Kenyan Recruited NCAA Athletes -- How do they handle the college workload?

High school teacher/runner here, decided to do some research.

I looked up Alabama's top guy from last year, Alfred Chelanga, and spent the last 15 minutes trying to find out where he went to high school. Here's what I found:

He went to Tenges Secondary School in Baringo, Kenya.

Here's a list of the test results from the 2013 class on the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education Exam:

https://kcseresults.blogspot.com/2014/03/tenges-high-school.html

Info on the test:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya_Certificate_of_Secondary_Education

It appears two years ago nine students were busted for cheating on the exam and both the teachers and students involved were fined heavily and kicked out. Cheating happens daily in every American high school so not really a red flag towards their educational system.

Two other Kenyan athletes on the team come from Goseta Boys School :

https://gosetaboys.sc.ke/

Pretty informative web site, lists test results, calendar for academic events, frequently updated. Looks much more put together than many American high schools.

I wonder if many of the Kenyans recruited for American colleges are specifically recruited from schools like this that appear to have at the very least a similar curriculum to American students.

Lastly, I have to deal with students playing games on their iPads and cell phones ALL day. The motivation level of this generation is extremely low with all the fun distractions like Fortnite and "2048". I'd imagine if I was a Kenyan who happened to be pretty good at running and knew that studying hard could lead to a free education and a better life, passing biology wouldn't be too hard.

Newb - all of their subjects are taught in English, unless it's a language class. Teachers teach in English, not in Swahili. Students learn in English, not in Swahili. They don't have to adjust to hearing lectures in English because that's what they've had their entire academic career.

I went to Bama with David Kimani, Peter Etoot, etc in the earl 2000s.

I had classes with some of them. They seemed to do fine. The only thing I remember is that some of them had a problem with some of the phrases people used like "speak your peace" and the like.

We all had study hall and had access to tutors. I don't remember anyone struggling academically. I think the tricky part was social, not academic.

They do just fine, and many of them actually take challenging majors. American undergraduate coursework is not hard.

Give me a break with this thread. And I'm sure you'll tell me next that every athlete at Notre Dame, Northwestern, Stanford, etc., could get into the school on their own? If the #1 football prospect wanted to go to any of those schools that they'd say no if they didn't have the grades? The NCAA is a minor league system. The runners will have people making sure they pass so they can compete for the team.

Of course they have to adjust to English in the classroom when Swahili is the language most speak at home and on an everyday basis. There are often rules that students must speak English at all times at schools but these rules are not enforced outside the classroom. It is notable that in the school results posted above that there were no A's and only 2 A-'s overall among all the students. You really have to earn top marks on the national exams. As for cheating, there have been various instances of mass cheating and I personally witnessed numerous cheat sheets blowing in the wind after the form 2 national exams in another East African country.

Aside from challenges with English, IT courses, and possibly social sciences, an average or above student from Kenya shouldn't have much trouble with the US college system.

I've taught in both public and international schools in Kenya as well as some very good schools in the US, and I've had plenty of Kenyan students who could stand toe-to-toe with some of the best US students I've taught. Kenyan schools generally place a much greater emphasis on math and hard science than do US schools, while subjects like composition and history are taught much differently there and would leave a bit of a gap for most students looking to transition to the US collegiate system - I've seen some crazy disparities in SAT scores from Kenya 700+ on math and < 300 on verbal. It's worth noting that high school in Kenya is not a given - many students head to tech schools after 8th grade, so the high school system is a bit more rigorous than in the US where it's expected to be universal. A top high school in Kenya would be very comparable to a junior college in the US in terms of rigor.

Kenyan schools place a much greater burden of self-study on the students, so many would come here with great work ethic in terms of the time they're willing to invest in their studies. Many of the Kenyan students I've worked with are a bit shocked by the supportive nature of American educators - there's a very adversarial spirit between educators and students in Kenya.

Of course there are those who are exceptions and come over looking to get to America and don't really take advantage of the educational opportunities they get while here.

