GF Finally leaving OSU wrote:
He might have an axe to grind, but many do. I took an athletic visit to the OSU team back in 2006. From my 2 days there, I can say that I got completely the same idea that returnofthemack is claiming as fact. One of the worst team environments I've seen and people drop/transfer like crazy.
I have no firsthand experience. As a casual observer it does seem as if the failures are very numerous. Going back to Chirchir, then Ryan Prentice, GF at least had a little bit of success, though not as much as one might have expected.
Then look at all the studs who came in during GF's soph and junior year. Where are they now? Do they have a single success story of a US high schooler who went on to even meet expectations coming out of high school - anyone since Colby Lowe? (My opinion of Lowe's collegiate success is that it is commensurate with what one might have expected when he came out of HS - not better, not worse).
I don't know, but it does seem like that XC team success is largely the result of focusing all scholarships on distance running and some success with foreigners and transfers. No crime in that. If winning national championships is the game, they are playing by the rules and succeeding as well as anyone.
But if I had a son coming out of HS who was a FL finalist I would advise him to be very leery of the OSU program.