The NCAA is currently investigating 20 schools for academic fraud. They haven’t released the names of the schools, but they have said 18 of the schools are division one schools. This means it is possible LSU could be under investigation.
LSU has been no stranger to NCAA violations. In 2011, the NCAA, for breaking recruiting rules, put LSU football on probation. In 2001, LSU was investigated for potentially treating student athletes different from normal students, when it came to class and testing.
But as LSU students would we really be surprised if LSU was found guilty? Even more, should we really care?
Using LSU football as an example, I think that the days of student-athletes are a thing of the past. At a program like LSU, that has the third most active NFL players, and where the fans expect a national championship every year, I think it is more fitting to give those players the term of athlete-students.
That’s not to say that any of the players are not capable of succeeding academically in college – they all are. However, for many players, football comes first.
And why would it not? LSU football is the fifth most valuable college football team at $103 million dollars. There is a whole industry supported by LSU football, families that make their living by working for LSU football, and that all come from the success LSU football has seen over the past two decades.
That is a lot of expectations and pressure placed on the LSU football players. It is a full time job; they train hard every day practically year round. In addition, we expect them to place the same amount of dedication to their studies also?
As far as I can tell, any special treatment given to athletes isn’t making it more difficult for me to make my grades. Would it look bad on the university? Maybe a little bit, LSU would receive their sanctions and move on; it’s the way it goes in the sports world. No employer would question my credibility for going to college where a student-athlete was given special treatment.
So, if the NCAA does find LSU guilty of Academic fraud I can say that I honestly will not care. LSU giving special treatment to players does not make them lazy and it doesn’t make LSU incredible. Student-athletes put in a lot of work for the school beyond what we see on game day, and LSU is just making sure that they put their multi-million dollar sports industry in a position to succeed.