What is going to determine your college decision?
June 26th, 2008 - byI just read an article about a student athlete who signed a Letter of Intent to attend Marquette University solely because he wanted to play basketball for the coach there. Unfortunately, the coach took a better job at Indiana. When this happened, the student athlete wanted to get out of his contract, which was completely up to the University if he could or not. It took longer than it should have, but finally the student was released from his contract.
The article went on about how the rule should be changed and the Letter of Intent should not be so binding. If the coach is allowed to leave, the student athlete should be free to leave as well. I agree entirely.
The article was a good article and the issues talked about are definitely prevalent, but the student athlete should have never put himself in that situation in the first place.
What I mean is why choose a school based on the coach. That’s like choosing a car because of its color. You really like it one day but the next day it breaks down and surprise! you are stuck with a useless hunk of pretty metal.
There is so much more that goes into attending a college and playing a sport that going to a school because of one person simply doesn’t make sense. When it comes to the point where you are seriously being recruited, of course the coach is going to seem perfect for you… he/she is telling you everything you want to hear because they want you to go to their school. He/she may run the perfect offense or their past winning record is something you want to continue and be a part of, but the coach didn’t do that all on his own.
He/she had to have the athletic department’s support or even enough pressure on them to make it happen, assistant coaches on board, the right players who are academically eligible, and the list goes on. That is a lot of people that contribute to success that the student athlete is not taking into consideration.
And even if the student athlete takes all of this into consideration and not too much about the school itself, what if they have an injury? Or what if the coach you are so fond of brings in a stud recruit that takes your spot? What if your team has a losing season?
There are so many things that could happen, you want to make sure you like where you are at. Just like a car. You are stuck with that set of wheels for years, if it does not with stand you and your driving habits you can’t return it. So you make sure before you make the investment that it suits you.
Your college decision is one of the most important decisions you will ever make. There is more than the coach you should consider!
The real kicker of the whole story was the student athlete who only wanted to play for this particular coach signed with another team. The coach moved to Indiana and the student athlete signed with Kansas.
