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How much leeway (if any) do college athletes (especially the highly touted ones) get when it comes to balancing their educational requirements with whatever sport they're playing? For example, can they hand in assignments late without penalty? Do the get a lot of extra tutoring, etc?
Honestly, I'd say it depends on the school, the sport, and the actual student. You got a young up and comer who looks like he's gonna be going to the professional level, and the only reason they are really here is for sports and everyone knows it, well, are you really gonna put him on probation because he's flunking Western Civilization?
I mean, these with the football and basketball mainly, make INSANE amounts of money for the schools. They may not get any of it (or aren't suppose to at least), but they bring in some serious cash.
HIGHLY dependent upon the individual program, as the poster above notes.
I have twin brothers. One was a scholarship athlete at a Div. I school, played a prominent position in his sport, and was scouted by pro teams prior to an injury largely caused by irresponsible/inethical coaching. At his school, in his sport, and under his coaches and AD, student athletes were a commodity owned by the school. At his school,, sports that brought in a large proportion of total athletic revenues afforded a cushy position for their athletes. Bro did not a play a big money sport, and he had the typical academic expectations/eligibility expectations of the average college student, took his studies seriously, and graduated with honors (a good thing, since his ineffectual coaches effectively screwed him out of playing pro). But the athletes from the big moneymaking programs? They didn't even GO to class. And this wasn't even at a powerhouse school. My SO used to work in Austin, at UT. You DID NOT see the football players doing something as lowly as attending classes.
The other twin brother attended a small, academically elite Div. III school, and played there, broke a bunch of records. He's now a college athletic coach at a similar school - D-III, selective admission, and they take the "student" part of "student athlete" seriously. NOT the sort of school where people are excused from academic responsibilities due to athletic commitments. Year after year, he has a team that does very well, conference champs, etc., great record...but these kids, although some are very good, are there to learn, not with aspirations of going pro, and they are VERY serious about academics.
Last edited by TabulaRasa; 06-07-2011 at 07:28 PM..
My professor said that he used to tutor football players at Kansas St who were told by officials that academics were number one as they flashed the peace sign with their hands.
It really does depend on the school. Both my kids are attending large Div I schools. One of them strongly promotes the academics. Athletes are required to attend classes and doesn't have a problem failing them, even if they are stars. Most of their athletes actually graduate with real degrees, in real subjects. Yes, they do have tutoring help if they need it, put it's also available for the average students too. And they have people that can drive them from practice to class on golf carts, but at least they are getting there, and they can't use practice running late as an excuse not to go. I also had a friend whose son actually played football at this same school. She told me she got a call from one of the coaches one day. Apparently her son had missed a class that day, and they wanted to let her know, so she could speak to him. He said they would be speaking to him as well. They really stressed academics and wouldn't allow their players to miss class. Geez, I'm glad they don't call me every time one of mine misses a class! I don't really want to know.!
The other kids university, is just the opposite. Even the lowest of low players on the football team get all sorts of special privileges. Due to a mix-up between the athletic department and the housing department my kid had to room with one of the football players during their freshman year. This kid was just on the practice squad, but still was given all kinds of special privileges etc. This kid was involved in something which would have surely gotten most kids kicked out of school and possibly even arrested, but nothing happened to this kid.
How much leeway (if any) do college athletes (especially the highly touted ones) get when it comes to balancing their educational requirements with whatever sport they're playing? For example, can they hand in assignments late without penalty? Do the get a lot of extra tutoring, etc?
Thank you
I once taught at a Div 1 school (that was also a top academic school), and actually thought too much was asked of the athletes. They weren't given any breaks except some free tutoring (that wasn't really that great), even though they spent most of their time at practice while other students slept and smoked pot and looked down their noses at the athletes, many of whom were simply not prepared for college-level academics. Some could barely read and write. I'm sure it varies a lot by school. I was actually kind of surprised that they weren't at least getting more help and encouragement. It was a long time ago, though, so who knows if things are the same now.
How much leeway (if any) do college athletes (especially the highly touted ones) get when it comes to balancing their educational requirements with whatever sport they're playing? For example, can they hand in assignments late without penalty? Do the get a lot of extra tutoring, etc?
Thank you
I played college baseball for 1 year and it's the same rules as the regular kids. ( This was in my college ). If you don't do well in your classes, they will kick you off the team.
My younger daughter attended a D1 school that was small for D1. I remember attending a talk at the orientation where a student athlete said she got some flexibility in taking tests, turning in assignments, etc. That's not to say every school does this. The older DD went to a liberal arts school with a top-notch music department. They were always going on tour, so I assume some arrangements were made for the above.
How much leeway (if any) do college athletes (especially the highly touted ones) get when it comes to balancing their educational requirements with whatever sport they're playing? For example, can they hand in assignments late without penalty? Do the get a lot of extra tutoring, etc?
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I attended an undergraduate program that was Division III in all sports but Division I in basketball. In graduate school, I was an athletic tutor at Big 12 university which will remain unnamed.
First, let me start with the difference between the NCAA Division I and Division III. Division I programs generally offer scholarships to the athletes and I would say that in a lot of cases, they are athletes first and well, students second. Division III offer NO scholarships and student athletes are not afforded anything as a result of their participation in sports. In Division III, it is NOT uncommon for an athlete to miss practices for academic purposes. The rest of the post will deal solely with Division I athletics.
In my opinion, the athletics departments major priority is to keep the athletes eligible for competition. PERIOD. They sit down with each student athlete and select a schedule that meets the students academic goals AND one that the athlete can pass. There are a number of Division I players who cannot read and a number who quite frankly, do not belong in college. The school that I tutored enrolled athletes in 7 - 3 hour classes in their off-season so that the student could pass four and drop the other three.
Students in many programs get nearly unlimited tutoring. I was told that I could tutor as many hours as I wanted to or could fit in my schedule. They also have a number of scheduled study halls.
I agree with Marie5V that the student athletes had a highly programmed schedule. If they followed the program, they would generally succeed. On the other hand, they are getting an education that is costing other students a lot.
In my experience, athletes in non-revenue sports and female athletes generally were better than average students and really benefited from the tutoring. About half of the revenue sports athletes could be at least average students. The other half were ill prepared for college and really made no effort to benefit from the education.
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