Putting the STUDENT in Student Athlete

[knapplc]

One of my favorite threads that I'll be resurrecting when this kind of news pops up. Seems the football team has been working hard in the classroom:

 

Steven M. Sipple: The wise will note Husker football team's GPA

 

This isn't a juicy story that will appear on ESPN's scroll.

 

This isn't labor strife, or another five-star football recruit choosing an SEC school. This isn't scandal. Nancy Grace wouldn't touch this information with a 10-foot Ethernet cord.

 

Nobody will shout "stop the presses" for this news, but perhaps someone should.

 

The Nebraska football team's overall grade-point average recently jumped to 3.008 (on a 4.0 scale), the highest mark since at least 1987, according to Dennis Leblanc, NU senior associate athletic director.

 

Sipple lists several of the people involved in this success, including Dennis Leblanc, Kim Schellpeper and Katie Jewell, but spends most of his time lauding Bo's impact on our team's academic success:

 

A three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection at Ohio State (1988-1990), Pelini also takes a hard-line stance when it comes to his players excelling in the classroom.

 

"As most people know, there's no gray area with Bo about a lot of things," Leblanc said. "That's how it is with academics."

[The Dude]

Must be all those free books.

[huskerfan333157]

Not all of the athletes do their work. I remember a few years ago there was an incident where a someone "left" their thumbnail drive in the computer and another person came along and edited their paper, pretty sure it was a football player's, it was someone that was starting but i cant remember who it was but their paper was written like a third grader. I am happy we lead the country in that aspect but i just wonder how many of the student athletes actually earned their grades. I also heard Tom Osborne tried to persuade professors to give certain athletes good grades (this comes from a co workers son who was a professor at UNL for a few years. I do believe there are several professors would be be more lenient when grading an athletes though. I know ill get flamed for this post and im happy Nebraska is the top in academic all americans but i just wonder how many athletes (in every college) actually earn their grade.

[da skers]

If I were Bo I'd be clipping out this article from the news paper and sending it to every parent of every player we recruit. This is crap parents want to see. Its also nice to see an article making news for good things the coach pushes. I would be nice to see some more stuff on the hours the team spends mentoring and doing volunteer work. These guys have the opportunity to change a lot of lives and thankfully most of them take advantage of it with very little fan fare.

 

I know when I lived in Lincoln and worked with Special Olympics Frank Solich did anything we asked of him for those special needs kids and by extension many players on the team would help or show up at events unsolicited to cheer the athletes on. It was great to see them so giving of their time when they have very little of it to actually give.

[huskerfan333157]

If I were Bo I'd be clipping out this article from the news paper and sending it to every parent of every player we recruit. This is crap parents want to see. Its also nice to see an article making news for good things the coach pushes. I would be nice to see some more stuff on the hours the team spends mentoring and doing volunteer work. These guys have the opportunity to change a lot of lives and thankfully most of them take advantage of it with very little fan fare.

 

I know when I lived in Lincoln and worked with Special Olympics Frank Solich did anything we asked of him for those special needs kids and by extension many players on the team would help or show up at events unsolicited to cheer the athletes on. It was great to see them so giving of their time when they have very little of it to actually give.

I agree but most major colleges do this, we just dont hear about it. Its pretty sad that the negative news also gets priority over positive news but thats how the world works.

[Rocketsocks]

Not all of the athletes do their work. I remember a few years ago there was an incident where a someone "left" their thumbnail drive in the computer and another person came along and edited their paper, pretty sure it was a football player's, it was someone that was starting but i cant remember who it was but their paper was written like a third grader. I am happy we lead the country in that aspect but i just wonder how many of the student athletes actually earned their grades. I also heard Tom Osborne tried to persuade professors to give certain athletes good grades (this comes from a co workers son who was a professor at UNL for a few years. I do believe there are several professors would be be more lenient when grading an athletes though. I know ill get flamed for this post and im happy Nebraska is the top in academic all americans but i just wonder how many athletes (in every college) actually earn their grade.

