When athletics take a back seat to academics

We have become so sports-centric as a society, where even analogies or idiomatic expressions are in some way related to a sport, we are often stunned when an athlete chooses academics over athletics. Pierre Henderson-Niles, a forward for the University of Memphis basketball team, recently announced that he was leaving the team. While many people will debate his reasons for this decision, one thing that attracted my attention was that he said he was going to focus on his studies and graduate. Good for him! One look at the headline of the ESPN article is illustrative of how skewed our priorities are. It reads "Henderson-Niles exits, leaves Memphis in a bind." Perhaps a more accurate heading would have read "Henderson-Niles exits, focuses on his studies (or graduation)." ESPN seems to think that Henderson-Niles's decision was a selfish one that has put the basketball team in a bad position. This thinking is misplaced. Do not students attend university to study and focus on sports as a secondary objective? Yes, I know that for many players university basketball programs are their ticket to the NBA and to fame, lucrative contracts, etc. But the mission and purpose of a university education should not be lost amidst the hoopla of "March Madness" or draft day.

We may never know Henderson-Niles's reasons for leaving the basketball team, but I, for one, am glad that rather than leave the university, he chose to remain on campus and focus on his studies. Another football player who also drew my attention is Myron Rolle, the football player from Florida State University, who won a Rhodes Scholarship last year to study at the prestigious Oxford University. He is a true example of the student-athlete who has represented us well overseas (secretly, I would love to know which English Premier League he followed while there!) and I am sure he will serve as a fine example to future student athletes. His message is simple: you don't have to give up your academic pursuits to accomplish athletic goals. I know somewhere Richard Hofstadter is smiling in approval.