. it's not even an athletic director or president. everybody together trying to support the team and in our case not supporting the team as well as we could. >> the past athletic director is gone. the team and school are now making class work and education a huge priority and, according to herbs, the student athletes are doing much, much better. but one thing has not changed here. long term heralded coach jim cal hun. >> don't you think if it was important for this coach to get these kids to graduate, he could have done it? >> i think you have to talk to the coach himself. i will say, 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. >> we did ask to talk to coach calhoun. instead, we were told that president herbs would speak for the school. >> one, two, three. >> jonathan mandeldove, who played for calhoun for four years, doesn't blame the coach for anything. he says he went to uconn with one goal in mind. get to the nba. >> myself, my downfalls in class. i don't fault anyone else. i don't fault the institution. 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. >> and coach calhoun? >> coach calhoun does -- i think he does everything he needs to do in order for guys to succeed. >> i think student athlete is taken kind of loosely. >> dr. richard lasiker 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 failed to graduate even half their players. >> it's great that we can afford athletic scholarships to gifted student athletes. if they come to our institution and just play basketball or whatever the sport is and don't get the education, i think everybody is shortchanged in the bargain. >> susan herbs believes the focus is now where it belongs, squarely on education. >> matter of fact, when i came it was the first time we really had real communication in one room between the academic people, the president's people and the basketball coaches. and they were incredibly grateful. to me, that was very instructive. >> to me, it tells me it wasn't important before. >> i believe it was to individuals. the institution, apparently not. >> 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, at the middle school level, at the elementary school level. his problems in this country in our educational system lie elsewhere. ♪ [ acoustic guitar: slow ] [ sighs ] [ announcer ] all work and no play... will make brady miss his favorite part of the day. ♪ [ upbeat ] [ barking ] [ whines ] that's why there's beneful playful life, made with energy-packed wholesome grains... and real beef and egg. to help you put more play in your day. beneful. play. it's good for you. the coaches make millions. the athletes, rock stars. are big-time basketball schools failing their players off the court? the secretary of ed agency is putting pressure on men's college basketball to bring up the grades. and 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. the secretary of education was watching college basketball, as he loves to do, and was getting mad because he knew, on average, nearly 34% 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. the teams that fail to graduate 40% of their players should be ineligible for postseason competition. >> thank you so much. >> somehow, some way, all schools, according to secretary of education arnee duncan, should be able to graduate at least 40% of their players. >> we have a few bad apples. players aren't going to class, not graduating. they're actually being used and that has to stop. >> to the president of butler university at the time, it sure seemed like a good idea. >> i did 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%. getting student athletes to graduate seemed a no brainer but duncan's ideas were not being welcomed by big-time coaches like tennessee's bruce pearl who, like other coaches, said graduation problems weren'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. >> 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. >> mark emmer is 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 is a good push. we have a society that teaches young men in particular that if you can play ball, dribble, focus on that. that will get you into college. that will get you into the nba. we need to say that's important but it doesn't help unless you have work alongside of it and be a college student. >> uconn's men's basketball team will not play in the postseason tournaments no matter how well they play. husky basketball players right now are improving their grades, going to class and she says shouldn't be punished by statistics from the past. >> to see them get punished for something that students a few years ago to failed to do is heartbreaking. >> the new ncaa rule is pretty simple. teams have to have a graduation rate of 50%. if the school fails to meet the mark four years in a row, the school is out of the tournament. tough news for uconn but not so tough for many others, like marquette. the perennial 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. >> 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 we know how to approach the school year. >> assigned to coach athletic students in academics. it comes from the president, who gets his orders from an even higher authority. >> we have an obligation from all of our students, including our student athletes, that we are going to offer them a powerfully transformational college experience. >> it's like having more coaches that don't yell. >> he says he's never had this much attention on and off the court. chartered planes take them back to the class, and tutors fly with students to away games. >> they monitor when you check in for study hall, swipe in your i.d. card. it tells them how long you've been there. they monitor everything you do on the computers. your homework, papers, things like that. so you're never really behind, even if you are missing class. >> 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 would like to play basketball until my body says, hey, this isn't for you anymore. but, i mean, you never know. maybe my place in life is somewhere else. >> what susan herbs 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. because he has that heartfelt interest in their success, he has bought into our academic plans. and he -- >> i must tell you i find that so 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 problems with regard to students' success and what a new leader does when they come in is try to take charge and move forward. >> that's one. >> former uconn center jonathan mandeldove 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, you know, taking guys into nba. i'm going to continue to push forward and continue to work and do whatever i need to do to get there. coming up, the new face of bully prevention is a little scary. is his flashy performance what school schools really need? guys. come here, come here. 