College Athletes & Grades

He should be attending a lot more than 25% of his classes. He should have all his classes in the morning. He should only be missing Friday classes during road trips. On Monday mornings after weekend road trips and weeknight away games he just has to have the discipline to get out of bed.

He is an athlete/student until Junior year, then "student athlete".

is he in Lubbock? Great city. Sam Jones (Boston Celtics) & my team played basketball at Texas Tech

Bob

Agree with RJM, it's all about discipline. There is a lot of valuable homework/study time on bus rides and in hotels when traveling. I am not in any way saying it's easy because it's not but with a 4.0 and playing D1 baseball he's already a high achiever.

Best of luck to your son in the classroom and on the field!

ilovebaseball posted:

Bob - I'm trying not to disclose his college - It may be Texas Tech (Lubbock), it may be not -- his team has been on the road for 10+ days at a time.  He's taking online courses as much as he can.  He attends his classes when he's in town. He's concerned about the time he's missing - and YES, he sits is the front rows when he's in town for classes.  Just looking for advise.

10+ days on the road is tough. Sounds like he's at a nothern/cold weather school. 

Maybe he can find a buddy in each class to help pass along information while he's traveling. 

I forgot to mention he's not on baseball scholarship, he's a walk-on.   

Why is a team on the road for ten days except spring break?

Many teams have tutors traveling and morning classes.

bob

That is why D3 is an excellent option for Student - Athletes. 

Is your concern that his grades are likely to suffer, or that he's not really learning ... or something else? 

My son will be in his shoes next fall. I don't know exactly how it will go, but in deciding on the school, part of what helped my son was the school's focus on academics. They do send tutors on the road, for example. 

So my expectation is that baseball will consume much more of his time, but that he will also learn, and -- assuming he applies himself -- get good grades.

The question you asked was "what should we say to him?"  I didn't read that he asked a question, but rather made a statement.   

Give him your support.  He is making a 4.0.  Tell him good job.  There was a post on here last year to tell your son on game day to "have fun, play well, I love you".  That about sums it up.

My son is at a very high academic school.  He is blessed that he didn't come in with a HS 4.9 gpa, because he doesn't expect to make those kind of grades now.   There was a suicide at his school the week before classes started his freshman year that shook up the community....I certainly didn't want to add to any pressure he may have felt at the time, nor do I now.  

I tell him to "just stay eligible".  He has done more than that, thank goodness, but they need to realize that college is tough, playing a sport makes it tougher, and freshman year is for feeling it all out and adjusting.  I try to stay out of it mostly, but have impressed upon him 1)  that he needs to graduate in 4 years, and 2) that he will need to make up the difference if he doesn't get the "good student discount' with our auto insurer. So far, better than good.

Is your son thinking about leaving the team as a starter in conference games?  He certainly won't be the first, but I bet there are several on the bench that are drooling to take his place. 

ilovebaseball posted:

I forgot to mention he's not on baseball scholarship, he's a walk-on.   

Maybe this is somewhat off topic, but as a starter in conference games, would it be reasonable for him to be put on scholarship next year? Seems like he's earned it.

ilovebaseball posted:

OK - seems I'm getting a little beat up here.  My son chose his school FIRST.  He had no desire to go to a D2, D3 or a  community college.  I am asking advise from fellow parents who may be in the same predicament.   

As it has for you, it was very eye opening when my son attended a high level D-1 school.  Fortunately, my son has always been very organized and received a lot of counseling helped in choosing the classes he needs at the right time.  By that I mean that the easier classes where taken during baseball seasons so that study time wasn't as demanding.  Also, the school had a great tutoring program and when on the road time was time for studying along with playing ball.  He never took any classes that required lab time.   Most of his professors were accommodating for him in getting information from the classes and getting any require work in on time.   Son was able to communicate well with the professors about his time schedule and worked they worked together to get through the classes.  

