It was interesting for me to read the article that appeared on ESPN.com about the Ivy League wrestling teams high rankings at while being student-athletes at prestigious universities. The common stereotype that people have about athletes is that they can’t excel in the classroom. Hmmm– well, then– why was the 2006 USC valedictorian a track and field athlete? Makes you think. 🙂
I remember watching the USC vs. Stanford game and the announcers saying that Stanford had a lot of struggles recruiting their athletes because it’s so hard to get into. Well, what about USC and the other schools? I believe that USC is not only a top athletic school, but one of the top universities in the nation across the board. USC not only dominates on the athletic field, but their academics are top notch. You know when you graduate with a USC degree– you can go anywhere!
What college coaches and universities have to remember is that they do have a job to recruit athletes, but you also want to make sure that they walk away with a great degree. I know several athletes when I was at Florida that got a degree in something called “Program Planning”– what do you do with that? I’m not too sure– but hopefully something. Athletics is a door opener for athletes that want to compete at a collegiate level, but also thinking about what kind of degree that they are going to have after graduation.
Thinking ahead to the future is something that athletes today really need to do. It comes pretty fast– so work hard, and the rewards will come. 🙂
0 Comments