Good Point

El Kabong has an informative post over at his Notes from the Geetar:

The measure of admissions standards seems to be set by the average GPA and standardized test scores of the athletes ND admits. When those scores go up, the theory goes, ND has tightened the noose on its coach in an effort to reclaim some kind of accountability for classroom performance. When those scores go down, ND has realized they need to admit the quality athletes to succeed.

That all sounds great in theory. The problem is, it only measures the student athletes who accept a scholarship offer to Notre Dame, not the full range of student athletes who were offered a scholarship, and it's the offer range that truly determines what Notre Dame's "admissions standards" are.

Savvy? Of course ND's football team has averaged over a 3.0 each semester, so it's not like we're admitting idiots. Still, I thought that was a good way of looking at admissions and recruiting. Ian Williams and Robert Hughes (not exactly top scholars in high school) wanted to play for Charlie Weis. No way they join Willingham.