ESPN writer Roy Johnson thinks we should focus a little more on the "student" half of the student-athlete. Sure, the definition of the term 'student-athlete' has been thrown around and debated plenty. I bring this up for two reasons.
↵1) Johnson suggests that there be a trophy presentation for the top 25 team with the best academic progress rating. (The one Johnson uses is compiled by watchdog group Higher Ed Watch.) I like it. Why not give schools even more incentive to make sure their athletes are getting an education?
↵2) Johnson points out that, according to Higher Ed Watch, Texas-Austin had - by far - the worst academic performance among top 25 teams. For the second year in a row, the 'Horns have managed to graduate barely one in four African-American football players lately.
↵Keep that in mind next time one of our friends from the Big XII talks down what kind of school UH is. And when you inevitably hear someone claim that they won't attend a Cougar sporting event because of the big, bad Third Ward, you can kindly inform them that there's only one school in Texas which resides in one of most crime-ridden neighborhoods in the country. And it's not Houston.
↵(Spoiler alert: It's UT.)