For Players, Classes Don’t End Just Because the Games Begin

It's that time of the again, the Good Apples on the b-ball courts are going to be featured in that section of the newspaper that is exceeded in column inches only by the comics and the obits. So we have this:
"It was a good day for smart kids at the N.C.A.A. tournament. For the future lawyers and doctors-in-training, for the future Wall Street executives and potential judges, for the soon-to-be leaders of science. . . ."
Though that opening sentence does give you pause. After all, in sports today, everything, and I mean everything, talked about has a number or percentage attached to it. So tell us please, just how many "smart kids" are doing the boogaloo in the Big Dance? This column sprinkles some names and schools around, but I'd like to hear more about what those one-and-done athlete-scholars, the kids hop-scotching from school to school, and those with mug shots not on the cover of SI are majoring in and the title of the last book they read from cover to cover. Show me all/more/a representative sample of the apples in the barrel and then I'll be ready to swallow the usual College Sports Biz excuses for the crimes and misdemeanors of college athletics that lean on the hollow to the core "a few bad apples" excuse.

Not much interest in this topic it appears, but there should be. Universities need to remember their primary mission is education, not sports entertainment, although the siren song of the latter is hard to resist both for its financial and national awareness benefits. At least this article did not even attempt to mention the University of North Carolina's papers class scandal, but maybe it should have. At what point will that mess result in UNC being penalized with exclusion from the tournament, reduced athletic scholarships. etc? Not anytime soon if ESPN, CBS sports, etc. have any say in the matter.

Nice article. Appreciate the good perspective (on these selected students).

But...the vast majority of BkB players in the Tourney are "students" in name only. Or, at least if they are students, they are "majoring in pro sports" -- in this case, hoping for the NBA, or some subset of that overseas, etc.

I've been advocating, for a good number of years, that we recognize this reality and create a "professional sports" curriculum in college -- to offer coursework that is truly relevant to those athletes, such as: getting an Agent, contract negotiations, strength and conditioning training, physical anatomy and physiology, etc, etc.

This would not be intended to lift the coursework burden on such athletes...only to make their time studying more worthwhile (to them).

These students should be talked about more, not the star problem athletes. If the problem kids were not in the papers there might be fewer of them

I'm impressed. I never got an "A" on a paper I started 2 hours before it was due.

Kudos to the young Uthoff and Ryan, and those who really take their academics seriously. The fact is, these kids barely hit any classes in March with Conference Tournaments and the NCAAs. The very term 'student-athlete' holds as much integrity as 'reality television.'

It's great to see the academic stars of the game get some attention. But that doesn't change the fact that the tournament system itself pulls most of these students away from the classroom.

There once was a time when only the ACC had a conference tournament. Now most conferences do. When the NCAA tournament is over the winner will have played maybe 35 games. About half of those will have required travel, often mid-week and all required hours of practice, tape viewing and others tasks related to basketball, not the classroom.

i applaud these young men for excelling on and off the court. But the truth is that most players don't. They provide great entertainment for the student body and considerable revenue for the university. They deserve a real college education, not just a trip to the NCAA.

How about an article looking at the impact of Richard Lapchick's tidesport.org has had by putting the spotlight on past tournament teams which didn't focus on academics. Perhaps another look at why schools like North Carolina have somehow shoveled their altheletics academic scnadal under the rug in time for the tournament while the NCAA makes sure a school like Stetson was ineligible for this year's tournament. March madness indeed!

Most people have no appreciation for the time, effort and sacrifice required to be a college student-athlete. I played a division 1 sport many years ago and once recorded hours spent participating in team activities during a 7 day week, including games, practices, team meetings, and travel. 60 hours was the total. I was also taking 5 classes at the time.

It's why they are student athletes and not pros, and the beauty to watching young people excel. Definitely not an easy feat, but many have done it and many will continue, all to the delight and admiration for those of us unable to do as they. Let's hope NCAA will not change the rules to having semi-pros mix with academia. There is so much greatness for younger ones to learn and aspire to that's not tied to economics.