Yeah, I know. Another of these threads. I rarely enter them unless I find a topic really interesting (Ask the Cop comes to mind). For a long time, I also figured I wouldn’t do one since I didn’t think I had much to offer in the way of specialized experiences. Then, I realized nothing like this has been done so I figured I’d go for it. If it sinks off the front page, so be it. But, there are probably some people into sports that might have questions and there might be parents that have questions that could apply to their kids. So, ask away.
Topics can include, but aren’t limited to:
Experiences
Preparation
Recruiting battles and how to make an informed school selection
Time management
Should the athletes be paid
Perks
Title IX
Etc
OK, Mullinator…defend the scholarship athlete system. I work in university fundraising, and every year we have to turn down academically-qualified students who don’t have enough money to go to college. If we didn’t give out full-ride athletic scholarships (and I should point out that almost no-one gets a full-ride academic scholarship), we could fund a lot more students.
Why is it so important that we, or any other school, have a top-level (or, in our case, mid mid-major) basketball or hockey program when we could use those scholarships to fund a couple dozen needy scholars?
Sorry to start out with a toughie but, hey, that’s the whole point of the Board, ain’t it?
Happy little thread gets slapped down, spat upon, and ends up making me cry. Just kidding Duke, the question fits the thread even though it probably ends up being one of those with no correct answer, at least one that fails to satisfy either side.
Part of me believes that athletic scholarships (especially when given to people who otherwise would fail to academically qualify) are part of a circle. College sports (including basketball, which is what I played) are big time money makers which leads to the funding of the scholarships. Without the revenue from the sport, the school would have less money to spend so those academically gifted but monetarily poor students would end up out in the cold anyway. That may be incorrect, but that is my understanding of it.
It is important to have athletic teams, because those do a good bit of work in establishing an identity, sense of community, and school pride. As backwards as it may be, putting on good plays or having a Rhodes Scholar does not have the same effect, even though they are probably more worthy things in the grand scheme of things.
At the same time, athletic scholarships can have the same effect as the academic ones you mention. I certainly had my fair share of teammates that essentially wasted the scholarship, but I also had my fair share that would have been either too poor or not qualified academically for college. However, due to the athletic scholarship they were admitted and did well at both school and sports and now have opportunities and skills they never would have had an avenue to reach.
When Bear Bryant was asked why the school should continue to support the Alabama football program to the degree that it did, at the seeming expense of academic programs, Bryant responded, “When was the last time you saw 80,000 people pay to watch a kid take a god damn chemistry test.?”
Mullinator,
Thanks for the opportunity. I currently have a niece who swims for a Division I school, and I don’t think she’ll be continuing there next year. She isn’t happy at all with the program and her coach seems to be a real jerk. I’m finding it somewhat surprising that she didn’t know more about him before she started there. And since I have a daughter in high school who is at least thinking about continuing her sport in college, it worries me some. From your experience, is it really that hard to tell what a coach is like before you get there? Is it common for them to sugar-coat things that much? And what would you recommend about getting around that? Would talking to some of the other athletes help, or is that even allowed?
thirdwarning
I have no idea if it is allowed to talk to other players. Scores of lawyers can’t keep track of NCAA regulation so I won’t even bother. But, I do know that in the summer between high school and college I played in a multitude of pick-up games with future teammates.
As for learning about the coaches, a lot of it comes down to research and instinct. For instance, when I was recruited, I talked with many a coach either in person or on the phone. Some of them just didn’t feel right, and that was based on a combo of what I saw on TV and the general vibe I got from them. My recommendations (besides talking with the coach as often as possible is to:
Research what you can about transfer rates. Do players want to transfer in to play for that person, or do a lot of athletes leave or quit to get away from the coach. Find out about the graduation rate for athletes. A lot of that info is collected for the school as a whole which isn’t helpful but put in some calls to the school’s athletic association. You can keep it anonymous if you wish. At the same time, never be afraid to ask a coach tough questions. This person will essentially become the main influence on your duaghters life for the net few years. If they can’t or won’t answer, then you might want to try another avenue.
One thing to remember, no matter how much you think you know about the coach, things always become different once you are in the program. My coach was a great human being, an outstanding recruiter, and a nice guy. But, his ability to prepare the team was below par. We did the right drills, practices were good, but he just didn’t pull the most out of the players when game time came. That’s something you can’t really know until you are immersed in the situation.
Frankd6
Who were the best players you played with or against?
These will probably be colored by subsequent pro careers, so keep that in mind.
With - Travis Best. Good solid guard who could shoot and handle. Granted he dribbled too much, but no one is perfect.
Darryl Barnes - Who? He was buried on our bench, and I could never understand why. He just killed the other posts in practice. He worked hard. I think there was something going on that no one could ever put their finger on, but I really think he was our best player.
Against - Jerry Stackhouse. Good lord
Anfernee Hardaway - OK, granted this was high school AAU, but he deserves a mention. He was a stud. We beat his team, but he wouldn’t have surprised me by walking on water after we played him. He is a pathetic shell at this point, but he was a stud.
Duke - Yeah, the whole dang team. Good ability, but even better basketball IQ. They punish mistakes (which is a direct reflection of the abilities of Kryzyzewski.)
Which teammates/opponents are now well known? Of these famous players, which were jerks and which were good people?
