North Carolina State University Athletics
TIM PEELER: A Start Like No Other
8/6/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 6, 2005
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH -- When NC State's football practice started in earnest Friday afternoon, it was the beginning of a fall camp that will be unlike any previous one.
Sure, there were some freshmen cluelessly running around the field - "like chickens with their heads cut off," snickered senior tight end T.J. Williams - but overall this might be one of the best acclimated groups of newcomers in school history.
That's because this is the first class of freshmen who can take advantage of a new NCAA rule that allows freshmen in all sports to enroll for a minimum of six hours of summer school. About 30 new Wolfpack student-athletes in a variety of sports, including but not limited to, football, were on campus during June and July, getting a jumpstart on their class work.
Two years ago, the NCAA allowed men's and women's basketball players to enroll in summer-school classes, a move that was hailed by coaches because it put their players on better academic footing before fall classes ever began. The NCAA recently passed legislation that allowed all sports to bring their freshmen on campus for summer classes as well.
While some schools only allow that possibility for football and basketball players because of costs, NC State allows scholarship freshmen in all sports to enroll in summer school. About 30 future Wolfpack athletes were in classes this summer, according to Jon Fagg, the assistant athletics director in charge of compliance.
"It's open to all student-athletes for us," Fagg said. "We are proud of that. We don't have all sports represented, but they all have the opportunity if they want to try it. Not all schools choose to do that.
"It's a neat way for the kids to get started. They get to know the school a little bit before practice starts. He or she isn't jumping in here in full-time school. There aren't as many people around. They get more attention. They get to know our academic services people a lot sooner. It will make them more likely to graduate. And we want them to graduate."
Wolfpack coach Chuck Amato likes the new setup. For the last four years, many of his recruits have paid their own to Raleigh, paid their own rent to live in apartments and joined with their future teammates in voluntary workouts. Now, the school can pay for their room and board and they can start working towards a degree.
"That's what they are here for - they are student athletes," Amato said.
Several older players say it's an opportunity they wish they had been able to take advantage of.
"Yeah, I would have liked to have done that," said junior cornerback A.J. Davis. "I would probably be in the same good academic situation I am in now, because I didn't have anything really stressful. But to get used to going to school and everything? That is a challenge for freshmen."
Fagg said there are some concerns schools have about the new program. Some freshmen athletes entered college only a week or so after graduating high school, depriving them of one final summer of freedom. They are also thrown into accelerated summer school course-work, in which one day of class is roughly equivalent to a full week of class in the fall or summer. And for the next five years or so, having freshmen athletes will increase costs for athletic departments, as athletes essentially shift their summer schools classes to before their regular semester classes, instead of after them.
"The thought is that lots of kids don't go to summer school the fifth year of enrollment," Fagg said. "Now maybe they will be going before their fifth year of enrollment. They will be using that fifth year of before each of their years."
But now that the legislation has passes and hundreds of student-athletes across the country have enrolled earlier than ever, the thought is that the benefits outweigh the concerns.
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
