Student-athletes are lauded for their athletic achievements on a daily basis. Sometimes, these teenagers are lambasted for lackluster performances in the biggest games, when the spotlights are the brightest. Everybody has something to say about last night???s game ??? who played well and who needs to find more time on the bench.
It doesn???t bother me that student-athletes regularly find themselves under the media microscope and the talk of restaurants and bars in college towns across the country. That???s part of big-time intercollegiate athletics and I believe it prepares student-athletes for their post-college careers.
What does bother me, however, is that game stories and scandals fill the sports page on a daily basis, but off-the-field achievements are rarely reported. Why is it more important that Oklahoma???s Kevin Bookout led the Sooners in scoring against Texas, and not that he was a third-team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American?
Not only did Joe Herber lead West Virginia???s men???s basketball team back to the Sweet 16 a few weeks ago, but the political science major earned a perfect 4.00 GPA in the classroom and received first-team academic all-American honors.
College sports fans should be aware that Maryland junior Shay Doron led the Terrapins to the national title. They should also know that the second-team academic all-American had a 3.71 GPA while concentrating in criminology.
For every negative story that hits the papers, there are hundreds of positive anecdotes about NCAA student-athletes that can and should be shared.
These stories matter more than what happens on the court. If student-athletes are going to be applauded and criticized for their athletics performances, we should certainly celebrate their achievements off the field as well, and take pride in how they represent the schools and teams we root for.
