Academics Comes First at Northwestern

When talking about frustration in college athletics, one can usually spell it NORTHWESTERN.

The Big Ten school has been on the bottom of the two major revenue-producing sports, basketball and football, for so long that many alumni and fans can’t remember the glory days back in the 1950s and 1960s.

Rich Falk, a former player and now Northwestern basketball coach, is under heavy fire. Falk, who has been associated with Wildcat basketball for the past 20 years, may not have his contract renewed at the end of the season.

But help may be on the way.

Whether he is there or not next year, Falk sees assistance coming by way of some tough new academic requirements the NCAA has adopted and is ordering its member institutions to follow.

That can only be good news for the academically oriented Big Ten school. Falk says tough entrance requirements will help his program and help student-athletes all over the country.

“All I’m for in college athletics is that we standardize things and guarantee that our requirements and standards are proper,” says Falk, whose team is again suffering through a disappointing Big Ten campaign. “I can recall when I was a player back in the 1960s, when things were more standard, that we had strong basketball teams and our football team was ranked No. 2 in the country at one time. It can be done.”

When there were standards for SAT or ACT scores and when there was a tougher review for entrance requirements, Falk contends, Northwestern was able to compete with its big brothers in the college athletic fraternity. A return to tough standards could be the springboard his perennial doormat needs to get back on the winning side.

“If these rules go through, you aren’t going to be able to hide any athletes that don’t measure up scholastically. That’s all we at Northwestern are asking. We want to have everyone be stronger academically and if that happens, we’re already there,” Falk says.

By Falk’s standards, there are literally scores of prep athletes who may not be able to meet the newer, tougher requirements proposed for admission to colleges.

“If the rule sticks as proposed, I think you will find a large number of incoming freshmen who won’t be able to meet the standards,” Falk says. “Then, you will see an influx going to junior colleges just to get their standards back up.”

As part of a complete overhaul, Falk believes all freshmen, not just in the Big Ten, should have to sit down and concentrate on the books rather than basketballs during their first year in college. This would also cut down on recruiting violations according to the Wildcat coach.

Falk says prep stars then face the $64,000 question. Will they try to go to the school of their choice and take the risk of making it academically, or will they take an easier route and try a junior college in an effort to get their grades good enough for top quality, four-year schools. He even predicts that junior colleges could be the new farm system for the pros.

What Falk sees ahead, and what could help Northwestern, are requirements for potential college freshmen to take the so-called “core” courses. There will be no imaginary, made up physical education courses that Northwestern has scorned for its student-athletes in the past two decades.

Falk notes students will have to take basic, required academic courses and maintain a C average. College boards will be phased in as part of the requirement.

“We’ll see the core curriculum stick and that will be a help to us,” he says. “It’s only fair. You want people getting an education, getting a degree so they can be successful.”

But how will this help Northwestern? Simple, according to Falk.

“I think all you have to do is look at our academic record and our standards for excellence. If everyone is on that plane, then we have a shot at the top athletes just like everyone else because there won’t be any easy way for them to go,” Falk says. “The pool of athletes may be a little smaller because of the tougher standards, but then we aren’t being handicapped because our school is so strong academically.”

But even with more strict admission requirements, can a school like Northwestern that has been down for so long actually can rise again and be among the cream of the athletic world again?

“Like I said, I can relate to the years when I was a player here. Northwestern has shown it can compete in the major sports if the rules are fair and apply to everyone,” Falk says. “It isn’t going to happen overnight but there will certainly be room for optimism if all of the NCAA guidelines take effect and are enforced.”

Northwestern has been able to keep its head above water in both football and basketball. Wins do come -- occasionally -- and there is a nucleus by which coaches at the school can build upon.

Falk is optimistic the NCAA will continue to act and crack down on forged transcripts, bogus classes, fake grade points and imaginary degrees. All of this would be a boon to his program and those of other, smaller academically oriented institutions.

“Northwestern’s record in this area is for everyone to see. If you are forced to compete on a major college level against those who will bend the rules to get a blue chipper in, you aren’t going to have a shot but if these new rules are enforced, I think things will change,” Falk says.