[BillyMac]

I'm a big fan of Emeka Okafor. As the son of Nigerian immigrants, he is known for not only being a good basketball player but also for being an elite student. His major at UConn was finance, and he graduated with honors after three years in May 2004 with a 3.8 GPA. One of his last courses at UConn was an honors-level finance course where students were allowed to make investment decisions for a small portion of UConn's endowment. Okafor was named the Academic All-American of the Year in 2004 for his work on and off the court. After three years of playing high level NCAA Division I basketball, he earned his degree, with honors, and became the first round draft pick of the Charlotte Bobcats.

There are some young men, and young women, out there who take full advantage of the opportunities that a college scholarship offers to them. And, don't forget that there are probably a lot more true student athletes out there playing lower level NCAA Division I sports, as well as NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, junior college, and NAIA sports. My daughter played Division III soccer (Marywood University, Penn.), and was a nursing major. She had to miss a few early afternoon games over her four years on the team, including her year as a captain, to participate in her clinicals. She was, academically, number one in her nursing class. My son, a high school all-state (CT) cross country runner, ran Division II cross country. Besides being the first runner on his team to finish, every meet, for all of his four years, he also finished first in his college class (St. Anselm) and was the valedictorian, getting a full ride to get his masters (Fordham), and now getting a full ride to get his doctorate (SUNY-Albany), not because of his athletic accomplishments, but due to his diligence in the classroom.

Being a great college athlete, and a great college student, are not mutually exclusive.