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[ male announcer ] visit your local chevy dealer today. right now, very well qualified lessees can get a 2012 equinox ls for around $229 a month. people are living in fear. five people have been shot since friday morning. three have died. two others are in the hospital but expected to survive. a police task force is hunting for the killer. the shooter is believed to be white. the victims are all black. they're not currently call iing this tragedy racially motivated. amazingly, no one was killed and everyone has been accounted for after a navy jet fighter crashed into an apartment complex. the investigation is now under way but it could be another couple of weeks before we know what happened. started passover with a ritual dinner called the sadr. obamas hosted one at the white house. it recognizes the exoexodus of s from israel. and easter will be celebrated tomorrow when christians believe jesus rose from the dead. kinkade died yesterday from natural causes at his home in california. the painter of light, as he called himself, sold an average of about $100 million of his art work a year. he is survived by his wife and four children. he was just 54 years old. i'm don lemon. cnn presents continues next. it's the burning question facing school districts across the country. many of them are willing to fork over money to experts to help solve the problem. one self styled expert called the scary guy, convincing schools he can help stop bullying, but does it really work? homecoming in austin, minnesota. some are here for the friday night lights. >> how are we doing on t-shirts? >> others are here to raise big money. >> thank you. >> 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, who started a bullying committee. >> i opened my eyes and it's happening to my own child. >> 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. another bully is coming and he says that he was going to beat me up. >> sam's mom is banking on an unlikely solution, to make her community bully free. >> hey, buddy. >> we figure it's time for the scary guy. >> i'm in charge of the brain of zach. >> 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. >> this is supposed to be bullying prevention. he calls it edu-tainment. >> stop taking on other people's rotten horrific words as energy and put them back on this planet, thinking you're defending yourself. >> his message may sound good but his delivery is unconventional, to say the leas least. >> ooh. >> 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. >> for those looking to wake up a community with shock and awe, he delivers. >> i just love his approach. >> austin minnesota principal, dewy shara. >> not perfect, some would say not beautiful, shocking to look at it. but it gets everyone's attention. >> 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. >> scary, as he likes to be called, pushes the envelope. >> two guys hug in a hallway of a school, this could be dangerous. gay. >> to get people's attention and prove a point. >> what a lie. >> what would be the strongest message you have to kids about bullying? >> if i can get a message to people, to empower the mind -- in other words show them 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. >> sam if i call you a rotten word, who is that rotten word about? >> you. >> is your teaching research based? >> i think my teaching is research based on my personal experience and how i read people. no, it's not out of a book. >> no longer will another person's words define who you are. you create you. >> scary has no formal academic credentials but make nos apology for that, or his looks. instead, he touts his last 13 years speaking to tens of thousands of school children worldwide. he also has been booked by law enforcement, even the u.s. military. never mind he never finished college. a fact that some school administrators are willing to look past. >> no matter what his training is, you do see him as an expert? >> he is. absolutely. in our world, in the academic world and schools you have to have a degree. the law says you have to have a degree. but that doesn't make you a good teacher. >> for anyone who says, look, this guy has a great program but what are his credentials -- >> i would say that my credentials are that i'm doing something to help people that's based on love and it's me on the street, learning it from my whole life and i don't know where else you could go to get this kind of information and training. >> is there proof that your methods work? >> yeah, letters. >> what do they say? >> tell me what it's like, to make a difference, to change. to wake up to the idea that they don't have to live with stress and negative behavior around them. >> keep up the good work. >> but, coming up, who is the scary guy? and does he really help the kids? >> kids forgot, for the most part. they say i remember scary, but i don't remember what he said. 42 mpg on the highway. s actually, it's cruze e-co, not ec-o. just like e-ither. or ei-ther. or e-conomical. 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