Ask Cael: Question: Every school has it’s different challenges what have you found are Penn State’s challenges? thanks

Story Published Sunday, May 24th, 2009

Question: Every school has it’s different challenges what have you found are Penn State’s challenges? thanks

Yeah every program has it’s different challenges and goals. Penn State has a beautiful campus and is in a very nice community. Mountains (or large hills) are basically five to ten minutes in every direction. PSU is a large university but the community has a small town feel to it. The people are great and very passionate about PSU athletics, especially in wrestling. The tradition of the program is great and ripe to build on. The alumni support is unbelievable and we all know how critical that is to the program. The facilities are one of the best in the nation if not the best. The academic reputation of Penn State is the best in the Big 10. That is a great recruiting tool but can mean that you have to make sure you recruit kids that are academically motivated and responsible. That doesn’t mean that kid’s have to have 4.o gpa’s and 36 act scores to get into school. As long as the student-athlete passes the NCAA Clearinghouse we can get them into school on a “change of assignment.” We are allowed a few “change of assignments” each year for kids that don’t meet the academic standard of a regular student applying to Penn State. The academic standard for a student-athletes to get permitted to PSU on there own is really high. PSU has more students apply to school then any other school in the country. We can get them into school but they have to make it happen after that. Penn State’s eligibility standard for our student-athletes is higher then the Big 10 and NCAA standard as well. We just have to keep these guys focused and on track. So although the academic standard is higher, I feel like it is a great positive. Having a degree from Penn State will open up a lot of doors. The other potential challenge is that PSU is fairly expensive state school. However I believe you get what you pay for in opportunities down the road so that is also a bonus. if you have been to State College and PSU you know that there is a huge downtown and campustown with a lot of social opportunities. there are countless bars and places that a student-athlete could get side tracked from the mission of being a national champion and scholar student. Penn State Wrestling has had a reputation for being a team that likes to party. That will change immediately. We have a single focus and partying does not fit into our plan. The downtown/ campustown area is actually really neat with cool shops and lots of places to eat. It’s a fun place. That will also be a positive. So those are the potential challenges are really great opportunities to promote the program if approached correctly.

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