Op-Ed: We are a Basketball School
By Alex Murphy
This is for all those people that ever lost faith in our men’s basketball program. All the fraternity brothers that were on Barstool predicting that we would have a shitty record - The ones who choose to get more riled up over political conflict or stock exchange than athletic competition. This is not an anti-AU article. This is a pro-school spirit article (and also a middle finger to Barstool for now acting like they've been rocking with us since preseason).
This is to call out the student body for the nonsense of school pride we have in our sports programs. I must admit that I have a stake in this race (literally). Speaking as a sophomore on the cross country and track teams here at AU, the stigma surrounding student-athletes does not hold true at our school in comparison to the usual public-funded state school.
We may not be Duke or Gonzaga when it comes to the level of talent we recruit; however, we do stack up well against some of the most respectable conferences in sports. The Patriot League (our conference, for those WONKs who don’t know) is the sister league to the Ivy League meaning that we model the same practices for academic and athletic standards.
Usually, in college athletics, first-year students are encouraged to redshirt. This gives student-athletes the ability to transition into college life without the pressure of producing for an athletic program immediately as a freshman. Redshirting grants athletes an additional year of eligibility because of their absence in competition, while allowing the athlete to adjust to the academic workload, new training regiments, and culture shock of college.
Red-shirting is nonexistent here at American University, in the Patriot League, and in the Ivy League. There is an expectation that student-athletes should complete their undergraduate degree in four years and not compete athletically if they decide to pursue graduate programs or an extended undergraduate degree. The only exception to this rule was granted to athletes who lost a season to the pandemic or who suffered a season-ending injury and thus were granted a medical redshirt. Those students are now allowed to exercise a fifth-year option (including graduate programs).
Student-athletes at American are not your typical SEC football players that take the easy-A’s and get their hands held by every advisor. We are held to the same standard, if not greater than everyone else. Speaking for my team alone, we annually are awarded Patriot League honors for our performance in the classroom, and our women’s team just a year ago recorded the highest cumulative GPA of any Division I program. Other teams like swim and dive, field hockey, lacrosse, and volleyball also produce some of the highest averages in college athletics and are routinely awarded all-conference honors.
Athletes at AU are also expected to withhold a certain GPA in accordance with their athletic financial aid agreement. If a student does not satisfy this standard (usually above a 3.0) they could be in jeopardy of losing that scholarship. We also are randomly drug tested every month to monitor athletic focus and integrity. This is not a requirement by the NCAA, but a practice implemented by AU themselves.
This is all to silence the general disgust and lack of consideration that the student population has for athletes on campus. It is disheartening when I attend our home basketball games and there is hardly a crowd that fills 20% of our maximum capacity. Our largest crowd in over a decade was predominantly elementary school children because our athletic department discounted tickets to local school districts for Elementary School Day. This all occurred while we were basking in the final days of freedom during our winter holiday break.
This season, our men’s basketball team has progressed in nearly every statistic finishing with a winning record of 15-14. Although the team struggled late against Patriot League competition, losing six straight to end the regular season, this is a team that opened up non-conference play with a strong win streak, upsetting local rival, Georgetown, for the first time in 40 years, and at one point was atop the Patriot League standings.
In most conferences, each team plays one another twice (once at home, and once away). The Patriot League is usually rather competitive- it’s not uncommon for the “worst team” to defeat the “best team.” The margin between the top and bottom is minimal, so when it comes to playoff time, anything is possible.
Our own Eagles are led by junior forwards, Johnny O’Neil and Matt Rogers who both received all-conference recognition, O’Neil with All-Defensive Team, and Rogers with All-Patriot League Second Team. This team has split the series with most of their conference competition, meaning we have won against nearly every conference opponent, whether home or away. The #7 ranked Eagles showed signs of life opening up the postseason with a win against #10 Bucknell Tuesday night, a team that we failed to defeat in the regular season.
We move on from the play-in tournament to face the #2-seeded Naval Academy in Annapolis tonight at 7:00 pm, so for God’s sake just subscribe to ESPN+ to cheer on our Eagles, or if you’re feeling adventurous, make the trek up to Annapolis yourself. Just make sure to bring your ID and heckle those boys on boats. Sink Navy!
