Mentors for Beginning College Student-Athletes: A Possible Aid for Academic Success

Abstract

The responsibility of giving scholarship student-athletes a well-rounded start at the collegiate level may be too immense for only coaches and academic advisors to carry out efficiently without additional help. Transferring part of this responsibility to "mentors" who help freshman student-athletes develop basic study habits and time management skills may be one resolution to the "academic vs. athletics" debate. The article discussed the needs of student-athletes and a description of one organization's attempt to give the members of this special population a better foundation early in their academic careers. It considered a mentoring program at Texas A&M in Fall 1990 to pair scholarship athletes with a mentor.