 

What? Why would you get flamed for posting such a solidly-researched story like this?

 

I'm familiar with the culture among UNL's profs and the general opinion of the football team of said profs. The majority of these people are not fans of the athletic dept and would report any coach who asked for favors for their players, especially Osborne.

[huskerfan333157]

Not all of the athletes do their work. I remember a few years ago there was an incident where a someone "left" their thumbnail drive in the computer and another person came along and edited their paper, pretty sure it was a football player's, it was someone that was starting but i cant remember who it was but their paper was written like a third grader. I am happy we lead the country in that aspect but i just wonder how many of the student athletes actually earned their grades. I also heard Tom Osborne tried to persuade professors to give certain athletes good grades (this comes from a co workers son who was a professor at UNL for a few years. I do believe there are several professors would be be more lenient when grading an athletes though. I know ill get flamed for this post and im happy Nebraska is the top in academic all americans but i just wonder how many athletes (in every college) actually earn their grade.

 

What? Why would you get flamed for posting such a solidly-researched story like this?

 

I'm familiar with the culture among UNL's profs and the general opinion of the football team of said profs. The majority of these people are not fans of the athletic dept and would report any coach who asked for favors for their players, especially Osborne.

 

I dont know what professor's youre talking about but i knew a lot of professors that loved football,except one..she was also a kansas grad. Im just telling a story i heard, from someone who works at UNL and also i actually saw the thumbnail drive incident take place (yes the football player actually left it there and someone came and edited it). Im not saying all the athletes are like that, I think its moreso the starters/bigname players but this obviously happens everywhere. Like with duke bball, kansas bball, nebraska/osu/texas/nd football etc.

[da skers]

Not all of the athletes do their work. I remember a few years ago there was an incident where a someone "left" their thumbnail drive in the computer and another person came along and edited their paper, pretty sure it was a football player's, it was someone that was starting but i cant remember who it was but their paper was written like a third grader. I am happy we lead the country in that aspect but i just wonder how many of the student athletes actually earned their grades. I also heard Tom Osborne tried to persuade professors to give certain athletes good grades (this comes from a co workers son who was a professor at UNL for a few years. I do believe there are several professors would be be more lenient when grading an athletes though. I know ill get flamed for this post and im happy Nebraska is the top in academic all americans but i just wonder how many athletes (in every college) actually earn their grade.

 

What? Why would you get flamed for posting such a solidly-researched story like this?

 

I'm familiar with the culture among UNL's profs and the general opinion of the football team of said profs. The majority of these people are not fans of the athletic dept and would report any coach who asked for favors for their players, especially Osborne.

 

I dont know what professor's youre talking about but i knew a lot of professors that loved football,except one..she was also a kansas grad. Im just telling a story i heard, from someone who works at UNL and also i actually saw the thumbnail drive incident take place (yes the football player actually left it there and someone came and edited it). Im not saying all the athletes are like that, I think its moreso the starters/bigname players but this obviously happens everywhere. Like with duke bball, kansas bball, nebraska/osu/texas/nd football etc.

Yes and when I was an undergrad I had a professor ask if anyone in the room was on the football team or involved in athletics. A handful of people raised their hands. He then said..you'll never pass my class. I'll ride you harder than anyone else in here so go drop my class now or I'll give you an F and won't play. One player couldn't opt out and that guy did ride his ass. He did work that put mine to shame and I got A's while this guy to his credit got C's and the prof would ridicule him every chance he got in class. So professors go both ways.

[da skers]

And if that did happen I'm sure it was that player doing it...not the coaches lining it up. Its like any other kid in school taking a short cut.

 

Unless perhaps it was when Blake was here.

