Being the “smart guy”
It’s not that uncommon for DI athletes
Seldom-used Oklahoma forward C.J. Cole walked into the training room at the Lloyd Noble Center, a place he spent what seemed like half his college career in, and was asked a question.
“So Rashard Odomes (a sophomore guard for the Sooners) had this crazy theory,” Cole said. “That if there were two people that were extremely strong, the first person could lift the other person up in the air and the person that was in the air could reach down and grab the other person and lift him up in the air and in essence both people would levitate.”
Cole paused, trying to hold back from letting out a laugh, and shook his head.
“He said the only reason we can’t do it is because people aren’t strong enough,” Cole said.
“I tried to explain to him the simple physics behind it but I don’t think there was any getting through to him.”
That wasn’t the first time Cole had been asked something crazy, and he said it absolutely won’t be the last, but that’s life for a student athlete that excels off the court as much as they do on it. That’s life when you’re the “smart one” on the team.
“They ask me questions all the time, whether or not they think I know it just expecting me to have some random tidbit of knowledge that makes no sense,” Cole said of his teammates. “I don’t want to say (they) give me a hard time because it’s kind of a compliment when they do it, but they definitely give me a hard time.”
The 6-foot-7, 245 pound forward from Sperry, Oklahoma, plays in a sport that is judged by numbers. He’s only appeared in 35 games leading into his final season, he has never scored more than two baskets in a single game in his entire collegiate career. He has never played more than three minutes a night. Cole is worried about a different number though: 3.97, his final overall grade point average when he graduated last year.
“You know it’s not so much that I take pride in the number, the 3.97, I just, more so, take pride in doing well in class and actually studying to learn the things instead of just studying to earn the grade,” Cole said. “A 4.0 or a 3.97, often times, is only as difficult as the coursework is, and I don’t want to degrade other people with 4.0’s because it’s definitely hard no matter what, but there’s definitely a way you can do it to where you just study to get the grade and there’s a way that you can do it to learn the subject matter and I like to do the latter.”
Cole is supposed to be the anomaly. Student isn’t supposed to come before athlete. At least, that’s not how most people see it. The student athlete isn’t at college to challenge themselves in coursework, or graduate with a degree in chemical biosciences (Cole’s field of study). They’re there to play sports.
At least, that’s the perception.
The fact of the matter is, more and more student athletes are embracing what it means to put the “student” part first.
Every year, the NCAA releases a report, detailing the Graduation Success rate at Division I athletic departments across the country. That number looks at graduating seniors compared to incoming freshman enrolled in a particular university over the course of four years.
That number has also been steadily rising. From 2008 to 2012 (the most recent data available), student athletes across NCAA programs graduated with a success rate of 86 percent, the highest mark ever. That percentage marks a two-point improvement over the previous year and includes a 77 percent graduation rate among men’s basketball players (a three-point increase over the previous year as well as an all-time high).
Buddy Hield, an Oklahoma graduate and №6 overall selection in this past year’s NBA Draft, said his goal throughout college was to graduate and earn his degree. Nick Basquine, a former walk-on wide receiver with the football team, also said that for him, school comes first.
For Cole, who happens to play in a sport that only requires student athletes to complete one year of education before they become eligible to enter the professional ranks, getting his degree was never a matter of chance but of time.
“Both my parents did it and it just seemed natural for me to do it,” Cole said. “It was never really a question of if I was going to get one, I always knew I was going to.”
Cole knew that he could play Division I basketball, but he didn’t want to go to a lesser school just to say he led the team in minutes, he wanted to “challenge” himself. He wanted to make sure he had a future career set up after his playing days were finished. Like most student athletes, he knew he wasn’t likely to go pro.
In April, the NCAA calculated that only 1.9 percent of football players will make the jump from college to the NFL, Canadian Football League or Arena League. That number rises to 12 percent for men’s basketball participants but is overinflated by the number of players to head overseas to participate in any of the numerous basketball leagues across the globe. Only 1.1 percent of players make it to the NBA.
Those opportunities are rare, and Cole said when they come around, players need to take them, but he also stands with the 86 percent of student athletes that say school needs to matter. Period.
“If you have the opportunity to play and you know you want to make money playing basketball I think that’s a great thing but I think at some point it’s important to get your degree,” he said. “If there’s some player that’s considered the one-and-done player this year, even if he goes to the NBA, I still think he should get his degree at some point because you just never know what’s going to happen. Whether that be an online school or coming back when you’re done playing, I think it’s very important to have your degree.”
