dekedangle_rpfanon | #11 - Kopitar Prefers Amps That Go to Eleven

This is the eleventh post of Deke Dangle RPF Anon, a community for all your ice hockey anon meme needs.

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It wasn't pointless, nonnie! RE the school stuff, I'd heard he had some sort of godawful gpa that had to mean he got a C in his first semester and then just skipped his second, but that was all second hand. It's interesting to contrast that with what you say about him talking about classes and how I've heard people say he talked about going to school there.

All of this looks like it would be useful for characterization stuff, too.

DA

I don't remember where it was anymore, but I came across an article that had a throwaway mention he had under a 1.0 (like a 0.8 something). So... yeah, real bad.

Holy shit. My school let athletes get away with pretty horrendous GPAs and keep playing but I think they drew the line at anything below a 1

Is it evaluated on a rolling basis or at the end of every semester, though?

da

I'm at a big sports school (though I heard the rumor about Eichel's GPA from the same dude on Reddit several times) and to remain eligible afaik you have to remain in good academic standing, which is 90% of your school's minimum GPA, at the end of each semester. Ours is a 2.0, which BU's probably is too. It's news when someone isn't, and BU just lost a commit because of issues with his transcripts and grades from Russia. I know Eichel took summer classes this year so even if he was at the bare minimum he was likely fine at the end of May.

It's not an issue of the school not inviting you back, because you're still enrolled independent of the hockey team, you can quit the team and still be a student. The school would put you on academic probation first and go through all their standard avenues for a student in poor academic standing. The NCAA can suspend you for eligibility issues. A baseball player somewhere lost his eligibility because they decided the summer league he played on was pro and he had to petition to the reinstatement committee. My school had a basketball player suspended for something with endorsements, but he was at classes while he petitioned for it back and graduated that year. NCAA athletes have a minimum number of hours of required tutoring a week, around 6. I think there are also attendance checks, because I had classes with football players freshman year and they would physically be there all the time, even if they say in the back of the lecture hall and didn't talk.

Rolling basis. Also, the NCAA is hardcore about this shit. I don't really see how Jack Eichel could've had below a 1.0 and still been considered academically eligible. Even the "he skipped class" theory doesn't make sense, because I go to a D1 school where the athletes (at least, the football and basketball players) have to sign a sheet proving they were in class after each one ends to prove they're going and remain eligible. (this could just be my school though; they've run afoul of the NCAA in the past, so.)

I teach at an NCAA D1 school with fairly high standards for athletes (at least on paper) and at least a few really high-profile kids, and we're asked to provide details two or three times a semester about how our athlete students perform (grade averages so far on various course components and an estimate of their overall grade up to that point). We're also asked to give a vague percentage of how many classes they've attended. But the thing is, if you as a professor/TA ignore the form and don't fill it out, nothing happens to the student-athlete -- the athletic program doesn't chase you down for it. If BU is at all similar to my institution, Eichel's teachers might have just let him slide until the assignment of final grades. What that would do to his eligibility the year after, I don't know, but it wound up being a moot point for him, yeah?

Then again, I've been told by people who went to BU that Patrick Kane was rejected for having abysmal grades and SAT scores, which is part of why he did Juniors instead, so theoretically BU has high standards for that kind of thing.

(Disclaimer: none of my athlete students were superstars like Eichel is, so it's possible there are stricter standards for them -- but it's equally possible the standards for them are even less stringent.)

I always got the impression from having a few "superstars" in class that they just had their hand held more in terms of extra help from tutors and TAs so that they could actually complete all the assignments. Like other nonnie said the NCAA sets the guidelines, so while I guess it would be at the discretion of individual professors how strictly they chose to grade, I doubt that Eichel could have gotten away with never attending class and never doing any work, which is what below a 1.0 basically implies. At least with my experience at my school with future NHL superstars, they get so much help that the average student doesn't receive it just seems impossible to me that he could be doing that badly but who knows.

isn't there rules about who can and can't help student-athletes with their coursework, though? or are tutors hired by the school considered okay?

they all attend mandatory tutoring (i'm pretty sure) so I would guess so. At the very least they have to go sit in a room with a bunch of other athletes while somebody supervises them as they do their coursework, but I think they do get tutors as well.

