Georgetown basketball Head Coach John Thompson III announced last Friday that center Joshua Smith has been deemed academically ineligible for the remainder of the season. Smith’s case is the second instance in so many seasons in which a member of the team’s starting five has been taken off the roster for academic reasons. Early last season, former forward Greg Whittington was required to stay on the bench.
Thompson supports the school’s high academic standard and revealed obvious dissatisfaction with Smith when informing the media, which is understandable considering Georgetown’s athletic administration put a lot time, effort, and money into bringing Smith to the Hilltop and getting him ready to anchor the Hoyas at the low post. Smith even received a waiver from the NCAA allowing him to play this past fall after transferring from UCLA in December 2012, whereas players are typically required to wait two full semesters before getting back on the court. Seeing the effort of both Georgetown and the NCAA go to waste because of an academic suspension indicates that athletes need more assistance when it comes to maintaining Georgetown’s high academic standards. Season-ending academic suspension has now affected two basketball players two years in a row, making it apparent that these players were not given adequate support in balancing their academic and athletic responsibilities.
With the funds being poured into the basketball program, the value of having a successful, winning team should not be forgotten. The reason Smith transferred to Georgetown was to play basketball, and therefore he should have received appropriate academic support in order for him to be on the court day in and day out. Athletes should not be granted lower academic standards than the rest of Georgetown’s students. However, with the time commitment necessitated by practice, games, travel schedules, and team meetings, athletes should be receiving more aid on the academic portion of college life. The need for more academic monitoring applies especially for Georgetown’s basketball players who, for the most part, receive full scholarship opportunities to play and study here. There needs to be more communication between professors and the athletic administration on the status of these basketball players so that they will not surprise their sports programs with failing grades that make them ineligible to play.
Admittedly, athletes should be responsible for their academics. However, when held to the high academic standard of a university like Georgetown, the university staff should also be held responsible for ensuring the academic welfare of sports teams. Georgetown’s athletic administration and academic advisors need to tighten their communication when it comes to high-profile student athletes to whom the university is granting scholarship money. Whether these student-athletes need more help in catching up on missed classes or more attention on difficult material, a more proactive effort is necessary in making sure they pass—instead of placing emphasis on academics when it is already too late to save their eligibility.
It is really obvious that this was written with no knowledge of what it is like to be a student-athlete and what balancing academics and athletics is actually like.