There has been some discussion on the Board about the presence of foreign players on NU's athletic teams. A few posters, for example, were surprised to learn that 2 young women from China were on the Womens Golf Team. Well, the fact is that many NU teams have foreign athletes, and the vast majority of them are quite successful, including: Women's Golf; Basketball; Cross Country; Fencing; Field Hockey'; Lacrosse. and, Swimming Among the men it's Golf, Soccer, Swimming and Tennis. Football does not have a foreign student unless we have a Canadian, for obvious reasons. So Basketball is a glaring exception. I don't really care if anybody comes back next year, but maybe with the exception of Boo and Nance, but why don't we recruit some of the excellent foreign high school players - especially some who can shoot?
Recruiting Foreign Players
- Thread starter No Chores
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During the Carmody years NU got quite a few quality guys from Europe (Croatia). Vukusic and Olah to name a few. Reportedly there was a former NU player or coach working in Europe at the time.
Our one basketball recruit for 2022 goes to high school in Massachusetts, but he's from Canada.
I believe Olah at the time was in US. Indiana? He was from Europe but had been here in HS
I have nothing against foreign players. Any strategy that brings us a 'W' is all right by me. That being said, it is pretty sad that other than one magical year, NU has had zero ability to create a team, of any composition, to reach the NCAA tournament. Additionally, with all of the basketball talent in the US, I find it sad that teams have to reach overseas players to get an edge.
Figures, since he was born in Canada. He does not qualify, therefore, as a foreign player. What I was really driving at in my original post was recruiting players from Central and Eastern Europe as we used to do, and possibly looking at Australia, which also has some very good players.
Admissions would probably be pleased to admit a basketball player from a country from which we have no other students.
They are keen to be able to say "Northwestern has students from all 50 states" and "Northwestern has students from X number of countries."
They are keen to be able to say "Northwestern has students from all 50 states" and "Northwestern has students from X number of countries."
There almost no good foreign players in football, but there are plenty in basketball. It may be a good idea for NU to start recruiting harder overseas.
Davidson, headed towards an A10 championship and a possible at-large berth, counts three internationals among its top five scorers (Austria, South Korea, New Zealand), and also gives minutes to players from England and Denmark.
Bob McKillop would have been a fun coach a decade ago, though I presume he’ll retire from Davidson, and soon. (McKillop will almost certainly be succeeded by his son.)
Bob McKillop would have been a fun coach a decade ago, though I presume he’ll retire from Davidson, and soon. (McKillop will almost certainly be succeeded by his son.)
I’ve been saying for 20 years that we should be recruiting the Australian Institute of Sport. Why we leave those guys for Gonzaga or St Mary’s is beyond me. But let’s also take a moment to realize how hard we’re making this for ourselves. Scour the world for that one gem… or just let Collins have one academic exception per class and recruit domestically? The latter seems a lot easier.
The easy way is to look for early transfers who can make it in the NU classroom.
That way you don't have to compromise so much on your integrity.
Whether you realize it or not, you just exposed the real problem. This issue has nothing to do with "integrity," because it has nothing to do with honesty or moral uprightness -- which is the actual definition of the word. There's nothing immoral about letting in exceptional athletes who generate millions even if their HS grades aren't good, especially if the academic support is there (and let's be real, we have cakewalk programs for athletes if they want them). It isn't inherently dishonest. We're not cheating any of the other students. So why do people make it out to be this massive existential crisis? Especially when we're talking about 15 kids total (basketball and football) across a campus of what... 6,000 students? A fraction of one percent of the student body? And a fraction of a fraction of all the students who have ever attended NU?