DA

The mandatory tutoring must be annoying for the few athletes who do well in school without it. I mean, there aren't a lot of that do it, but some NCAA athletes even in D1 football, basketball, or hockey manage to get very hard degrees and high grades at the same time they're playing.

I understand why it's mandatory, but it must still be frustrating if you're, say, a star quarterback who is also a hidden math genius.

I bet if you are already an excellent student it just functions like a study hall period and the tutors leave you to your own devices.

I googled around, and all I got were vague mentions on reddit about that very low gpa. So I'm taking this with a grain of salt because you'd know the media would be all over Eichel being on academic probation.

Boston anon who originally quoted this rumor

Yeah, I don't actually trust this rumor. I suspect that it's exaggerated. I don't really trust the person who told me has any extra insight, and I (and apparently everyone else who's tried to verify it) don't know where the rumor originated. I don't think anyone doubts that school let athletes get over, either on purpose because they're superstars or by accident like the teacher above thread reports. But in my view, for this to be true and us not to have it confirmed true, then the athletic department, the academic departments, the school as a whole, the NCAA as a whole, and the media would all have to be actively keeping his grades quiet. Plus, he's famous so if he were on academic probation I think people from the school would know for sure and not as this vague rumor. And why wouldn't he have just said "I'm really feelin the NHL right now" instead of "I haven't decided if I'm going back to school or not " around the time of the draft?

I just wanted to mention it because it is a pretty prevalent rumor. And I do think its based on something. I for sure would like a story where it's just plain hard to be a student athlete, and his grades suffer for it. Or he thinks he can avoid doing work because he's a star, and gets a rude but fair and necessary wake up call.

fwiw I always saw it on r/hockey, always from the same user, so who knows his motivations. and it could easily be based on someone on the hockey team making a dumb joke while drunk.

but I'd love a story about someone who's torn between the NHL and finishing their degree, or a Canadian who faces pressure to go CHL but wants a literature degree, or even someone who takes advantage of the lockout to go back to school. It could be a super interesting read.

Ayrt i knew I'd seen it on reddit, but I didn't know it was from the same user every time. That takes away some credibility. I heard it irl from a friend didn't go to BU but her boyfriend did. In a completely different year, major, and social group than eichel and he was a commuter student to boot. So it's really not like I have a source.

My favorite NCAA tidbit about classes is this tweet from Kevin Hayes to Johnny Gaudreau in response to a teammate duel thing he did;

@johngaudreau03 I'm sure professor Enoch wouldn't be to happy with these acting skills. #intrototheatre #c-
https://mobile.twitter.com/KevinPHayes12/status/575311329659125760

I hope they were in that class together.

ayrt

yeah, I figured my school might be a bit different in how it handles things because like I said, we've been subject to harsh NCAA penalties in the past. I also think that any student-athlete admitted to my school has to meet the minimum admission standards, based on conversations I've had with a couple, but I also feel like they'd totally relax those standards if a top-flight recruit wanted to attend.

Maxim Letunov just switched from BU to UConn because of what was described as an "admissions snafu", and it was widely reported by all the relevant media. That's the main reason I'm suspicious-- but also, I can tell you the GPA of my university's star basketball player. The athletes who got away with shit were the ones in sports the school and local media didn't pay as much attention to.

Oh Lord, I'm a little embarrassed for him now

I wouldn't be. That's not stupid-bad, that's "never went to class"-bad.

ayrt That would be in line with the rumor I heard about his grades, but I also heard it very second hand. Mostly I've just heard about friends of friends who say they saw him in the library or dining hall.

In this interview he talks about his classes, and he says stuff about the way that one teacher teaches class and what his final project for another one class is. So he at least went to his first semester: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/jack-eichel-opines-on-college-finals--fighting--arizona-state-hockey--puck-daddy-interview-163912414.html

I know he had to petition the school for allowances wrt his finals to go to the World Championships, too. He is at least very proud to play of the hockey team, even if he could take or leave the academics.

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Deke Dangle RPF Anon

An Ice Hockey RPF Anon Meme

#11 - Kopitar Prefers Amps That Go to Eleven

#11 - Kopitar Prefers Amps That Go to Eleven

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