Sports

The ‘student’ side to Cal Poly studente-athletes

Shannon Stephens, director of academic services for Cal Poly athletics, helps students achieve academic success. Stephens (standing) helps football player Cougar Williams schedule classes for the next quarter. Anthony Pannone-Mustang Daily

In an empty room on the second floor of Robert E. Mott Physical Education building, sitting at a desk and mumbling to herself, Rachel Clancy studies a packet of biology notes. It’s seven o’clock in the morning, and the junior guard on the Cal Poly women’s basketball team has practice in an hour. For Clancy, sneaking an extra glance is worth the early rise. It helps her stay ahead of the game.

Student athletes are a mix of physical ability and mental toughness. Demands to succeed hover over them both on and off their respective playing fields; it’s a never-ending shuffle between class and competition. At Cal Poly, the academic standards are tough — academic probation officers come knocking if a student’s GPA falls below 2.0. But there is a double standard for student athletes: the repercussions of not making the grade are far more severe than a quarter on probation.

Student athletes across the country are expected to succeed in school and are held accountable for their classroom diligence. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) goes to great lengths to ensure academic excellence for athletes at every institution. According to Shannon Stephens, director of academic services for intercollegiate athletics at Cal Poly, the NCAA focus on scholarly stardom is nothing new. Shannon, who also serves as an Academic Progress Report (APR) consultant for the NCAA, says the NCAA has strict guidelines governing intercollegiate eligibility requirements.

On the national level, NCAA eligibility requirements are meant to even the playing field as far as academics are concerned. College athletes are eligible for Division-I intercollegiate competition based on two main criteria: full-time student status (minimum 12 units per term, passing 6 units) and a minimum 1.8 GPA (90% of graduation minimum) after the first full year. After sophomore year, it’s 95%, and after junior year it’s 100%.

One kicker to this criteria — which has many layers — is that institutions can choose whether to report player eligibility based on NCAA guidelines, or develop and report according to its own academic standards. Cal Poly chooses the latter, and when students graduate, they’re getting a pedigree.

The difference between Cal Poly and NCAA eligibility requirements is two-tenths of a point. That’s substantial, all things considered. Athletes, instead of maintaining eligibility by earning a 1.8 GPA after their first year, must nurture a 2.0 GPA right off the bat. And unlike NCAA policy, at Cal Poly, freshmen athletes’ GPA is reported after their first term, not after their first completed year. Furthermore, if an incoming freshman athlete attends summer school — which men’s basketball head coach Joe Callero says young athletes benefit from because it prepares them both physically and mentally for college life — and receives a C- average (under 2.0 GPA), then that player is ineligible to play his or her sport in fall quarter. The player, if held to by NCAA standards, would retain eligibility and have a chance to raise his/her GPA until the end of the year.

Even with the looming pressures of a raised academic bar, Cal Poly athletes relentlessly train their minds and bodies.

Microbiology senior James Chen, a defensive lineman on the football team, carries a 3.7 GPA and has appeared on the Dean’s list seven times. He says the season’s schedule makes staying on top of coursework difficult.

“The most challenging part is traveling, hours of practicing and the pressure to succeed at both. Flying and being gone over the weekends and coming back and having to watch film all day Sunday allows for limited studying hours over the weekend,” he said.

And the wear-and-tear from practice catches up to Chen and his teammates.

“Another challenge is going to school and studying after rough practices. Some days we have practice from 6:45 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. (hitting each other) and can have a one-to-two-hour (weight training) that very same day. On those days, your body just aches for the remainder of the day, and it is only 11 a.m., with a full schedule and possible midterms left,” he said.

Although a necessary evil that keeps them on the academic ball, Academic Progress Reports grade student-athletes and subsequently, their team.

In 2003, as part of an academic reform policy, the NCAA developed Academic Progress Reports (APR). According to Stephens, the goal of the reports is ensuring student-athletes make progress toward completing their degree requirements. He said the reports are public scorecards that record a team’s previous four years of eligibility, and, in turn, influence that team for future years. And the NCAA also requires all Division-I institutions to submit these academic reports each term.

Keeping track of athletes’ progress is a numbers game in itself.

Coach Callero, after his first year at the helm of the men’s basketball team, finished with a 12-19 record after making it to the Big West playoffs.

The men’s basketball team has 10 players above a 2.5 GPA, which is a testament to Callero’s rapport.

According to Erin Engelhardt, assistant athletic director for academic performance at Seattle University, where Callero coached for eight years, she said she believes Cal Poly hired Callero because of his success in leading his team toward academic excellence.

Callero pushes his players at his new university, too.

“Our guys are earning their scholarships,” Callero said. “They’re going to leave here with a tremendous education.”

Despite the quality of education athletes receive from Cal Poly, there is some disconnect between the APR and actual success.

The APR is a points-based system. Athletes accrue points for their team and subsequently the institution. They are given points in accordance with NCAA eligibility criteria — retaining full-time status and meeting the minimum GPA are front-line requirements. Others exist, but these two are most crucial. Any requirements not fulfilled result in a deduction of points.

