COMMENTARY: Fans may be last line of defense for educated athletes

While driving home from winter vacation I stumbled upon a conversation on afternoon sports radio that has remained with me since. At the root of the conversation,  two former collegiate athletes and radio hosts posed the question: who should be responsible for monitoring a student athlete’s progress academically and should we as fans even care

I have seldom considered Troy Gillenwater ‘s grade point average while watching a basketball game at the Pan-Am or worried about Jahmar Young turning in a history paper after a game in which he was the leading scorer, but maybe I should have.

It seems athletes, coaches, parents and athletics administrators are all-too willing to overlook  a 1.9 GPAs for the promise of playing time, big contracts, money and a shot at a professional career. Shouldn’t someone stand up and demand that these athletes, who are first and foremost college students, be prepared for jobs other than those at McDonald’s, if and when their pro dreams fizzle. Sadly it seems this task may be left up to the fans.

For coaches, the incentive is winning and a six or seven figure contract, not molding respectable, productive citizens. The athletic administrators are only worried about balancing budgets. Finally parents and the athletes themselves are so blinded by the promise of a pro career, college becomes little more than a free four-year training camp for the big leagues.

Case in point: Troy Gillenwater. 

According to an article in the Las Cruces Sun -News, the NMSU Athletics Department filed a waiver with the NCAA on Jan. 5, requesting permission for Troy Gillenwater to play for the remainder of the basketball season after he failed to meet university eligibility requirements. Instead of taking action to get Gillenwater’s academic career back on track, NMSU athletics chose to push Gillenwater down the line, an action that would help their bottom line.

Athletes, coaches and administrators disregard for academics may not come as a surprise to many, but the apathy of fans shocked me while I listened to that afternoon radio show. I listened to caller after caller openly admit that the $15 ticket and four hours of entertainment were worth more to them than knowing the athletes they come to see  will amount to more than becoming Saturday night has-beens.

As fans, our thought process and focus towards college athletics must change. Fans must demand the administration to make academics a priority again.  Until this happens, athletes will continue to embarrass universities off the court. Coaches will continue to care more about their salary than their impact on the community. Fans, students and alumni will wake up to find an athletics program tarnished by the very money and talent-driven monsters we have created.

As for now, it would be hard to convince me that college athletics at NMSU, or anywhere around the country, are anything more than semi-pro leagues, masquerading as college sports under the tax and endowment protection of the university.  Let’s start demanding quality educated athletes, or we must be willing to live in a society with the under-educated citizens we once got so much entertainment value out of.
 

12 comments

Anonymous

Sat Feb 27 2010 20:38

I am so sick of all of you at the Round Up putting down all the athletes and sporting programs at this school. It is unreal that you say ALL athletes are preparing to work at McDonalds if their pro dreams do not come true. I am an athlete here and I will graduate with a degree in Mathematics while playing football here at this school. NOT working at McDonalds. Just because 1 TEAM has a problem with grades does not mean the entire athletic department has the same problem. Get your facts straight before you write this garbage

Anonymous

Mon Feb 8 2010 11:26

First of all it's you're not your... there's no need to use a possessive pronoun. Secondly, your comment has overall structural problems and your argument is pretty weak. You must be a student athlete... I'd recommend you get back to your studies, oh wait, I guess that you can play regardless...my bad.