If they come from one of the Catholic schools in Kenya, they probably have a decent education. Most spend a season in community college getting some of their required credits before they transfer D1. They are typically older (a lot of Kenyan fresmen in the US are 21 or older). Most have better work ethics than your average US entitled child. Finally, you don't see many Kenyans at Ivy League schools or any of the rigorous universities. Most are at places like Alabama or New Mexico. Places that aren't renowned for their academics. Most colleges have some football friendly majors: General Studies, Criminal Justice, Exercise Science, Public Health, Industrial Science, etc. The Kenyans at Alabama are majoring in public health, exercise science and general studies respectively.

Are you kidding? Students who are there to perform athletically are gifted degrees.

I was there a few decades back, and the football players were given exams in advance then, and nearly all had to have the answers given to them, because they didn't know the material. They're NEVER in class. Just at the gym, or the trainer, or at practice, or watching film, or traveling. Or getting drunker/more stoned than anyone else at parties.

Drug testing was in its infancy at the time, and I was surprise-tested three times in one semester. All while the Samoan linemen were dealing dope from their dorm room down the hall.

We had foreign ringers brought in for XC, and they'd leave the country the day after NCAAs. Can't fail classes if you don't finish the semester. An Alabama senior running XC who previously wasn't at the school? Gee, I wonder.

A lot of the Kenyans take the same joke majors the football players do. If a division one college wants to keep an athlete academically eligible and even graduate them with a worthless degree is no problem, plenty of schools are set up to this.

Not saying every Kenyan attending college in the US that falls in this category but many would not be able to handle a rigorous academic course load that many athletes go through. They go through the same academic program many football players go through. Look at the majors of many athletes regardless of nationality. Not as high of a percentage of STEM majors or individuals going to grad school as the rest of the college population.

Texaxax wrote:

Rowl tyde...yee haw! wrote:

Ummm... have you seen the students at the University of Alabama... beer-swollen frat boys and sorority dumbies? Compare that to the (likely) very hard-working and grounded kenyan athletes... I think they'll do just fine.

Says a guy who's never been on the Alabama campus in his life. That statement is totally false but obviously you're dealing with some major issues. Good luck.

The people he's describing are more likely to be non-student fans of their football team, and that's only SOME of the fans.

have YOU seen the alabama students before? your assumption may be slightly off.

- a hard working mechanical engineering/premed alabama student

drop that knowing stuff wrote:

Newb - all of their subjects are taught in English, unless it's a language class. Teachers teach in English, not in Swahili. Students learn in English, not in Swahili. They don't have to adjust to hearing lectures in English because that's what they've had their entire academic career.

Why does their English tend to be so bad? Usually kids who learn a language in that crucial period master it and don't have a heavy accent.

hearing but not speaking? wrote:

drop that knowing stuff wrote:

Newb - all of their subjects are taught in English, unless it's a language class. Teachers teach in English, not in Swahili. Students learn in English, not in Swahili. They don't have to adjust to hearing lectures in English because that's what they've had their entire academic career.

Why does their English tend to be so bad? Usually kids who learn a language in that crucial period master it and don't have a heavy accent.

Actually, their English is mostly good. They just garble it a bit to fend off stupid questions, and because they've heard that American women dig foreign accents.

Other than a couple of well-researched posts or first hand experience, this thread is so hilariously typical Letsrun armchair stuff that I’ve decided not to contribute further. By the way, I’m Kenyan and I’d say I speak better English than most Americans.

Perception is that foreign athletes are all on full rides and while this is a misconception, with Kenyan athletes it is probably closer to the truth.

They have a hard time getting I20s without a full since it is known that they will otherwise have a hard time paying.

Thus, there is a high rate of downward transfers. Power 5s think they are getting a contender. Then the athlete fails to score at the conference level and after two years they are off to the MEAC or SWAC.

American high school is relatively awful

American colleges are poor to mediocre

American post grad is excellent.

No point is assessing student athletes for academics because there are different rules and incentives and motivations.

The linking of basically pro sports to universities undermines the latter - but greed rules.

+1

I would venture you're spot on.

Some of you guys are referring to just football players as taking easy majors and receiving academic support. Pull up your favorite college's roster for a few different sports and you will see that nearly half of all athletes are in a public health, interdisciplinary studies, leisure studies, sport and rec management type of major. Additionally all athletes getting low grades,