Points to a team are like gold to a miner.

The benchmark is 925 points and is standard for all Division-I teams. If athletes consistently fall below institutional standards and meet requirements, teams lose points. Collectively, teams falling below 925 points are subject to penalties, such as loss of scholarships or postseason snubs. The penalties are based on how long a team stays below the 925-point yardstick.

According to NCAA.org, the multi-year APR for California State University, Sacramento, the men’s football team faced an immediate penalty in 2008-09 and lost one scholarship. Currently, the team’s score is 868 and can skip further penalization if it “demonstrates academic improvement and favorable comparison based on other academic or institutional factors.”

Closer to home, Callero and the men’s basketball team is serious about academics. They have an APR score of 944.

Callero said he is the biggest fan of higher academic standards and said Cal Poly provided a tremendous academic opportunity. But he questioned the university’s policy for reporting player eligibility and said there needs to be a better plan that reflects the true successes of Cal Poly student-athletes.

“We need to review the rules that put institutions at different levels compared to schools that use NCAA requirements,” Callero said. “We wouldn’t go into a game and say, ‘OK, let’s make three-pointers count as two points for us and three points for the other team.’ That wouldn’t be right, because we may make more three-pointers than the score would show. Right now we look good, but we could look great,” he said.

At Cal Poly, all students earning a 1.99 GPA are placed on academic probation. But, if student-athletes drop below a 2.0 GPA, not only do they lose collegiate eligibility, they lose APR points. Since Cal Poly chooses to report at its own standards rather than those mandated by NCAA requirements, student eligibility and APR scores potentially skew Cal Poly’s success when compared to other schools

Despite the helpfulness for higher-ups when looking at the whole picture, for student-athletes, the focal point remains staying ahead.

The Cal Poly men’s basketball team has six players at or above a 3.0 GPA.

One of the six, sophomore forward David Hanson, who is also a captain, said catching up on school work is not easy.

“The season is physically and mentally demanding, so it makes it a challenge to focus on school at times,” he said. “You miss class for travel and games, and on the weekends we’re gone, which is often the time to get caught up. You have to be very focused and driven in both academics and the sport to excel, especially here at Cal Poly.”

And just as traveling is part of playing intercollegiate sports, studying is crucial for academic success.

Student-athletes have access to the same resources afforded other students. Upstairs in the Physical Education building, a learning center makes student life manageable.

Clancy said time-management is the biggest problem among fellow student-athletes. The graduating senior was selected to the 2010 ESPN The Magazine All-American Second Team. And she is coming back to play in her last year of collegiate eligibility.

“Procrastination is a no-no, so I like getting my work done, that way I don’t have to worry about it while I am at practice. Also, I am one of those people who need my sleep, and when I hear that someone on the team stayed up until 2 a.m. finishing homework, I am glad I got mine done early,” she said.

Clancy uses the learning center because it is close to where she spends most of her time. Plus, she said, walking to the library wastes valuable time.

While most athletes agree with Clancy, for some, like Hanson, the library helps mix things up.

“I go there pretty often, actually,” Hanson said. “In my opinion, it’s the best study place because it is quiet and a working environment. I spend a lot of time there during finals week.”

Chen said he and the library have grown very close.

“The library has developed into my second home. In fact, I am considering calling it my home since that is where I spend the majority of time these days,” he said.

Studying is one constant for student-athletes.

Whether playing on the road or at home, student-athletes are required to attend study hall. Stephens said either he or coaches monitor study sessions, and when on the road, athletes complete their hours in hotel rooms.

“Study hall is good because the distractions aren’t there. When you go home, there is always something going on and it is easy to get sidetracked,” Hanson said.

While study hall seems mandatory across the board, it’s really up to the coaches. Callero said meeting the 3.0 benchmark on his team gets his players an “out-of-jail free card.”

According to Clancy, basketball players who make 3.0 GPA or higher don’t have to attend study hall. With academic success comes respect as a maturing adult, therefore, athletes who prove it are left alone to take care of their own business.

“As you get older, (coaches) become flexible. You earn your way out it,” she said, regarding the team’s study hall policy.

Women’s tennis star Steffi Wong, who has been on the Dean’s list four times and was Big West Scholar of the Year 2009, said Coach Hugh Bream creates a scholastic environment in which academics are a priority for his players.

“Coach is really good about putting our studies first. We’ve established a trusting relationship where he knows that I am a self-disciplined student, and if I ever need to take a day off practice to study, he’s OK with it, and I can make up practice afterwards. He also schedules our practices around the juniors’ and seniors’ mandatory classes,” she said.

Chen said the trade-off between playing hard and studying harder is a testament to the quality of a Cal Poly diploma.

“I think a lot of athletes challenge themselves to be good at both their sport as well as in the books,” he said. “Above eligibility, most of our athletes, including myself, regard our education very highly, because we have goals such as further education or getting a good job after graduation.”

May 3, 2010