Time management and prioritizing has be a strong suite for my son which has paid of in many ways.  There was little I could do to help him as he had to work it all out on his own.  That was the hardest part as a parent and I feel son benefited from being quite a distance from us allowing him to mature as a young adult.

Well, I don't know if any of that helps.  But it wouldn't like your son is a very smart young man and like so many student/athletes, he'll figure out what he wants and what he can do on his own.  It helps when a parent just simply makes themselves available as someone who can just listen and empathize.  

ILOVEBASEBALL,

Thanks for posting.  For those of us who have already been through it there isn't much to say or do at this point.  He is playing high level D1 baseball and getting excellent grades.  What you may want to tell him is that you are available anytime to talk about anything on his mind.  You probably have already said that but it reinforces that he is an adult, and getting the job done without your help....you are there to listen.  Sometimes there may be other things weighing on his mind and he needs somebody to talk to other than his buddies, teammates, coaches or girlfriend.  In our younger parenting days, my wife and tried to help our kids solve problems.  Now, that we're older and she is wiser;  it is more about being there for them, listening to what is on their mind and then discussing it.  We defer actions to them.  I hope that helps with what is on your mind as well.

2019Dad posted:

ilovebaseball posted:

I forgot to mention he's not on baseball scholarship, he's a walk-on.   

Maybe this is somewhat off topic, but as a starter in conference games, would it be reasonable for him to be put on scholarship next year? Seems like he's earned it.

It's not a question of whether he has earned it.

From the coach's perspective, it makes no sense to assign scholarship money to a walk-on, regardless of how well the player has performed, because it spends more money without improving his team. If he has some spare scholarship money, he'd rather spend it on a new recruit who can take that walk-on's spot in the lineup.

The walk-on is already at the school and paying for his education through some combination of loans, need based money, academic merit money and family resources that the family has already proven they are willing to live with. Plus, the NCAA's transfer rules significantly limit the player's opportunity to market himself elsewhere.  What could possibly motivate the coach to change the status quo? Fairness? Right.

Some coaches do try to reward walk ons who prove themselves, but it's more common for walk-ons to live with whatever financial arrangements they made when they matriculated.

I agree with Fenway's approach.  My son is at a very high academic D1 and it is very, very difficult.  Although my son did very well in high school, he falls into the group that utilized baseball to help gain admission to a school he otherwise would not likely have gained admission to.  Now that he's there, reality has set in and he's working hard to do the very best he can.  Missing class is just part of the reality of their world, though he's not missing at nearly the rate I'm sure some others are.  We just try to support him.  Both of us as his parents as well as him do not expect he will match his HS academic performance and we are open about that.  He puts enough pressure on himself without Mom and Dad adding to it.  Every couple of weeks I ask him "how he's doing" and he knows that  I'm not asking about school, baseball or friends (female or otherwise) - rather I'm just checking in to make sure his outlook and mental state is staying positive.  Knowing that his parents support him and recognize that what he's doing is hard has been enough to keep him going so far.

ilovebaseball posted:

I'm needing some advice here - *don't get me wrong, he's happy he's able to play at this (D1) level - he's starting conference games!  I don't think he (or we as parents) knew the amount of time he'd be traveling and away from his studies.  He told me last weekend - "we're not student athletes, we're athletes that attend 25% of our classes".  He's a business major and has a 4.0 right now (I know, we should't complain) - looking for feedback as to your experience and what we should say to him. Right now, we're saying "we support you in whatever decision you want to make - grades and graduation come first".

Is it at all possible he was just venting?  Raising our kids we have grown accustom to them telling us things because they want us to "fix" it but really sometimes they are just venting. 

Maybe you should ask him if he would change anything.  I'm sure you raised him to fight his own battles and fix his own problems, is he considering this an actual problem? That would be my first question.

