If you're a college football player, you don't have much spare time during football season. With practices, meetings, classes and homework, you barely have time to catch a breath. And the rest of the school year is busy, too.
Football players have to work hard all year to be successful at their sport.
I was also happy last fall when 14 of our football players, including three full or part-time starters, had B averages or better during the frenzy of the season. Morton and Van Raaphorst have maintained B averages throughout their USC careers. With Morton, Van Raaphorst and Ochs, we had an All-Academic backfield. We take academics very seriously in the athletic department. That should have been evident to everyone last May, when women's volleyball star Alaina Kipps served as USC's valedictorian.