Highly recruited kid (offers from Ohio State, FSU, UF, Alabama and ND) has been getting a lot of positive press due to his high academics. He is an honor student with a high GPA, high test scores, etc. Many are saying he's the next Myron Rolle (FSU kid who got a Rhodes Scholarship). Any way he got this idea to send a questionaire to all the coaches that are recruiting him. When this first came out of course nobody knew what was on his questionaire, but now SI has gotten a copy of it. Quite frankly a lot of the questions are, to me at least, really sort of stupid and don't really seem to be germaine to his recruiting. #21 esp seems stupid, you'd think a kid who is as smart as Lyons is supposed to be would have already been to the NCAA website and read up on what a scholarhips provides. Instead he asks if he'll get an allowance for cold weather clothes should he go up north, I can't believe he didn't already know that he doesn't get money for clothing. Also he asks how far it is to the nearest dept store, and does the team have a physician (I mean really). Not to mention that for a lot of those questions unless he fact checked all the answers he'd have no idea if the coach or coaches were telling him the truth or just making up stuff. He supposedly was impressed that ND coaches got back to him quickly with all the answers, good for them....but I'll bet in the end it won't be about who gave him answers to the questions but about a lot of other things. Wayne Lyons
I read the entire questionnaire, and with the exception of the two questions Terry cited above, I think it is a well put-together document. Even those two questions, while puzzling and seemingly out of context, IMO do not sully the entire document. I am impressed with the kid's thoroughness. I hope we get him.......and I hope he has enough $ available to buy some cold weather clothes, even though he may have to travel a small distance to the nearest department store. :wink:
I hope he comes to ND as well, and in fact if he is as serious as he obviously is about academics how could he go to any other school? Seriously if he looks not only at graduation rates, but more specifically at graduation rates for Black athletes he will be able to come to only 1 conclusion. Notre Dame. :wink:
Re: black athlete graduates. One example is Brian Hamilton, who was a DT during Brian's years at ND in the early 90s. He married an ND graduate and lives near Brian in Fishers, IN, an Indy suburb, where we will be moving after I retire on June 30. His young kids play in the same soccer leagues as Brian's kids. He and his wife have socialized with Brian on numerous occasions, some of which included me and my wife. He is the immediate past president of the ND club of Indianapolis. Recently, I was walking to my granddaughter's soccer game as he was leaving the complex. I was not looking in his direction but he saw me and called, Mr. Baker! I was impressed that he recognized me and called to me. We had a brief, pleasant conversation. I would have been impressed if any young dad in his 30s had called to an older person like he did. Also, when Brian's son broke his leg, he took him to Dr. Marcus Thorne, an orthopedic surgeon, who was a walk-on FB from Indy in the early-mid 90s who earned a scholarship for his last two years. Brian's son calls him Dr. Marcus. My point is that it has become common for black student-athlete graduates of ND to become fixtures in their respective communities. Brian and Marcus are just two examples of many. It typifies the wonderful evolution of ND and our society in general from the days of my childhood/teen years in the 50s. Excuse me while I step down from my soapbox.