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Athletes should stay in school before relying on false dreams

By Daily Bruin Staff

Oct. 28, 1998 9:00 p.m.

Thursday, October 29, 1998

Athletes should stay in school before relying on false
dreams

COLUMN: Students can’t spurn college education in hopes of going
pro

Thank you for attending class today. Please prepare yourselves
for a reality check.

Every high school athlete does not get a college scholarship.
And even more importantly, every college athlete does not go
professional. I repeat, every college athlete does not go pro.

Actually, I can take it further and say that every athlete with
a scholarship to a university is not a shoe-in for the pros
either.

Now, by no means is this an attempt to discourage anyone from
having dreams. It is moreso an attempt to encourage the
aforementioned athletes to have more dreams than just professional
sports participation.

This definitely needs to be discussed because there are too few
realists out there and too many agents and coaches and family
members giving athletes a false sense of security.

I’d like to discuss what an athletic scholarship does for a
student. Yes, a student.

The scholarship gives the athlete an opportunity to do a few
things. First and foremost, the "free ride," as it’s affectionately
called, creates revenue for the respective school that the athlete
attends. The money comes in because universities get money from
apparel companies and the NCAA for being vehicles of advertisement.
This makes the universities more interested in seeing its students
succeed athletically.

The second incentive that a college scholarship brings is a
national (and sometimes international) stage to showcase an
athlete’s talent. While not every facet of every program gets
television coverage, all programs get some kind of print exposure.
And even the smallest schools get football and basketball
highlights on ESPN and Fox Sports. This, in turn, gives each
program some of the exposure it seeks.

Further, each university has a sports information department
that exists solely to be the liaison between the school’s athletic
department and the world. It’s in this department’s best interest
to make everyone look good, so its workers are pretty intent on
making athletes and coaches appear to be every bit as valuable and
interesting as they are believed to be.

Finally, there is reason number three for an athletic
scholarship being a positive for a student. This reason is
education.

Academics are important because life is about learning. One can
learn in so many environments but with academics there is the added
feature of structure. An education broadens one’s knowledge on
topics that they might not have known about.

Additionally, the knowledge and training that an athlete can get
from school will help that person succeed when they enter the work
force. Of course, that’s if they enter the work force.

Getting a college education that will help one throughout their
career is essential. With said education, students can feel
confident that without actively participating in sports after
college, they will still be able to get a job and be able to
support themselves at a comfortable level.

And while athletes at most universities are required to go to
class and tutoring or risk suffer suspensions and reprimands, the
absolute necessity of having a plan of action after sports is not
stressed enough.

Life is about balance. For an athlete, it needs to be about
maintaining consistency between academics, athletics, social life,
family time and personal time. Though this is not always
understood, it is still one of the most valuable lessons to be
learned while away from home, at college.

Some get that message and some don’t. There are students out
there that would, without a second thought, do anything for the
opportunity to get a free education. And they cannot because they
are not athletically gifted. Yet, there are those that are using
school just as a means to get national exposure for free. That is
not a terrible thing if that person winds up making it
professionally.

The thing is, however, that the situation winds up being very
costly if an athlete’s professional scenario doesn’t pan out. If
college is not taken as seriously as a person’s athletic
participation, that individual could wind up completely
empty-handed.

Compared to the number of athletes that play collegiate sports,
very few players get drafted. Henceforth, if one does not fall into
the category of one of those chosen few and they also did not get
the most out of the education handed to them then they have let
themselves down.

When considering the three major sports, less than one percent
of Division I athletes turn pro. Within the individual sports, the
numbers fluxuate, but it is very evident that more than 99% will
not make it to a higher level.

What needs to be stated is that once the dance is over for
Cinderella, there will be no glass slipper for Prince Charming to
retrieve.

In the real world, after the university has given an athlete
what it can give her or him- the chance at an education- and the
athlete has given what they can give- all pertinent years of
eligibility and revenue opportunities- the relationship very well
could be over.

There are exceptions, but that is the whole point of this piece:
one must approach being a student-athlete as if they will not be
the exception. Having the reverse thought process will surely set
one up for disappointment.

For example, if an athlete is expecting to go to school to play
sports as a tool to get a free education, then the sky is basically
the limit. If pro scouts begin knocking on the athlete’s door then
that winds up being an added bonus because they were already
prepared intellectually through education.

Conversely, if the flip-side happens, with a person being a
student in their spare time and being in school just to see how
fast they can become a professional athlete, there is no room for
error. There winds up being no opportunity for surprise; there is
only room for a huge letdown. He or she winds up considering his or
herself a failure.

Avoiding this pitfall just takes planning. Once the fact that
most great players will not make it to the professional ranks sinks
in an athlete’s head, which can spark unparalleled academic
success.

It’s not necessarily a good thing if an athlete needs his or her
sport to make them feel complete. An athlete is a package, so to
speak. And one must be aware that the contents of this package will
shift and change. That change will not necessarily be one of
instant fame and fortune. Accepting this is what makes them a more
complete person.

Through my years as a journalist, IÅ’ve encountered persons
on both sides of the aforementioned coin. There are three people in
general that represent the most extreme cases for me of
establishing a plan for life after athletics.

The first athlete plans to enroll in medical school immediately
following undergraduate studies. This athlete feels she can make
the most of this opportunity presented to her by her school and get
as much knowledge at no cost as possible. She plans on being a
physician, not really caring too much whether she makes it in the
WNBA or the ABL.

The second athlete went through college "knowing" that they
would turn pro. Now that their eligibility is up and they are
undrafted in two sports that they stood out in ­ basketball
and football- they are completely lost. This athlete is clueless
because he did not even entertain the thought of "not making it."
He was guaranteed to become pro, yet he is not pro, he did not
finish his education and he does not have a job.

Finally, the third athlete is one that did not even excel in
college (or play at all, for that matter) and he still believes
that he belongs in the pros. He feels that he was shortchanged by
his coaches at the university level- not given a chance to show his
talent to the world.

And while that may be true, realistically he should understand
that one year of high school football and four years of standing on
the sideline as part of the football team (and not playing) will
not quite cut it for pro scouts. But he will not grasp this,
because so many people have told him that he is "good," that he is
"exceptional," and he "should be playing on Sundays (which means
playing in the NFL)."

What makes this case so bad though, is the fact that this man
actually got his education; he actually got his degree. Does this
even enter into his thinking? No. He feels that he belongs in the
NFL and that’s the bottom line. At what point doe she decide that
his dream will not come true? He does not know. He claims he will
"never get a job." But what about his family? What about him living
comfortably? Dreams unrealized can result in lives unraveled.

Now as I stated earlier, there is nothing wrong with dreaming if
that’s what it is- dreaming. But once the dreams are all you
believe, that is when the problems set in. Such is the case with
the second and third athletes I mentioned and others like them.

Therefore, since they will not wake up from their self-made pro
fantasies, I would just like him to have nightmares once in a
while. Maybe a nightmare about not making it professionally.
Hopefully that would snap them back into reality.

It would be for their own benefit.

Just a little food for thought.

Class dismissed.

A. CinQue Carter is a journalist determined to bring a news
element to sports. Forward questions and comments to
[email protected].

A. CinQue Carter

Comments, feedback, problems?

© 1998 ASUCLA Communications Board[Home]

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