If you want to know those that are well known, just start picking ACC players from 92-94. Also, pick players that live in and around the Atlanta area. I played against many a pro/former pro in pick-up games during the summer months. Nothing like your first day on the court and you end up guarding a former NBA All Star. Ye Gods! As for jerks/good people, I won’t sully a person’s reputation without them here. But, there are jerks and there are good guys. Lots of egos though.
What position did you play?
High school - Center. College - Small Forward. Not a huge adjustment based on my style of play, but it is odd to go from the biggest to the average.
What were your career stats? Not worth mention since I played sparingly. Initially, I needed to increase my strength, which was understandable. After a couple of years, around the time my PT would have increased I faced facts and realized my future was with my brain, not my body so I quit to focus on school. It was a necessary decision and one I have never regretted. Time was just at too much of a premium. I could have kicked around the CBA for a few years but the money would have been paltry and I would have had a worthless degree with no job experience. I made the right choice.
Shirley
Do you have an links for financial aid/grants?
Probably not. I assume you are asking do I know anyone that could hook a high schooler up with an opportunity. If I am wrong, let me know.
Ever date a cheerleader?
My very steady girlfriend would have had issues with that. Plus, my school is not exactly known for their stellar female population, a trend which carried over to the cheerleaders. But, that does raise the always interesting subject of groupies.
I’ve been to dozens of games at Cameron Indoor Stadium, participating in the crowd shenanigans. What was the general feel on your team about that crowd and that atmosphere? Disgust? Awe? Jealousy? Didn’t care?
Alternately, what was your favorite arena to play in (aside from your home court)?
UncleBill Cameron wins your second question. That place is fun. For sheer awe factor based on size, the Georgia Dome wins. Horrible atmosphere, but absolutely immense.
As for the Cameron Crazies, they didn’t bug me a bit, but I am really good at tuning things out. I think the same is ture for most everybody else (you have to develop that as a player or you will go nuts regardless of the level you play at). However, we did have a couple of guys who talked a big game but probably did let the crowd get to them. I imagine that’s the case on most teams.
I would hope the players would be concerned with only the Duke team, but enough would get sucked into the hype and history and be defeated before walking on the floor.
Mullinator, this is a follow-up to your answer to Duke’s question about athletic scholarships, and takes up on plnnr’s Bear Bryant anecdote.
If college athletics serve to fund universities, aren’t we really taking money from student-athletes and giving it to non-athlete students? I mean, since there’s such a market for college football and basketball and the like, presumably college players could form minor leagues and not have to put up with NCAA restrictions on earnings. To anticipate the standard “but athletes do receive compensation: a college education,” objection, I’d say that athletes could instead take their earnings and go to college afterwards (and not be limited to schools with good basketball teams, or to majors with lesser demands on their time). Instead, we’re taking the money generated from college athletics and overwhelmingly giving it to the rest of the university (as opposed to paying athletes what the market thinks they’re worth). We know that at least some athletes are “worth” more than the NCAA permits them to have since there are so many recruiting scandals and efforts to get around the price ceiling imposed by the NCAA.
Was this a prevalent attitude among college athletes? Did you and they really feel adequately compensated by the scholarship, and I suppose by the marginal increase in the opportunity to sleep with college co-eds? I’m not trying to spark a debate here, just want to know what actual athletes think about this at the time they’re in college.
If I can jump in here, recruits can talk with current and former athletes. I’m a volunteer assistant coach with our volleyball team, and one of the biggest recruiting tools we use is the overnight visit (which may last more than one night). We have a recruit stay in the dorms with one of the athletes, and they spend a lot of time socializing. We actually get good feedback from our kids on the recruits, and it give the recruits a good feel for the school and the team.
[slight hijack]Hey, Duke. I work in college fundraising, too, though in the back room versus the front line. Being a Division III school, we don’t have to worry about the athletic scholarship thing.[/slight hijack]
**Mully ** I was just looking for financial aid in general. I don’t know of any HS kid in need of assistance. I thought I would peruse links and see if there were any scholarships just waiting for me.
The large majority of athletes feel that greater compensation than just a college scholarship is due, and I would fall into that category. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the scholarship and college education, but there is a difference between what an athlete is doing and what a regular student is doing.
In my situation with basketball, a normal day during the season was lifting or running drills for 90 minutes in the early morning, anywhere from 2-4 classes during the day, study hall for an hour, film work for an hour, practice for 2 hours. After that, time to study some more. Obviously, it would ease off somewhat during the offseason. Take out the 2 hours of practice time. Still, time is not a big luxury. So, the athlete is essentially working hard for the school a majority of the time. At the same time, we were bound by some pretty stringent rules regarding work. Keep in mind that a lot of the other athletes came from a lot poorer economic situation than I did. These are guys that could have used a chance to have a job and make money. However, the NCAA limits how much money an athlete can make during the year (was $3,000 last I checked.) This rule is in place to prevent booster abuse, but it really harms the athlete instead.
To sum it up, athletes spent most of their time working for the sport and when they did have freedom from it, they were unable to work meaningfully for money due to the rules. So, yeah, I believe compensation for the time and effort are deserved. Either that, or have tighter restrictions on hours per week with the program and raise the minimum outside salary.
Welllllllll . . . . I’m a ramblin wreck from Georgia Tech and a heck of an engineer, a heck of a heck of a heck of a heck of a heck of an engineer . . .
GO Jackets !!
er, sorry Mully - knee jerk reaction.
