Incoming Freshmen Athletes Making the Transition

Making Sacrifices is Necessary, says Student-Athlete Support Director
By Jeff Landset

SYRACUSE, N.Y.-- Practice began today for the Syracuse University football team. It will be Doug Marrone's first practice with the team, including the freshmen that he recruited. So just as Coach Marrone has a transition to make from being an NFL coordinator to a college head coach, those incoming freshmen have one as well.

"It's natural for many of the students, student-athletes included, to have feelings of homesickness," says Kevin Wall, Syracuse's Director of Student-Athlete Support. "[Incoming freshmen] can be successful in high school based on natural ability and now you're stepping up the intensity."

Academics Goes Hand-in-Hand with Athletics

Many of the incoming players have been on campus for the SummerStart session, where their primary focus has been academics for the past five weeks. Wall says they are excited now to shift their focus to football, but at the same time finish strong in the classroom.

Wall also says that while most freshmen in general have two months of summer vacation after their high school graduation, these student-athletes don't. He says that's part of the commitment of being a Division I student-athlete.

"It's important for them to get up here, get acclimated to the university, get some classes under their belt. If this is what they want to do, making sacrifices is part of that process."

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