Athletic Scholarships: Expectation v. Reality

[zola]

The link below is to an article appearing in the March 10th NY Times:

THE SCHOLARSHIP DIVIDE
Athletic Scholarships: Expectations Lose to Reality

This is a must read for high school athletes and their parents.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/10/sports/10scholarships.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

[Knightstalker]

Very interesting article, perhaps the NCAA and NAIA both need to start holding workshops for parents and prospective students so that they can better understand the system.

[Warren Thompson]

Very interesting article, perhaps the NCAA and NAIA both need to start holding workshops for parents and prospective students so that they can better understand the system.

Of course, that would help. However, the solution, unrealistic as it is, given all the greenbacks involved, might be to eliminate athletic "scholarships" [?] altogether. 

[Knightstalker]

Very interesting article, perhaps the NCAA and NAIA both need to start holding workshops for parents and prospective students so that they can better understand the system.

Of course, that would help. However, the solution, unrealistic as it is, given all the greenbacks involved, might be to eliminate athletic "scholarships" [?] altogether. 

Maybe Myles Brande could swallow some pride and approach Bobby Knight and say, "I didn't like how you dealt with your players and the press but your program was always clean and never got into trouble.  Could you coordinate a program to educate prospective students about the NCAA and the rules, regulations and scholarship process and then coordinate workshops around the country with coaches and compliance directors.  I know that would make sense and be just a drop in the bucket from the TV Monies.

[Warren Thompson]

Very interesting article, perhaps the NCAA and NAIA both need to start holding workshops for parents and prospective students so that they can better understand the system.

Of course, that would help. However, the solution, unrealistic as it is, given all the greenbacks involved, might be to eliminate athletic "scholarships" [?] altogether. 

Maybe Myles Brande could swallow some pride and approach Bobby Knight and say, "I didn't like how you dealt with your players and the press but your program was always clean and never got into trouble.  Could you coordinate a program to educate prospective students about the NCAA and the rules, regulations and scholarship process and then coordinate workshops around the country with coaches and compliance directors.  I know that would make sense and be just a drop in the bucket from the TV Monies.

OK. For all of his faults -- and they were legion -- Knight ran apparently clean programs. Your suggestion that he could "coordinate a program to educate prospective" D1 athletes about what to expect has merit, assuming that he would [could?] control his temper and eliminate his animus against the press and -- for all we know -- the world in general.

On the other hand, given the current state of big-time collegiate competition, it may be too late do accomplish anything constructive, with Knight or anyone else.

[Knightstalker]

Warren, my thinking of a program like that is so that prospective D-I and D-II athletes and their families would then have a good understanding of what to expect and that D-III may very well be a more affordable and viable option once financial aid is worked out.  I was being kind of tongue in cheek about Bobby Knight, but he has always stressed education and graduation at every school he has been.  Joe Paterno if he ever retires would be another good coach for a program such as this.

[hickory_cornhusker]

Very interesting article, perhaps the NCAA and NAIA both need to start holding workshops for parents and prospective students so that they can better understand the system.

Of course, that would help. However, the solution, unrealistic as it is, given all the greenbacks involved, might be to eliminate athletic "scholarships" [?] altogether. 

Maybe Myles Brande could swallow some pride and approach Bobby Knight and say, "I didn't like how you dealt with your players and the press but your program was always clean and never got into trouble.  Could you coordinate a program to educate prospective students about the NCAA and the rules, regulations and scholarship process and then coordinate workshops around the country with coaches and compliance directors.  I know that would make sense and be just a drop in the bucket from the TV Monies.

OK. For all of his faults -- and they were legion -- Knight ran apparently clean programs. Your suggestion that he could "coordinate a program to educate prospective" D1 athletes about what to expect has merit, assuming that he would [could?] control his temper and eliminate his animus against the press and -- for all we know -- the world in general.

On the other hand, given the current state of big-time collegiate competition, it may be too late do accomplish anything constructive, with Knight or anyone else.

I think Knight's temper would be fine. His temper stemmed from his competitive attitude. In this enviroment there is no competition for him and he always (sort of) had what was best for his players at heart.

[Wydown Blvd.]

The following quote is from an ESPN article. The article was basically about a service trip that UNC and Duke athletes took to Vietnam. However, there is an quote in it from Parker Goyer, a former Duke tennis player who graduated in 2007, that just scares the heck out of me regarding D1:

"From the athletes' perspective, when you're an athlete, you basically have two full-time jobs: your school and your sport. You don't have time for anything else, really. As a result, you don't get the same kind of education as a lot of other students. You don't really volunteer that much in the community, you don't study abroad. A lot of athletes, when they have to quit their sport after college, they kind of experience an identity loss. They don't have anything else to fall back on. But the positive part, athletes have developed all of these unique skills through sports -- like solving problems, dedication, work ethic, sacrifice, teamwork -- that would be really good to pass on to youth."

We all know that while the work ethic is certainly there from D3 athletes around the country, they are still able to give back to their community and take advantage of the opportunities given to them as both students and athletes. I understand the part where he mentions the sense of "identity loss."  I have heard many stories about graduates who don't know what to do with the extra 5+ hours fused back into their day, but at the same time, I know that they have such a more well rounded experience during college than what is expressed by this quote. All in all, thank goodness for D3! 

Here is the link to the rest of the article.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=3500041&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab6pos1