Classroom Away from Home – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/7/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Jan. 7, 2007
GALLERY | AP Championship Week Photo Gallery
One of the biggest games in school history will be played Monday when No. 1 Ohio State squares off vs. No. 2 Florida in the Tostitos BCS National Championship Game at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
Not much has been different than the Buckeyes’ three previous trips to the Valley of the Sun for the 2003, 2004 and 2006 Fiesta Bowls. But there has been one big difference.
Classes began Wednesday.
Typically, bowl games have been played on or before Jan. 1 allowing the Ohio State football team to make it back to Columbus to start classes with the rest of the university. Even last year, the Buckeyes flew back immediately following its 34-20 victory over Notre Dame in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl in time for players to get to class the next day.
This year, though, playing in the inaugural BCS national championship, the team will have missed five days of classes.
During the trip, however, the Student Athlete Support Services Organization, led by David Graham, has helped the team make up for lost class time by setting up a computer lab and by holding study table for many of the 106 players that will suit up against the Gators on Monday in the BCS title game.
Some players had mandatory study table and others opted to attend on their own initiative. Several players stopped by the computer lab at the team hotel, the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess Resort and Spa, during their free time to email their professors and work on assignments.
“Many members of the faculty have been great in sending us the syllabi for their classes,” Darin Meeker, the associate director of SASSO, said. “We also were able to coordinate with Barnes & Noble and SBX bookstores in order to get books for the players. Our SASSO staff put together packets for each of the players with their schedule, syllabi and books.”
“We cannot thank the faculty enough for helping in this effort,” Graham said. “They have been extremely cooperative.”
SASSO even brought six tutors to Arizona to assist the student-athletes. The tutors and SASSO staff is available any time a player has a question.
Not only is the football team finishing one of its best seasons in school history, it also is coming off of one of its best quarters in the classroom. A total of 61 players of the 121 players on the roster attained a 3.0 grade-point average during Autumn Quarter. The Buckeyes led the Big Ten conference with 23 Academic All-Big Ten selections, marking the fifth straight year Ohio State has led the league.
Of the 61 Buckeye players who attained a 3.0, 37 are scholarship players and that total includes 16 African Americans (15 of which are on scholarship). The team’s GPA last quarter was a 2.93 and its cumulative GPA is 2.89.
Nine players on the roster already hold undergraduate degrees, including six – Ryan Franzinger, Roy Hall, Joel Penton, Jay Richardson, Dre Riddick and Justin Zwick – who received their degrees in December. Quarterback Troy Smith, center Doug Datish and safety Brandon Mitchell previously attained degrees and Mitchell will receive his graduate degree in the spring. Another eight current players are on track to graduate at the end of the winter or spring quarters later this year.
“While the team has already enjoyed a great deal of success both on and off the field, the culture is in place to allow them to reach championship performances, both on the field and in the classroom,” John P. Bruno, faculty athletics representative, said.
