skyboy wrote:
I know they have exemptions for their missions where they "don't run", but how is having a 23 year old sophomore even a fair competition?
Years these kids graduated high school:
Connor Mantz [SO] - 2015
Daniel Carney [SR] - 2012 WTF???
Jacob Heslington [SR] - 2013
Brandon Garnica [SO] - 2018 (as far as I can tell, the only proper college aged kid on the team)
Matt Owens [SO] - 2014
Michael Ottesen [SR] - 2013
Connor Weaver [JR] - 2014
It's not even good coaching, its just straight up age cheating against the rest of the ncaa
Wow. If this was a team of foreign kids with these ages people would be even more livid.
I don't think its fair to say it isn't good coaching. Even with a clear age advantage, good coaching is still needed.
However, I can actually see some advantages to the mission downtime. Say you get an 18 year old freshman. He spends 2 years ramping up volume and getting adjusted to college training. Goes on mission for a year (or is it 2?). That's a block of time where his body can heal from the training load. He comes back to training after mission fresh and healthy even if there was detraining. Plus he is physically more mature. Takes him six or twelve months to get back to where he was and beyond. Another year or two to compete.
I am not a scientist but neither are they.