[Rocketsocks]

Not all of the athletes do their work. I remember a few years ago there was an incident where a someone "left" their thumbnail drive in the computer and another person came along and edited their paper, pretty sure it was a football player's, it was someone that was starting but i cant remember who it was but their paper was written like a third grader. I am happy we lead the country in that aspect but i just wonder how many of the student athletes actually earned their grades. I also heard Tom Osborne tried to persuade professors to give certain athletes good grades (this comes from a co workers son who was a professor at UNL for a few years. I do believe there are several professors would be be more lenient when grading an athletes though. I know ill get flamed for this post and im happy Nebraska is the top in academic all americans but i just wonder how many athletes (in every college) actually earn their grade.

 

What? Why would you get flamed for posting such a solidly-researched story like this?

 

I'm familiar with the culture among UNL's profs and the general opinion of the football team of said profs. The majority of these people are not fans of the athletic dept and would report any coach who asked for favors for their players, especially Osborne.

 

I dont know what professor's youre talking about but i knew a lot of professors that loved football,except one..she was also a kansas grad. Im just telling a story i heard, from someone who works at UNL and also i actually saw the thumbnail drive incident take place (yes the football player actually left it there and someone came and edited it). Im not saying all the athletes are like that, I think its moreso the starters/bigname players but this obviously happens everywhere. Like with duke bball, kansas bball, nebraska/osu/texas/nd football etc.

 

I don't think Nebraska's academic records all happened because everyone cheats.

[Lyons in the Sea of Red.]

You have to understand that you basically have to not give a damn as an athlete, especially football, to get bad grades. The academic center and tutoring they offer for athletes is basically here's my homework do it. We have a rep to hold with academics and athletics, so they are going to do everything they can to get you to succeed.

[knapplc]

You have to understand that you basically have to not give a damn as an athlete, especially football, to get bad grades. The academic center and tutoring they offer for athletes is basically here's my homework do it. We have a rep to hold with academics and athletics, so they are going to do everything they can to get you to succeed.

 

And the NCAA just turns a blind eye to that, of course? Let's not be overly simplistic about this. I'm sure we have many athletes who stretch the boundaries of what constitutes "intelligence" and who are entirely here for their athletic skill. But we have a LOT of very intelligent guys here. I've had the chance to talk to guys like Prince Amukamara, Niles Paul, DeJon Gomes, Roy Helu, Zac Lee, Aaron Green, Rex Burkhead, Joey Ganz, Khiry Cooper and Alex Henery, and none of these guys are dumb enough to need someone to do their homework for them. I can't say any of them are geniuses, but they're intelligent, that much I can tell you. I've had the chance in the last year to get to know about half the girls on the volleyball team, including some former players, and every one of them struck me as intelligent enough to more than hold their own academically. I've met some of the girls from the basketball team and I can say the same thing.

 

When you see interviews with our athletes, when's the last time they were so unintelligible that you could barely understand what they were saying? I can't think of any off the top of my head, but we've all seen interviews from dozens of players across the country where they're doing little more than grunting into the camera. If there are players like that at Nebraska they are the exception, not the rule.

 

I'm not going to tell you there are NO academic cheaters at Nebraska. I'm sure there are. But is it the norm? I doubt it, unless I've just happened to run into the few intelligent players we have.

[Lyons in the Sea of Red.]

You have to understand that you basically have to not give a damn as an athlete, especially football, to get bad grades. The academic center and tutoring they offer for athletes is basically here's my homework do it. We have a rep to hold with academics and athletics, so they are going to do everything they can to get you to succeed.

 

And the NCAA just turns a blind eye to that, of course? Let's not be overly simplistic about this. I'm sure we have many athletes who stretch the boundaries of what constitutes "intelligence" and who are entirely here for their athletic skill. But we have a LOT of very intelligent guys here. I've had the chance to talk to guys like Prince Amukamara, Niles Paul, DeJon Gomes, Roy Helu, Zac Lee, Aaron Green, Rex Burkhead, Joey Ganz, Khiry Cooper and Alex Henery, and none of these guys are dumb enough to need someone to do their homework for them. I can't say any of them are geniuses, but they're intelligent, that much I can tell you. I've had the chance in the last year to get to know about half the girls on the volleyball team, including some former players, and every one of them struck me as intelligent enough to more than hold their own academically. I've met some of the girls from the basketball team and I can say the same thing.

