News
Navigation
Other Issues
This Issue
- Front page
- News
- Sports
- Opinions
- Intermission
- Dining Guide
- Night Life Guide
- Careers
- Features
- Classifieds
Buy
SMS
RSS feeds
Comments about "Brook Lopez suspended indefinitely"
<< Back to Brook Lopez suspended indefinitely
17 Comments on this article:
Just because an athlete ill prepared for academic life, is not reason to punish him.
The academic department saw fit to bring him to Stanford, knowing he was not up to Stanford's par, and thereby waived that requirement.
To further drag atheletes into shame is wrong, and will only make it harder for them to turn their life around. Whatever it takes to nurse them through should be looked at, as they contribute to the success of the entire team. You can not punish an athelete simply because they do poorly in classes. A quick look at their high school transcript, should be proof enough the Men's Collegiate Atheletic Dempartment did not care if they could even think beyond what they initially came here to do. Even if it takes an athelete 10 years to get a four year degree, that is the price Stanford must pay, for four year contracts which they fulfill. An athlete that does what he came here to do, and are forced to comply to full academic workloads during the season which can not and were never required by their high school is a cause for litigation.
"The academic department saw fit to bring him to Stanford, knowing he was not up to Stanford's par, and thereby waived that requirement."
That is an utterly unfounded assumption that sets up the rest of your argument. Do you have his high school courses, grades, and test scores? No? Then you can't make that kind of a claim and then harangue the AD for their actions.
Good on Trent. Brooke needs to get his act together if he expects to perform well. I fully support disciplinary coaches. Maybe Brooke will think twice about skipping class next time.
Seriously. "Turn their life around"? Maybe I've missed something, but being a Divison I basketball player and a potential top 10 NBA first-round pick at one of the finest academic institutions in the world says to me that life is pretty good.
As for the assumption that Mr. Lopez did not meet the academic requirements to get in the school, don't you think that if the athletic department were able to bend the rules that much/at all that the biggest money sport in all of college athletics, football, wouldn't have been doing a whole lot better at Stanford for the past 5+ years?
Admittedly, the transition from high school to the rigors of college is difficult for most young people - forget having to balance studies with practice and road games, but the programs know that and provide assistance. Don't forget, this latest suspension was for missing practice and not going to class. Sorry, but that's a pretty low bar and if you aren't able to get over that one, the issue is more likely one of maturity and having one eye on the NBA instead of both on the road ahead.
"Just because an athlete ill prepared for academic life, is not reason to punish him. The academic department saw fit to bring him to Stanford, knowing he was not up to Stanford's par, and thereby waived that requirement."
These grades do not qualify as being "ill prepared"... "Robin carries a 3.76 grade-point average, Brook a 3.73. Each is taking advanced-placement courses in English literature and American government." By these grades, I don't think Stanford expected either one to fall below a 2.0 and be ruled ineligible.
Stanford is one of the few schools that does not bend their academic requirements in accepting student-athletes. Schools such as Cal, UCLA, and USC which are all known to have high academic standards will typically let an athlete with a 3.0 slide. I have yet to hear of an athlete at Stanford who got in with below a 3.7 gpa.
How else is an athlete supposed to improve his grades if he isn't punished for it?? If he wants to play badly enough, then he will hit the books and straighten up his act. It is an NCAA rule to maintain a certain gpa. Punishing them teaches them time management and motivates them to keep their grades up throughout the rest of their collegiate career. Allowing them to continue to practice and do the things they want to do does not help them get back on the right track. Each of the student-athletes I've known to be ruled academically ineligible or on probation have straightened up and maintained much better grades since then. I think it is a great method. Johnson is doing the right thing in teaching him a lesson, especially since it is now an issue of not only grades, but skipping practice and class as well.
you need to read the article in the LA Times about Stanford football players and their academics. Stanford football players use their brains, October 9, 2007, By Kurt Streeter. Stanford admissions have never let anyone in who was doomed to fail.
Stanford does have higher standards than other schools for its athletes, but they do have lower admission standards than non-athlete applicants, especially for football and basketball.
The question is why are the Lopez twins having severe problems while most players are able to stay eligible. Could it be that they are focused on the NBA and have no interest in earning a degree? They apparently made a mistake by not going pro this year.
What were people expecting? A fish out of water won't last very long
A GPA of 3.7 in an American high school is pathetically bad. Realize that the majority of non-athlete students achieved 4.0 GPAs in high school
Um, I should point out that I've met plenty of athletes who had below-3.7 GPAs... but not much lower.
Stanford lowers its admission standards for athletes, but not nearly to the amount that other D-1 schools do. Every athlete here is expected to be intelligent and hard-working enough to succeed academically, and the athletic department has many tutoring resources for athletes.
And what's with Robin being placed on probation?
It just seems to be that this team hasn't been the same since Trent took over. It isn't anything one action that he has taken, it's just that there doesn't seem to be the same level of motivation and discipline as before. We definitely took a step down when Montgomery left.
stanford needs to take the right step and expel both of the lopez twins.
roy, that was a joke, right?
re: "re: response to albert"
You mean the majority of Stanford students, right? Or do you mean students in general? If the latter's the case, you're woefully mistaken.
Brook deserves both the uncertain eligibility and general embarrassment this situation's caused, but let's not condemn anyone's value - or their intellectual abilities - just yet. Give him a chance to get it together.
roy, that was a joke, right?
re: "re: response to albert"
You mean the majority of Stanford students, right? Or do you mean students in general? If the latter's the case, you're woefully mistaken.
Brook deserves both the uncertain eligibility and general embarrassment this situation's caused, but let's not condemn anyone's value - or their intellectual abilities - just yet. Give him a chance to get it together.
Give 'em a break, people-- there are many students who go through slumps at some point during their Stanford career, but they don't have that publicized nationally. Stop being so judgmental.