[victory69]

OU was one of the first universities in the country to have an athletic academic center. OU follows guidelines about players going to classes and doing well in school. players are given tutors to help them if they need help in classes. the school tries to focus on academics as much as it can. what impact does this have on athletes who only care about playing professionally?

[Lefty Noob]

Good for them. Its vital that the student part not be left out of student-athlete. Its nice to see the NCAA and individual schools like Oklahoma starting to take academic success and graduation rates more seriously.

I remember hearing about one school that actually merged its athletic program into its academic one. If I recall correctly, they had no AD -- it was a educational staffer in charge of the sports programs. But for the life of me can't remember which university that was. Anyone else know?

[rmjvol]

It was Vanderbilt here in Nashville. Everybody did a collective "Huh?" when it was announced. We're still scratching our heads.

I've even heard some of the former head coaches & AD's from Vabdy say they think it's just weird.

otoh, they did beat my Vols this year on the football field. Hopefully, that's their 1 win for the next 28 years.

[Lefty Noob]

Well, I don't know about Vandy's specifically, but graduation rates on the whole have been abysmal. If a school is struggling in this department, then its up to that individual school to ask themselves whether they want to be known more for the quality of their sports programs or the quality of their educational programs. I guess Vandy decided to learn more towards the educational side of things. And they still managed to produce a talent like Jay Cutler. If it works, I think you might see other schools start doing it as well.

[GigEmAgs]

I think it's a good idea that OU forces athletes to actually succeed academically...they'll have something to fall back on later, in case they don't make the pros or get hurt. I imagine that happens more often than not, and that when it does they're glad they've got that degree.

On the other hand -- I've always wondered why colleges don't just make the player's main sport their major. If he's a football player, let Football (or Athletics at least) be his major. Maybe it's cynical, but if he wants to be a pro football player, let that be his degree. A degree wouldn't guarantee pro success, but neither does any degree. Just make sure the football/athletics/whatever degree requires the same core curriculum as any other degree, and at least he'll get out of college with all the basics.