F the NCAA

[pdub]

"I do not think that the average revenue sport athlete over the last 40 years had at least the same degree of interest in academics as the average non-athlete student over the same period. I think there are a lot of reasons for that."

This of course is different than your original statement.

[jfish26]

"I do not think that the average revenue sport athlete over the last 40 years had at least the same degree of interest in academics as the average non-athlete student over the same period. I think there are a lot of reasons for that."

This of course is different than your original statement.

And your anecdote about your parents is no more reliably extrapolated out.

The precision is beside the point, which is that certainly ONE thing that would make athletes care more about classes would be for more of those classes to be pertinent to what they want to do with their lives - even if that ends up not being playing sports.

That of course is how college works generally. There is no reason there should NOT be courses of study specific to the field of college and professional sports.

[pdub]

"I do not think that the average revenue sport athlete over the last 40 years had at least the same degree of interest in academics as the average non-athlete student over the same period. I think there are a lot of reasons for that."

This of course is different than your original statement.

And your anecdote about your parents is no more reliably extrapolated out.

Well yours is just a general assumption.
Mine comes with 20 years of having student athletes in classes - specifically at the school we are talking about.

I think the actual cash in hand significantly changes the academic environment for a lot of adults who haven't fully grown up yet.

[jfish26]

"I do not think that the average revenue sport athlete over the last 40 years had at least the same degree of interest in academics as the average non-athlete student over the same period. I think there are a lot of reasons for that."

This of course is different than your original statement.

And your anecdote about your parents is no more reliably extrapolated out.

Well yours is just a general assumption.
Mine comes with 20 years of having student athletes in classes - specifically at the school we are talking about.

I think the actual cash in hand significantly changes the academic environment for a lot of adults who haven't fully grown up yet.

I think a whole lot us - me included - can offer a whole lot of anecdotes about revenue sports athletes who didn't give a shit (and about those who did).

But again, that's not the point. And neither is the point about money.

I know you are primed to barf at anything I have to say that even gestures toward the pain points in this thread, but I'm not trying to tear off those scabs at all - what I'm saying here really shouldn't be controversial: if we want the student athletes to care more about the "student" part, then the "student" part should also care more about them.

I fail to see what good is done by shuffling athletes through majors that have nothing at all to do with their interests or goals; if the academic plan is merely a box-checking exercise for athletic eligibility purposes, then that's the level of engagement and enthusiasm we should expect from the athletes. There is no good reason athletes shouldn't have multiple tracks available to them that focus on careers for former college athletes in/around collegiate and professional sports.

Does that mean that the athletes' experience might be different from other that of other students? Sure. But that could be said about lots and lots and lots of different niche majors.

[pdub]

"I fail to see what good is done by shuffling athletes through majors that have nothing at all to do with their interests or goals."

I've always agreed with you here though there are plenty of courses that already exist at a majority of schools that could be packaged into a major ( and some schools already offer BA's that would check this box ).

The problem isn't the courses anymore, it's the money involved for the best programs in 'college' sports.
If you're a 19 year old and you just got 300k and in your mind you are good enough to go pro, why hit the books ( even though in reality the odds are against you going pro )?

[jfish26]

"I fail to see what good is done by shuffling athletes through majors that have nothing at all to do with their interests or goals."

I've always agreed with you here though there are plenty of courses that already exist at a majority of schools that could be packaged into a major ( and some schools already offer BA's that would check this box ).

The problem isn't the courses anymore, it's the money involved for the best programs in 'college' sports.
If you're a 19 year old and you just got 300k and in your mind you are good enough to go pro, why hit the books ( even though in reality the odds are against you going pro )?

You are right of course. You can't make someone - athlete or otherwise - care. I absolutely want to see our guys caring, and getting something meaningful (besides money, chicks and private jet rides) out of the experience.

I think it's probably true that we do athletes something of a disservice by caring about things like team GPA - I think it makes the Sashas and Tyrels of the world rarer than they need to be. I personally think a guy who got an engineering degree by the narrowest of GPA margins got more out of the academic experience than a guy who got a 3.8 in a check-the-box path with curated joke classes.

