Parent wrote:
Not for nothing, but these student athletes have to have pretty good time management skills to be admitted and it’s not as if Stanford just became an academically difficult school. The runners are VERY well supported, both physically and mentally.
You'd think. But push comes to shove, these kids prioritize academics/their actual career every single time (Has anyone heard of a current Stanford athlete transferring to UNC yet?). Which sure, you can argue they should (that's our official line as coaches right?)...but that's something NAU, Colorado, Syracuse, BYU and Oregon (not to mention MOST other elite programs) athletes aren't doing/don't have to do to near the degree...and you're naive if you don't think that includes several all-nighters, healthy nutritional sacrifices and occasional substance abuse to deal with the stress/pressure...which arguably negatively impacts an elite distance athlete more than your average elite athlete.
Now, there are obviously student-athletes who can balance all of this & still remain very successful with all of the support you mention (as there are student-athletes that prioritize academics over running at other elite programs)...but in general, those are the exception. Not everyone is going to jump at the chance to give up a relatively comfortable situation (or at least one they have "down") to be regularly blamed for the failure of "America's next prodigy." And contrary to some belief on here, Stanford cannot get anyone in they want...ask Edrick, that's a major reason he cited when leaving.
And this is coming from someone who has to directly compete against Stanford...they drive me crazy, but I still have to respect what that situation is and the good job everyone over there has done. And as much as we all like to hate on Vin, it makes what he did there all the more impressive in retrospect.