During finals week, academics trump athletics

By Chris Willis
Western Herald

December is the most hectic time of the year for a college student. Between getting adjusted to the weather, preparing for finals and daydreaming of the much needed holidays with the family, it can be overwhelming to say the least.

For a student athlete, these things are just the tip off the iceberg. Travel, practice and actual games aren’t eliminated due to any of the obstacles above.

The Western Michigan University men’s basketball team and coaching staff realize this is a hectic time of year, and plan for it accordingly.

“There is no balance right now,” senior center Donald Lawson said. “We’re putting so much attention back in to our studies that basketball is secondary.”

The team had a game on Sunday, and today marks the beginning of finals week. Imagine going to handle business on the court, and then putting the results on the back-burner to completely focus on academics. That cannot be easy.

“It’s all about basketball when you step on the court,” Lawson said. “After that the number one approach is to get enough sleep before you study and take our finals.”

Head coach Steve Hawkins has implied a different approach during finals week.

“We play Sunday, but after that this week is really light as for practice,” Hawkins said. “We’ll take Monday off completely, and the rest of the week we’ll accumulate exams and schedule our practices based on those times.”

At WMU, coaches and players alike recognize that academics are of the utmost importance at the collegiate level.

“I take this week very serious for my athletes,” Hawkins said. “Tuesday we’ll have an optional shoot around for players to keep their blood flowing, but it’s strictly optional as we encourage players to study and get plenty of rest.”

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Posted by heraldstaff on Dec 13 2009. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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