Let's call it what it is -- snobbery. People don't want a few academic exceptions because in their minds it devalues their own degree (or degrees; hell, even I have two from NU). It has nothing to do with whether a kid can make it at NU; that's just virtue signaling. At the end of the day, people are afraid the outside world is going to think less of them and their academic achievements if we suddenly let in "dummies" to win at sports. Listen for the phrases they loooove to use: ""If we do that, we're no better than other schools," (oh, it's a contest?) or "we win the right way" (who sets the standard?) and "our athletes are student-athletes" (right because if Pete Skoronksi had decided to go to ND he'd have suddenly blown off his education?). Christ, we're the school that used to lose so bad in football that we'd have to resort to dangling our keys at opposing fans and chanting "that's alright, that's okay -- you're gonna work for us someday." And the sad part is that people just keep repeating all these BS talking points and excuses without ever actually examining where they come from.
Here's the truth: No one cares what we do. Truly. We are not special. Duke is a fine school with arguably a better academic profile than NU, and they've let in documented partial qualifiers for decades. The other 99.99% of the Duke student body goes on to live wonderful lives, with fine degrees that people salivate over in the corporate world. And the only difference between Duke kids and NU kids? The Duke kids cheered for a winning basketball program.
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I do not disagree with your point of view. When you write 'People don't want a few academic exceptions...', to whom are you referring? Alumni, Trustees, Professors, Administrators? I, too, have two degrees from NU. As long the student athlete is of good character, I am all for relaxing some of the academic standards for athletes. I do not think it would devalue our degrees. Winning sports may make student life more fun? It has been said by others that a university President has done his or her job if the following are satisfied: Football/Basketball wins for the alumni, excellent parking spaces for the faculty, getting laid from time to time for the students. Go Cats!
Come on guys. For your multiple degrees from Northwestern you sure don't have a clear understanding of how things work.
ATHLETES ARE ALREADY ACCEPTED WITH LOWER ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS THAN THE TYPICAL STUDENT.
What you are saying we should do - we already do and have done so for decades.
There are approximately 500 varsity athletes at NU.
Most would not be at Northwestern on their academic qualifications alone.
Yes, they may not have the qualifications of the general student body, however, we seem to have some ‘standards’ that each recruit must meet. We likely have an arbitrary cut off for GPA and standardized testing within our recruited athletes. If we did not, then why would we not pursue every four and five star athlete? Perhaps we should lower the bar even more?
I do not disagree with anything you have written. However, if we take it to the logical conclusion that we truly have ‘no academic standards’ for student athletes, then our dear NU has done a lousy job putting marquis sporting teams together.
You are correct, I think.
There is some "reduced" set of academic qualifications and it probably varies from sport to sport, with some absolute floors.
Ha! Thanks, brother. The true tragedy of fandom isn’t being hurt by your team — it’s no longer caring. I have reached the point where I won’t suffer the highs and lows of NU sports anymore because it’s just not worth it. I’m in my 40s now, with other things in my life that matter and vie for my free time. If the school isn’t gonna do what it takes to win I’m not gonna bother. And what no one wants to admit is that more and more NU fans are starting to feel the same way.
(Oh, and watch out for the other great talking point to justify mediocrity: “True fans suffer through the bad and enjoy the wins more when they come.” Yeah, no. Sorry. If we ever make a major bowl game or tournament again, I’ll be there having just as much fun as everyone else.)
Yeah, sorry. I was a little vague there — it’s a hazard of late-night ranting, along with typos. I wasn’t referring to all fans, but to the noisy cadre of administrators, faculty, student and alumni who oppose lowering academic “standards” for athletes.
Ugh. Even that word — “standards” — is loaded; it should be academic thresholds or something less abhorrently moralistic. I’m telling you… Snobbery, man. And maybe some other stuff, too.
Yes, they may not have the qualifications of the general student body, however, we seem to have some ‘standards’ that each recruit must meet. We likely have an arbitrary cut off for GPA and standardized testing within our recruited athletes. If we did not, then why would we not pursue every four and five star athlete? Perhaps we should lower the bar even more?
I do not disagree with anything you have written. However, if we take it to the logical conclusion that we truly have ‘no academic standards’ for student athletes, then our dear NU has done a lousy job putting marquis sporting teams togehter
No need to apologize. I am all with you. I want to see us win some games.
"Abhorrently moralistic"
Give me a break.
These posts reek of political correctness and "New era" illogic.