I just read an old 2008 post. Was wondering what the actual academic requirements are for ND football players. I was wondering how tough it really is for Notre Dame to recruit top athletes/students. If true, pretty dismal stats posted, example ACT scores 18-22. These guys mentioned except one would have essentially zero chance of getting into ND without football. To go around preaching we cant recruit so and so compared to other schools seems like BS. If the scores listed are true it is a joke on the part of Notre Dame to preach how they take great students. No wonder some in academics and admissions probably are not connected with the football program.
It's pretty well-documented that our admissions requirements for football players are higher than NCAA minimums and those of nearly all other major programs (exceptions being Stanford, the service academies, maybe Northwestern/Duke/Vandy/Rice, I'm not sure). Every year, we turn away/stop recruiting unqualified kids who go play somewhere else. Our standards are higher.
That doesn't mean football players are held to the same admissions requirements as "regular" students. They're not, and many/most wouldn't be able to get in "without football" (let alone warrant a full-ride scholarship on academic merit). No one's claiming these kids are all Rhodes scholars.
But that really isn't the point here is it? These guys all got in, and stayed eligible for several years. It's not about admissions.
If we want to hold a Notre Dame degree up as worth something more than the typical football factory - which is a huge part of our recruiting pitch - then football players, once admitted, need to hold up their end of the bargain, which includes meeting the minimum academic standards of the university and not cheating along the way. I don't think that's so unreasonable.
