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Duke's minimums are way way above the NCAA minimums and always have been and have always had to be. To do anything less would result in a 0% graduation rate. For example, if Pressler had been a screw-your-studies-you're-here-to-play-ball kind of coach there's no way the lax players would have 100% graduation.

UF may be harder for an athlete to get into than Duke.
But UF is very hard for undergrads to get into these day, someplace in the UNC range, harder than NCSU but probably not quite Duke admission.

The fact that you could even make this comparison says you don't know what you're talking about. There are a ton of players that go to large state schools that Duke cannot even begin to consider for the simple reason that there are no crip majors in which to hide the jocks.

LB wrote: Duke's minimums are way way above the NCAA minimums and always have been and have always had to be.

This asserton requires data. I gave you one example for UF. I have NEVER heard of Duke not accepting someone who immediately enrolled in another four year D1A NCAA institution. Enrollment in such an institution shows they met the NCAA minimum. I can give you several other examples of people who signed with UF, were not admitted or recruits who wanted to go to UF but were not even allowed to visit but who enrolled in other NCAA institutions showing they met the minimum requirements.

LB wrote: To do anything less would result in a 0% graduation rate. For example, if Pressler had been a screw-your-studies-you're-here-to-play-ball kind of coach there's no way the lax players would have 100% graduation.

Of course it would not have led to a zero graduation rate. Athletics departments set up study halls, tutoring etc to help along their athletes who are not up to the schools standards, but who are interested in graduation or at least staying eligible. But I did say in my prior post that revenue sports are different than nonrevenue sports. So I would not expect Duke NOR ANYONE ELSE to admit as many marginal students in lacrosse as they might in basketball or football.

JSL wrote:UF may be harder for an athlete to get into than Duke. But UF is very hard for undergrads to get into these day, someplace in the UNC range, harder than NCSU but probably not quite Duke admission.

LB wrote: The fact that you could even make this comparison says you don't know what you're talking about. There are a ton of players that go to large state schools that Duke cannot even begin to consider for the simple reason that there are no crip majors in which to hide the jocks.

Clearly I am a sports fan. Clearly I am an academic. [I believe maybe you are an engineer who was and academic at some point.] Clearly I know chapter an verse about players signing and qualifying at UF. I do not know the Duke case as well. As I have told you UF does not admit and sometimes does not even let visit players who sign with other D1A NCAA institutions that same year. That is because UF has certain academic standards above the NCAA minimum. [I can explain the UF standards if you like. Can you explain how Duke's admission FOR ATHLETES is different than the NCAA minimus?

I have never heard of Duke having such standards. Clearly Duke backs off some players they think will not qualify, but everyone does this. Can you give me a single example of a player Duke signed to a scholarship but did not admit or who was qualified but Duke did not sign? [The former is much much more convincing because we know a school wanted the player if they signed him and we know the player met NCAA minimum requirements if they were immediately able to go elsewhere as a full qualifier.] I am not talking about Duke passing on a player they did not think would qualify, but who surprisingly did and went to another D1A NCAA program, that too happens to everyone.

If you would like to make a better argument, the Duke's, Vandy's etc of the NCAA world may be at a slight disadvantage because there are fewer majors and maybe no really easy majors like PE etc. Private schools tend to be more arts and sciences oriented and that limits the number of "jock" majors. This has to do with keeping a player eligible, but not in getting them admitted. And of course there are always majors like sociology or other PC majors at private schools that may cater to minority athletes.