University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Stretch Begins For Seniors
October 6, 2010 | Football, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Oct. 6, 2010
By Adam Lucas
Like any wise senior at the University of North Carolina, senior running back Anthony Elzy tried to arrange his class schedule so he'd have easier classes remaining for his final semesters of college.
So, Anthony, what are you taking this semester?
"I'm taking a biology lab and Classics 263, Athletics in the Greek and Roman World," Elzy says.
Wait a second. Those are the easy classes?
Such is life for Carolina football's senior class. Sixteen seniors have played in at least one game this year. At least fifteen of them are scheduled to have their degrees by May 2011, with 14 slated for a December 2010 graduation.
It's commonplace at this time of year to hear about teams around the conference and nation with a healthy group of graduate students. It sounds noble, and it is--while carrying a normal class load, those players have managed to graduate on time and then further their education an extra year while also fulfilling the time demands of major college football.
Carolina almost never has any players on that list. The reason is simple: University guidelines don't allow players to simply enroll in the one or two graduate school classes (the amount usually taken by college football graduates) without being fully enrolled in that particular grad school. So, for example, Elzy--who is interested in becoming a financial advisor after his football career is finished--can't take a graduate business school class without committing to earn his MBA. Time constraints make that an unrealistic plan.
The University policy on graduate schools forces student-athletes, and especially football players who might be on campus for five years, to plan their course load wisely. School rules prevent anyone from staying on campus for an extra year just to take needless classes that don't further the pursuit of a degree. The reason should be obvious: if it was allowed, every student--athletes and non-athletes alike--would want to hang around Chapel Hill and take the easiest class available. As everyone who has ever walked down Franklin Street is well aware, student life at Carolina is blissful.
"When you're considering a college as a football player, people don't talk as much about the school side," Elzy says. "But there have been many parts of my college career when the school side has been the most fun part of it. Coming here to play football is not just about football. It's things outside football, and interacting with students who don't even play a sport. The real student experience has driven me."
Part of that student experience means an awareness of the rules governing graduation. That's how Elzy ended up in the biology lab, where he's currently doing hands-on work with the different types of photosynthesis. He's already taken the classroom portion, but needs the lab to graduate.
It's also how Mike Ingersoll enrolled in Communications 574 (War and Culture) and Exercise and Sport Science 322 (Sports Marketing). Ingersoll, who will graduate in December, has a double-major in Communications and Exercise and Sport Science.
"I could've graduated after my junior year with a major in Communications," Ingersoll said. "But I had been taking Exercise and Sport Science classes as electives, and I realized I could have a double-major with one more year of classes, and I'd also be able to keep playing football."
Ingersoll, a Mint Hill native, is aware of the national perception that the "student" portion of student-athlete is sometimes subverted by athletic goals.
"When I'm in a classroom and I raise my hand, I make sure I know what I'm talking about every time," he says. "I feel like when I speak, I'm speaking on behalf of every athlete in the class, and I know other athletes feel the same way. A lot of students don't understand our academic side of things, and I think it's fair to say I feel like I have to prove myself to them.
"We constantly hear from Coach Davis that football shouldn't become our life until we make the NFL. But in college, he wants us to have two lives--the student life and the athlete life. Regardless of the time constraints from sports, you have to be a student first or you can't play sports."
The impressive graduation statistics of this year's senior class will form another part of the recruiting strategy for Butch Davis. The Carolina head coach has consistently sold the entire UNC experience as one of the most attractive parts of playing football in Chapel Hill.
"North Carolina has always had great academic credibility and integrity," he says. "That is extraordinarily important when you're in the homes and you're selling, recruiting, and talking to young student-athletes about coming to school. It's the first thing I talk to kids about when I'm on the road. An average NFL career is so short. Unfortunately, some kids will get injured in college and no longer be able to play. That's what happened to me at Arkansas. I've been in that position and realize how important it was to get my degree.
"This senior class has done an outstanding job in the classroom, with most of these players able to graduate in December. All of our seniors are on track to graduate and they should be applauded for the work they've done to earn their degree."
The value of that degree is something for which the seniors already seem to have developed an appreciation.
"A degree means everything to me," Elzy says. "It means no doors are closed. We'll graduate and be out there as young guys with not just any degree, but a degree from one of the top schools in the country. When you're here, you don't understand the weight a Carolina degree holds. But my friends who have graduated have told me how important it is in the real world."
"Carolina connections are incredible," Ingersoll says. "There's a Carolina alum everywhere from coast to coast, and a lot of them are CEOs and higher-ups. Just being a student here opens doors, and being an athlete opens even more doors. I know the job market is tough. But ten years from now I hope I'll be a fairly successful person."
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly. He is also the author or co-author of six books on Carolina basketball, including the official chronicle of the first 100 years of Tar Heel hoops, A Century of Excellence, which is available now. Get real-time UNC sports updates from the THM staff on Twitter.
