Welcome Zach Laput!

[Acorn]

Should there be any academic requirements for student athletes? Should they have to be enrolled? Should they have to be full-time students (defined by the number of hours/credits they are taking)? Should they have to attend class meetings and submit assignments? Should they have to maintain a certain GPA? Should they have to take a certain number of courses at the institution they’re representing on the court/field?

There are plenty of wonderful, intelligent, hardworking people who are, in theory, capable of excelling in a Davidson course. But the question from a requirements/standards perspective is whether they’re producing observable indicators of such ability. Making eligibility policy is about choosing the indicators that have the expected result of producing the right balance between being overinclusive and being underinclusive. In making policy, you have to think about the incentives your rules establish. A certificate is not a degree. A full courseload is not a degree. The difference between having a college degree and not is significant—a student has a strong incentive to complete a college degree, especially when they are just a few courses/credits away. By contrast, the value of a certificate is much less. A student who already has a college degree and is just pursuing a certificate faces a strong pull to blow off the spring semester (or at least all coursework after the season ends). It’s dumb policy to set student-athletes up to face that temptation. It would be like trying to test the Honor Code by requiring all professors to slide answer keys into the self-scheduled exam folders.

[Waitress]

I have a strong (though not total) preference that athletes who play sports at Davidson be Davidson-degree seeking students. If I were still a student, I'd want the players on the teams I routed for to have rosters full of classmates and hallmates, with similar academic challenges, requirements, and expectations. I would want to commiserate over unreasonably demanding professors, heavy reading loads, and sleep-robbing cram sessions. I harbor the thought (however grandiose) that I suffered like John Tice, Dean Rusk, Buddy Cheek, Dick Snyder, Mike Dickens, Mike Malloy, John Gerdy, Todd Haynes, Cliff Tribus, Pepper Bego, Gerry Born, Ace Tanner, Derek Rucker, Martin Ides, Gerg Dunn, Terry Holland, Conor Grace, Michael Bree, Steph Curry, Jake Cohen, De'Mon Brooks, Nik Cochrane, Kellan Grady (apologies to the countless men and women athletes who toil and compete in relative obscurity). I wish no ill-will on anyone who wants to go to Davidson for a short time, so I do recognize some hypocrisy in saying it's cool for people to spend a year studying at Davidson, but not for basketball players.

Many people will be transformed by a year at Davidson. Will hoops mercenaries? Will they get anything out the academic experience? Will they pull up stakes a few days after the last game of the season? Maybe we can make it work, I just don't know how we keep from losing some lustre in the process. I'm not pronouncing doom and gloom. But to me, it will be weird. I'm open to other arguments. I'm even open to this experiment. I want a win-win, not just more wins.

[wildforthecats]

Todd Haines and Conor Bree?

[Waitress]

Todd Haines and Conor Bree?

It was cool bumping into Todd at a HS game in Urbana 15 years ago. He dispelled a myth I'd held for years.

[i77cat]

Haynes. The other guy is an interesting combo of two guys from Ireland.

[wildforthecats]

Haynes was at a Red-Black scrimmage many years ago when his son thought about walking on with the Cats.

[Waitress]

Haynes. The other guy is an interesting combo of two guys from Ireland.

Oh good grief.

I kinda like that portmanteau.

[stevelee]

I’ll file away in my head sometime to write an atmospheric piece entitled “Portmanteau d’Irlande.”

[stevelee]

Back in my day, a wife of a student was able to study at Davidson, but was ineligible to get a degree.

[ScootCat]

I’ve read a couple of interviews with Zach from last month prior to his commitment here. He talks a lot about his relentless work ethic, his desire to improve all aspects of his game, and his history as a leader in winning programs. Importantly, he comes here with a chip on his shoulder, and something to prove; as he specifically acknowledged in one of the articles. His ultimate aspiration is to play in the NBA. All of this, along with his game tape, makes me believe our coaching staff pulled off quite a coup in finding and signing this young man. I’m very much looking forward to him running the point come November. Go Cats!!

[collegecoach8502]

Since this thread has deviated from the deserved warm welcome for Zach to a worthy discussion on how Davidson deals with academics/graduation/etc in today's new NCAA climate, I am going to lock down this thread.

This is not a reflection on Zach nor that of the discussion that has ensued. I welcome a new thread dedicated solely to the academic and graduation requirements brought about by this new era in NCAA athletics. I don't think the discussion diminishes our excitement to have Zach at Davidson, but mixing the two topics may be judged that way by those that don't fully understand the nuances of our message board.