 

When you see interviews with our athletes, when's the last time they were so unintelligible that you could barely understand what they were saying? I can't think of any off the top of my head, but we've all seen interviews from dozens of players across the country where they're doing little more than grunting into the camera. If there are players like that at Nebraska they are the exception, not the rule.

 

I'm not going to tell you there are NO academic cheaters at Nebraska. I'm sure there are. But is it the norm? I doubt it, unless I've just happened to run into the few intelligent players we have.

I'm not saying all the athletes take advantage of this, nor am I trying to group our athletes as being stupid. BUT, the services that are offered, for those that take use of them, pretty much have it made. But I'm sure its only a decent handful. The point I'm trying to make is that if you are struggling in school or aren't the brightest, they will almost do school for you in an attempt to keep a good rep. All you have to do is go to class. I've heard multiple stories of athletes, mainly football and basketball, bringing in a paper that they were told to start, and give their best "effort". They can leave it with the tutors for "edit and proofreading", the next day its the only thing that's about the same is the topic. But overall, I will agree that unl has a good group of athletes academically.

[knapplc]

I'm not saying all the athletes take advantage of this, nor am I trying to group our athletes as being stupid. BUT, the services that are offered, for those that take use of them, pretty much have it made. But I'm sure its only a decent handful. The point I'm trying to make is that if you are struggling in school or aren't the brightest, they will almost do school for you in an attempt to keep a good rep. All you have to do is go to class. I've heard multiple stories of athletes, mainly football and basketball, bringing in a paper that they were told to start, and give their best "effort". They can leave it with the tutors for "edit and proofreading", the next day its the only thing that's about the same is the topic. But overall, I will agree that unl has a good group of athletes academically.

 

They were the same rumors I heard when I went to UNL. They're urban legends that students who felt underprivileged perpetuated until they've become part of the lore of UNL. And it's one of those "prove it's not true" stories that you can't unprove - like proving Unicorns don't exist. Like most rumors this likely has a kernel of truth somewhere, and I'm sure some athlete(s) sometime had work done for them. But implying it's the norm is incorrect.

 

Further, tutoring is available for all students, regardless of whether they're athletes or regular students.

 

The point of this thread is that we have, overall, some damned fine student-athletes at Nebraska.

[Atbone95]

You have to understand that you basically have to not give a damn as an athlete, especially football, to get bad grades. The academic center and tutoring they offer for athletes is basically here's my homework do it. We have a rep to hold with academics and athletics, so they are going to do everything they can to get you to succeed.

 

And the NCAA just turns a blind eye to that, of course? Let's not be overly simplistic about this. I'm sure we have many athletes who stretch the boundaries of what constitutes "intelligence" and who are entirely here for their athletic skill. But we have a LOT of very intelligent guys here. I've had the chance to talk to guys like Prince Amukamara, Niles Paul, DeJon Gomes, Roy Helu, Zac Lee, Aaron Green, Rex Burkhead, Joey Ganz, Khiry Cooper and Alex Henery, and none of these guys are dumb enough to need someone to do their homework for them. I can't say any of them are geniuses, but they're intelligent, that much I can tell you. I've had the chance in the last year to get to know about half the girls on the volleyball team, including some former players, and every one of them struck me as intelligent enough to more than hold their own academically. I've met some of the girls from the basketball team and I can say the same thing.

 

When you see interviews with our athletes, when's the last time they were so unintelligible that you could barely understand what they were saying? I can't think of any off the top of my head, but we've all seen interviews from dozens of players across the country where they're doing little more than grunting into the camera. If there are players like that at Nebraska they are the exception, not the rule.

 

I'm not going to tell you there are NO academic cheaters at Nebraska. I'm sure there are. But is it the norm? I doubt it, unless I've just happened to run into the few intelligent players we have.

 

Terrel Pryor after the Sugar Bowl last year... anyone else see that?