Character

“Trouble at Stanford highlights the importance of character”

As current high school student athletes and parents begin the process of looking at colleges and striving to obtain scholarships, it is important to remember the importance of remaining focused both on and off the field.


ESPN recently published a report detailing the existence of a list of “easy classes” at the prestigious Stanford University. The list that was only available for student athletes was according to school officials, put in place to help athletes choose classes that would fit into their busy schedules. However, with NCAA eligibility regulations tied to student GPA’s, it becomes easily transparent that this list existed to insure the student athletes were able to take classes that required little work and generated easy grades.

All parents and students undergoing the recruiting process should be cognitive of the fact that college recruiters evaluate a potential student athlete not only by their performances on the field, but also based on their performances in the classroom and based on their overall character. The “list” at Stanford University in many ways is a truly negative representation of those that go "the easy route", circumventing the hard work and dedication required of a student athlete at the collegiate level.

Future student athletes must work with their parents, teachers, coaches and recruiters to realize that narrowing one’s focus solely on achieving "on the field" success can and will substantially affect one's ability to become the well rounded person, which college’s strive to admit to increase their "ranks".

Ultimately, it's all about the decisions you make...off the field too, mainly, in the classroom.


Michael Bucci
National Director
GetUrecruited.com