2018 DIGITAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST FOR BEST SOCIAL IMPACT BOOK
The student-athlete's life: practice, gym, weight room, film review,
repeat. Simply put, sports come first. Academics is a distant second.
As the revenues generated by big-time college sports continue to
skyrocket, virtually all of the debate involves whether (and how much)
student-athletes should be paid for play. Kenneth L. Shropshire and
Collin D. Williams, Jr., argue that "student" has to come first in
student-athlete: the focus should be on prioritizing a meaningful
education.
In The Miseducation of the Student Athlete: How to Fix College
Sports, Shropshire and Williams draw on new research to reveal that
it has become increasingly difficult for college athletes to balance
school and sports, much less a social life, leading to serious economic,
professional, and emotional consequences for young people. Given that
fewer than 2% of all college men's basketball and football players will
play at the professional level, the other 98% of student-athletes must
be prepared to find and perform well in jobs outside of their respective
field of play.
In this bold call to action, Shropshire and Williams explain how we got
here and what can be done about it. They lay out The Student-Athlete
Manifesto, a roadmap to increase the likelihood that student-athletes
can succeed both on and off the field. They also offer a Meaningful
Degree Model, which ensures education pays for everyone, along with
stories of success that show it is possible to be both a student and an
athlete.
A critical read for student-athletes, sports leadership, policy makers,
and anyone who loves college sports, The Miseducation of the Student
Athlete has the potential to disrupt college sport and create lasting
change.
