schollies & academics

[sundayamqbParticipant]

I spoke to someone close to a former LU schollie recruit today. This recruit was a borderline Lehigh academic admit, but a high-quality player. A match never was made and the player went elsewhere.

It got me thinking, though — especially with several players leaving the team or the U lately.

Are more people leaving than before schollies? In its quest to compete with the other scholarship programs, is Lehigh admitting students who — despite the best efforts of the athletic department — have not been able to succeed enough academically?

Lehigh is a tough place to get good grades– even for some of the best and brightest. Add in football for some mediocre students and it could be downright impossible.

Is lack of academic success in the new paradigm of schollies an issue leading to transfers, dropouts?

[TMHParticipant]

It has been my experience that there is a boatload of reasons why a student/athlete chooses a college and there are almost as many reasons why they may choose to leave. Inevitably, academics is very high on the list of most Ivy/Patriot league schools and athletics is a means to the end.
As you say, balancing academics and athletics is no picnic but those who persevere are typically in a very good position to thrive in the real world. They not only get a great education but they learn all the necessary life skills to succeed, including teamwork, time management, leadership etc. In the pre-schollie days, many of those who struggled on this front would simply leave the program and focus on athletics. Their need-based scholarship was still in place. Some of those will likely now choose to leave the school. Please keep in mind though, many students get homesick, are tired of fighting injuries, get disillusioned with PT. I think scholarships are having little or not impact on the few who left.
Just my opinion.

[vanParticipant]

I am almost as old as Rich H, but remember the dropout rate for frosh was really high back in the day, and that was when footballers were not eligible as freshman

seems to me that today’s rates might even be lower than in the past, just a gut feel with no data to rely on

[TMHParticipant]

van,
Academia has changed since our days. I remember getting the old “look at the person to the left of you, look at the person to the right of you. At he end of four years, one of you won’t be here” speech by Dean Brockway. Colleges have seen figured out that parents don’t want to spend a boatload of dollars when the chances are high that their child may not even graduate. The infrastructure is there now to make everyone successful, if they truly want it.

[RichHParticipant]

In my class ,about half left football. Some no shot at field,others to concentrate on LU life more fully :).We had parties back in my day. Of my class,only one guy failed to graduate on time.
Back then LU on 2 semester sched with finals after Christmas and semesters were longer. Now,in many ways academics are much more stressful being squeezed into shorter terms. Also,football is a year round activity now,unlike my time. It is daunting to balance the necessary time commitments. Dont see that we have a very large turnover year to year. Expect as we get further into the schollie era we will see a few more transfer out than in the past. Impossible to ascribe one reason for transfers. Homesickness,PT,academics,family issues …etc.
One thing is constant in both eras. Football gets a set # of slots from Admissions ,which are dealt with apart from the general student population. LU is fortunate to have a reasonable Admissions Dept,unlike Cross.
If anything schollies have brought in not only better athletes but better students.

[lfnadminKeymaster]

The big lesson from basketball scholarships is that schollies there allowed for BETTER academically qualified recruits. Additionally, the Patriot League has a similar banding system to the Ivy League, meaning you can’t just cram the team with kids that are on the lower end of academic eligibility.

Personally I think kids quit for a lot of reasons, and I think that’s always happened whether we offer conventional scholarships or not.

[just a fanParticipant]

i agree kids highlights film always looks better than they are unless you have a keen eye for the competition and who they are playing against, kids transfer for academic, social, and athletic reasons, not always sports.

[sundayamqbParticipant]

Rich H. opines: “If anything schollies have brought in not only better athletes but better students.”

Here’s a study I’d like to see: Track the careers of football grads pre-schollies, even entry-level jobs/salaries for last few years of non-schollie classes vs. first several years of schollie graduates.

Let’s see if there are any material changes …

Lehigh does a great job of tracking this stuff will ALL grads already.

As you all know, the average entry-level salary of journalism grads, for example, went off the charts — thanks to CJ

[RichHParticipant]

Interesting. Think CJ raised all classes avg income.
Actually project sounds interesting. I’ll work on it.

[sundayamqbParticipant]

Good point, Rich. Thanks for taking on the project.

[MillerParticipant]

I think you will see many more student athletes start to change their major,but the drop out rate will remain the same. And CJ along with other professional athletes should be excluded.

[RichHParticipant]

Let’s remember,we are speculating. The reasons may have nothing to do with PT. So many possible causes. Look at Shane. His transfer had nothing to do with Bball.

[toddcuddParticipant]

Scholarship question, for anyone in the know: I understand that the PL does not permit redshirting. So if you bring in a frosh who is recovering from a serious injury – unable to play at all first year – could he still be eligible for 4 full years? Medical redshirt?

[RichHParticipant]

If he qualifies for NCAA waiver,he should qualfy under PL by laws.

[toddcuddParticipant]

Thanks Rich! I found a link to some PL eligibility rules – but they seemed very waffley…

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