Is your son utilizing the resources available to him?  Its been a long time but I was once a college athlete (late 80s - track).  Our school has academic advisors specifically for athletes.  This is pretty common in most schools.  We were required to meet with them for our first year.  After that it was left up to the athlete (unless they were failing classes) to decide if they wanted to continue on with regular meetings.  The advisors were great with helping us figure out class load around our athletic schedule.  Most schools have athletic - academic advisors.

I know I would normally carry about 18 to 20 credits during the fall semester as we did not start competing until the spring semester.  This allowed me to drop my class load down to 12 credits during the season.  Which I believe is the NCAA in season minimum.  During the fall semester I would often have classes 5 days a week and at night as well.  It sucks when others are able to setup their schedules to ensure they don't have Friday classes, classes before 10am or after 3pm but its one of the sacrifices you need to make when your an athlete. 

In addition my advisor would work with me to figure out which were the easier/less "homework" classes and professors so I could heavily weigh my schedule with those classes during the spring semester.  I know track is a little different animal and there is more down time, but it was not unusual for kids to study on the bus, at the field, or in the hotel room.  Yes it was fun to be in a new city and head out before curfew to check out the area but many kids would stay back at the hotel to study.

From a social life perspective, it can be difficult as well.  For an athlete it needs to be the lowest of your priorities.  This can be difficult on kids as part of the college experience is the social life.  During the season there is very little room for a social life.  Again another sacrifice that is made by many of the athletes.  We pretty much hung out either after returning from a Saturday meet at 1 or 2 in the morning or on Sunday afternoon.  And then your friends are your teammates as they are the only other ones on your schedule.

Finally folks with kids heading into college to play a sport need to realize and prepare the child for the fact they now are "working" two full time jobs.  Classes for 12 to 16 hours a week, homework for those classes will eat up another 12 to 16 hours, making it a full time job.  Practices of 3 hours a day, plus weight room and training room for rehab equals about 20 hours of work a week.  Once games start you are gone on the weekends from the school for about 10 to 15 hours at a minimum.  It can be overwhelming your frosh year but you do get used to it as you progress through your college career.

You are not alone!  My son is juggling baseball and being an Optometrist at the same time.  He spends lots of time on his laptop while on the bus.  He is in year 3 and still has a 3.7.  We constantly remind him to look at the big picture down the road.  Lots of work now, lots of benefits later.  

I'll admit....my son's grades were a concern when he decided to accept a scholarship at a D1 to play baseball.  He was a good student in HS...ended up with a 3.6 GPA and a 31 ACT.  His sister had graduated 2 years earlier with a 4.0 and a 32 ACT.  He could have done the 4.0 thing....and I don't think it would have taken him much effort.  In 4 years, I can count on one hand how many times he brought a book home.  He just got the stuff....and really didn't have to work hard to get the 3.6.

My concern was that when he got to college, his "I'll just get it" attitude would be a major issue....as college courses are much, much more difficult than HS. 

Luckily this hasn't been the case.  The freshmen were required to attend 8 hours/week of "study tables" the first semester.  He did it....and ended up with a 3.49 GPA while taking a couple math classes that really really challenged him. 

His GPA allowed him to get out of study tables the second semester....which I think is kind of crazy considering baseball starts and he'll be missing classes....but that's the school's rule....not mine.

It's been a little tougher....with juggling practices, travel and school.  Grades are about the same....but I'm hearing complaining about classes, etc that I didn't hear the first half of the year.  I assume that his time is just very limited now and it's making everything seem more clustered.

At this point, it appears he'll get thru the year about where he/we had hoped/expected.  The amount of time he's spent traveling has been much more than we had expected.  Really had never considered that a weekday road trip to a school 2-3 hours away would turn into a 12+ hour day from the time they left in the morning until they got back that night.  They got back from their spring trip at 4:30am on Monday morning and had class at 9....and have gotten back from road trips (weekday or Sunday) as late as 2:00am and are required to be at class the next morning.

So far so good, as far as I know he's still enjoying it...but I'm getting the feeling it's a little different than he initially expected.  It's definitely school & baseball.....not the other way around....lol