It’s unfortunate academic trouble has sidelined MSU cornerback Cedric Henry for this season, but his situation teaches an important lesson to all students involved in athletics and other activities.
The merchandising management senior was ruled academically ineligible after he failed a summer class, coach Bobby Williams said this week.
Henry, who holds a scholarship from the university, will have to sit out this season but could return to play a final year of athletic eligibility next year - if he can fix his academic trouble.
It’s a privilege to play football - or any varsity sport - at a Big Ten university. But it is up to every athlete to meet the challenge of balancing school work with sports.
Students - even athletes - enroll at MSU to learn and study.
The athletic department took an important step in 1998 toward making sure academics remain a focus of those involved in sports with the opening of the Clara Bell Smith Student-Athlete Academic Center. The $5.5 million building houses computer labs, classrooms and tutoring rooms to help the hundreds of students involved in varsity sports.
Time management between class and extracurricular activities is one of the most important facets of college. But it is the responsibility of every student to make sure his or her priorities are in line - and athletes have added help because of the Smith Center.
It’d be nice for other students to have such a facility to help guide them through the everyday plays of balancing college with real life.
It is unfortunate we won’t see Henry donning the green and white on the field this year. But he accepted the challenge of becoming a student-athlete, and we hope he accepts the challenge of bringing up his grades and picking up the pigskin in a year.
Henry has been given the opportunity to keep his scholarship and to reassess his priorities to focus on his academic career.
It may seem another setback to a promising football season, but it’s the way college life works. So Henry will sit out this year. Next year he - and the rest of us - will be better because of it.