Anonymous

Sat Feb 6 2010 20:40

If your going to say that someone is insulting people they don't know then you have to understand why there doing it. Didn't the author start this whole thing by insulting a vast majority of athletes by saying there basically stupid? If you read every athletes testimonial on here they are trying to say that stereotyping a group of people is wrong based on one case. Although some are insulting the author its basically just a taste of his own medicine. I'm sure there will be more cases of an athlete with a low GPA in the future, but how does one person represent a whole for the current student population. This is one author’s opinion but that doesn't mean that every person at the round up would make that stereotype. Basically what all the athletes are trying to say is that you cannot stereotype based off one person and should probably be a little more careful on generalizing a group of people. If one general student fails that doesn't mean that the entire general student population is unintelligent. I'm sure I'm not the only one that can back up this FACT, but the school did not give him special treatment. Once an athlete has under a 2.0 it becomes a matter for NCAA. NCAA will not deem an athlete eligible again unless they have made significant progress towards receiving a college degree. So this was NCAA's decision and not one made only by the school. One last point about everyone complaining that if they get under a 2.0 then the school gets rid of them or doesn't help them like they do athletes. Upon arrival at NMSU I'm pretty sure that I received the student handbook and not the book titled ATHLETE handbook. If you fall under a 2.0 you get put under academic probation and so on. Every student abides by those rules. EVERY. If you have evidence that athletes have their own special set of rules, then let me know because by all accounts they sound like some pretty good rules. This is college now and there are no gifts for anybody. Late nights cramming information into our brains whether or not we just came home from a job or practice. So how about all the students at NMSU keep it at that. Athletes don't know what its like to have a full time job after classes and non-athletes don't know what its like to have a thirteen hour a day athletic schedule, but that doesn't change that we all sit in the same classroom seats together everyday.

Re: Educated

Sat Feb 6 2010 15:18

RE: Educated

Your education shows vastly when all you do is throw insults and put-downs. This is your response to a commentary, a thrash of insults to someone you don't know? I'm assuming that you're not a journalist or know what it's like to be a journalism student. And don't assume that athletes have it so bad that it's demanding. I'm a full time student who has a full time job, 2 children, and I work out at a gym five days a week, and I don't see a damn person rallying for me to succeed. The coaches only consider the students because they're helping the team win, they don't care about their academic success, just like they don't care about mine, yet if fell under a 2.0, I wouldn't expect a single concession like the ones being granted to student athletes. And by the way, for those of you who say that people who don't know the situation shouldn't comment, look at what you just posted...more than likely it's a comment and you should probably think before you type.

Educated

Sat Feb 6 2010 04:31

I would like to suggest that you shadow one of the athletic teams for a week or so. After that write a follow up article that explains what it is like to be a student athlete. I am curious to see if you would be able to handle it successfully or if your grades would be affected. I would say (from experience) that being a student athlete is comparable to having a full time job, being a full time student and then add onto it the exhaustion from multiple hours a day of exercise. I myself agree with a minimum GPA being in place for athletes to remain eligible however due to one athlete failing to meet that requirement one cannot assume that all other athletes are unintelligent and not doing well in class. From reading your article I came to the conclusion that your are ignorant, do not report all of the facts and are a poor journalist. Should I assume the rest of the journalists at your school are incompetent as well? I think not because I am intelligent enough not to stereotype a group based upon one unfavorable person. Also I am curious what your major is? Is it comparable to Aeronautical or Chemical engineering like some of your current student athletes majors? In case you are not aware with out the money that athletics bring in to your school all of the academic programs that your school offers would not be available. I think you owe your athletes a thanks for all of the extra hours of work they put it in that make it possible for you to have a wide variety of programs available.

P.S. After your attempted journalism career fails which McDonald’s can I come visit you at?

Stop the Inanity

Fri Feb 5 2010 17:58

I agree with this article, and am glad to see students taking initiative in their campus. Few students fully understand or seem to care about the way things like Senate, NMSU Athletics, and other aspects are ran. One whistle blower challenges the way things go at NMSU and it brings a field day on him. We, as tuition paying students, have the right to know how our University is functioning and should be able to write about our thoughts in what is clearly labeled a COMMENTARY without scrutiny and immature name calling from higher ups in the Athletic community. I think that the treatment of athletics should be put under scrutiny. I understand they are under stress, but athletics is VOLUNTARY and the mission of NMSU is higher learning, not athletics.

Anonymous

Fri Feb 5 2010 15:04

I'm sorry, but having a history of collegiate athletics doesn't entitle you to anything...it just further perpetuates the idea that the athletes of NMSU need to be better educated.

