Football coach upset that recruits didn’t make the grade
07 Aug 2007I went to school in Canada so we didn’t any of the controversy that’s currently brewing down at S. Carolina.
Their football coach, Steve Spurrier, is upset because two of his recruits were not admitted to the University based on their academic standing. The University managed to deny them admission despite them satisfying the NCAA minimum requirements.
I agree with the stance taken by the University and question why this is even getting air time. It’s very rare to see a student athlete turn pro and make a decent living, far more often these athletes finish their 4 or 5 years of eligibility and join the working world like the rest of us. The University would be doing them a disservice by not emphasizing academics. Further to that, there is the possibility for penalties (in the form of lost scholarships) if athletes drop out prior to completing their degree.
The following was a comment from the ESPN article (every other comment was in favor of the action, this one wasn’t):
Who cares what their GPA and test scores are. They chose the school to play football and not for their academics. I think that college admissions criteria for athletes should change. If an athlete chooses to go to a university for a sport, then that sport should be the major with their own admissions requirements (college of athletics). On the other hand, if an athlete does choose a ‘regular’ major then he/she should be held to the same academic standards that non-athletes for that major are held to. Having an athlete be held to an academic standard is like having a computer nerd squat 600lbs or practice with the football team (ain’t gonna happen even if you could get him out of his mom’s basement).
*Funny stuff. * Latest news has South Carolina stating that it’s willing to work with Spurrier but is not prepared to re-write the admissions rule book to do so. Nor should it.