[DeletedUser]

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5505mCy ... ZvOHJqeg==

[MICHHAWK]

aj storr went to 5 high schools. and KU is his 3rd college in as many years.

[TDub]

aj storr went to 5 high schools. and KU is his 3rd college in as many years.

yea but Kansas is his dream school! he said so! I'm sure it had nothing to do with his wallet. He's here for the name on the front of the Jersey and be part of the tradition! For sure!

[TDub]

I hate that this bullshit makes me dislike players I don't know, that's not how I should be (and that part is on me, I acknowledge that). But, how do you not lose a little bit of the bond when you know it's all fake bullshit?

[Sparko]

Last year was it was tough to root for the team with so few invested in our dream school. I need to see Turgeon-level passion again out there. Like Braun had.

[jfish26]

I hate that this bullshit makes me dislike players I don't know, that's not how I should be (and that part is on me, I acknowledge that). But, how do you not lose a little bit of the bond when you know it's all fake bullshit?

Do you really believe that Shady flipped to us from Baylor over a dream? Or that Mario (or even, dare I say, Danny Manning) would have been Jayhawks if we hadn’t paid their (questionably qualified) dads to coach here?

I don’t like the present level of player movement. But I think this has all been very transactional, for a very long time. I have accepted that, with limited exceptions, the players just have VERY different relationships with the school than do the fans.

[DeletedUser]

I think it's pretty cool that he and his girlfriend came to KU.

I don't think him wanting to be here is "fake bullshit" because of NIL money, at least not anymore than I would if a player only came because the dorm rooms are cooler than the other schools. It's enticing them with special treatment, either way.

[TDub]

I hate that this bullshit makes me dislike players I don't know, that's not how I should be (and that part is on me, I acknowledge that). But, how do you not lose a little bit of the bond when you know it's all fake bullshit?

Do you really believe that Shady flipped to us from Baylor over a dream? Or that Mario (or even, dare I say, Danny Manning) would have been Jayhawks if we hadn’t paid their (questionably qualified) dads to coach here?

I don’t like the present level of player movement. But I think this has all been very transactional, for a very long time. I have accepted that, with limited exceptions, the players just have VERY different relationships with the school than do the fans.

we're so far apart on this one it's best to just let it lie I suppose.

[ousdahl]

re: points about Mario Chalmers and Danny Manning, I wish wifflehead was still around to point out that was pretty much the same situation with Tyler Self.

Heck, the kid’s tuition was literally paid for out of the head coach’s own pocket!

[pdub]

I hate that this bullshit makes me dislike players I don't know, that's not how I should be (and that part is on me, I acknowledge that). But, how do you not lose a little bit of the bond when you know it's all fake bullshit?

Do you really believe that Shady flipped to us from Baylor over a dream? Or that Mario (or even, dare I say, Danny Manning) would have been Jayhawks if we hadn’t paid their (questionably qualified) dads to coach here?

I don’t like the present level of player movement. But I think this has all been very transactional, for a very long time. I have accepted that, with limited exceptions, the players just have VERY different relationships with the school than do the fans.

ITs BeeN HaPPenINg AlL ALonG!!!

[TDub]

https://www.espn.com/college-sports/sto ... am-memphis


totally fine and normal....yep...this will all just kinda blend and be great.

[DeletedUser]

Would it bother you the same if FedEx spent 25mil to redo the players living facility?

[TDub]

Would it bother you the same if FedEx spent 25mil to redo the players living facility?

does each set of players get to take the living facilities with them at the end of the year?

no? So they stay with the university and are an asset to the university that can be repurposed for non athletes at a later date?

Guess what? Players still need somewhere to live too, so the need for player living facilities hasn't magically vanished, so now they need both.


To answer your question...no, thay would not bother me, for the reasons mentioned above.

[pdub]

We of course have detailed this same scenario in this very thread.