Anonymous

Fri Feb 5 2010 13:46

As the mother of an NMSU baseball player I find it very offsensive that someone who blatantly condemns the entire athletic population of the school that you care so much about, is so obviously un-educated. My son maintained a 3.97 GPA in high school and let me mention that he took honors classes. He has a 3.24 in his first semester of college. By the way, he's disappointed it's only a 3.24. You can sit there with the title of Editor-In-Chief and obviously can't apply the college education that you earned (or maybe not) to write accurate information. Perhaps the school should do a better job of not watching the kids who are playing their sports, but watching the people that they employee. We could all take a lesson from you and say that all journalism majors aren't worth the computers they're typing on but that would be as narrow-minded as you appear to be. Kudos to all of the informed, professional writers out there. By the way, that excludes you. Go Aggies!

E.D

Sat Jan 30 2010 01:33

Mr Blazak you are fabricating facts. You talk of student athletes like they are ignorant morons. In my opinion you are the ignoramus. You are stereotyping all student athletes. To my knowledge the combined total GPA of the NMSU student body is less then that of the student athletes. I know for a fact that the NMSU Baseball team and swim team held a GPA above 3.0 last spring. I am not saying that all athletes value their education but you are attacking the whole population. I am not a colligate athlete but i know many of them. I have seen first hand how difficult it is to juggle a full class load and perform as well as possible on the field, court, corse, etc. I would like to know what you would personally do to help these "challenged" athletes become better citizens. Would you tutor? I would hope not in journalism because you clearly are not qualified. Would you go to Dr Boston Personally and demand more from his office? I don't think so. And if we are stereotyping, the roundup is a collection of inexperienced writers who are full of useless rhetoric!

Your name

Fri Jan 29 2010 11:31

I am a former Aggie basketball player and i do agree with the other two comments. I was on a full ride scholarship and i ended up graduating with Masters Degree. Now your generalizations may be true for some in my world but for the majority we get it done better than the regular student. If you haven't walked in our shoes and done what we have done then your comments are just speculations. Don't always believe what the media has to say because they just get the stories that with spark peoples interest and stir up controversy. Did you know that for the last 9 semesters the average GPA for all athletics was a 3.0+? That is better than the whole student body. All i am saying is don't believe the hype that we are all dumb jocks because in reality people like you (Jon) will be working for people like us because of our history with collegiate athletics.

CH

Fri Jan 29 2010 10:16

I find this article to be rude, slanderous and ignorant. Just because one or two athletes don't get the grades doesn't mean you have to assume all student athletes are not meeting or exceeding their academic requirements. Just go down to the Fulton Center and look at the wall full of pictures of Student-Athletes who have a 4.0 GPA or the wall full of pictures of teams that have athletes on the WAC Academic List. I am a student athlete and carry a 3.57 GPA, and this is with me wanting to continue on competeing after I graduate from college this May. I've done college athletics not only because I love my sport, but also because I had no other way to pay for college, and a lot of other athletes are in this same position. Assuming that all athletes plan on going pro and have no other back up plan is just wrong, and throwing on specific athlete under the bus in you article is even worse. Next time you choose to write a piece like this put it in the Opinion section of your newspaper, or get your facts straight.

S.L.

Thu Jan 28 2010 22:44

First of all, this article should be under the opinion section, because that's all it is; an opinon( A really bad one I might add)
I am a recent graduate of NMSU as a student-athlete and I was insulted in so many ways by the author's lack of knowledge and crude accusations. NMSU athletics DEMANDS success from its student athletes and in no way do we ever get special treatment; papers are due at the same time everyone else's are, tests are the same test that everyone else takes. Playing Division 1 athletics and being a student at the same time is one of the most challenging things you can ask of a person, and if you actually look into it, NMSU's athletes are among the most successful in the classroom. I would like you to know that all the NMSU student-athletes that I have had the pleasure of getting to know, as well as myself, will not be flipping your burgers anytime soon.

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