CHICAGO—Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez briefly addressed the university’s admissions process after highly regarded recruit Jordan Stevenson, a running back from Texas, was denied enrollment to UW based on academics last week.
Speaking at the first day of the Big Ten Media Days in Chicago Thursday, Alvarez revealed that the appeals process for recruited student-athletes who are denied admission changed about five years ago. Previously, coaches were permitted to file admissions appeals through the individual colleges at UW, rather than the main admissions office, according to Alvarez.
“You had coaches who knew student-athletes and recruited them and had been through the screening process,” Alvarez said. “As coaches, we understand the profile of our incoming students. They’re students. [We] profile the students that are on campus, the difficulty, and they feel that certain people will have success or a chance for success. And they can present that case because they know and research these individuals [in] the individual colleges.”
That line of communication between coaches and the individual colleges at UW no longer exists, according to Alvarez.
“Now, the way we’ve been doing it, it goes to admissions, they don’t talk to the coaches, they look at the scores, they look at whatever they see and at times make decisions before there is a verbal appeal,” Alvarez said.
Without directly referring to Stevenson, head coach Paul Chryst voiced his support of UW’s admissions standards while also expressing frustration with how the last week transpired.
“I think the standards [are] the reason why we get some players, student-athletes to come there, because of that,” Chryst said.
“I feel bad that we—the kid [Stevenson] did everything we asked him to do and I feel for him and the timing of the announcement. But I also think it gives us an opportunity to visit and make sure that we’re doing the right thing for the university and the program.”
Alvarez said that he would like to see a reversion to the old system, with increased communication between coaches and the individual UW colleges and a clearer avenue for verbal appeals.
“Hopefully this is in progress and hopefully we can have this in place by next year,” Alvarez said.
Stevenson tweeted Thursday that he will play for Big Ten West foe Nebraska in the fall.
Chryst, Riley have deep roots
Wisconsin’s annual date with Nebraska has gradually developed into a must-see event ever since the Cornhuskers joined the Big Ten Conference in 2010.
Last year’s edition of this budding rivalry was more than a little lopsided, as Wisconsin ran away with a 59-24 blowout in November, but the meeting between the two teams this October will have a new flavor that will rejuvenate the rivalry.
For the first time as head coaches, Nebraska’s Mike Riley and Wisconsin’s Paul Chryst will face off against one another in what will be a reunion of mentor and pupil.
Both in their first year as head coaches in the Big Ten, Chryst and Riley have a history together that spans over two decades and three teams.
Beginning with the San Antonio Riders of the now-defunct World League of American Football, then on to Oregon State, the San Diego Chargers and back to Oregon State, Chryst and Riley have seemingly been all over the football world together.
At each stop, Riley served as the head coach, while Chryst either handled assistant coaching duties or coordinated the offense. That formula allowed Chryst to cultivate his coaching style, expand on his expertise and model his life outside of football based on Riley’s tutelage.
Now that Chryst has established himself as a head coach in his own right, his reverence for Riley has not been shaken.
“Mike has been a huge influence and had a big impact on [starting] my coaching career,” Chryst said. “Looking forward to seeing him more. He’s been a big influence on my life.”
Chryst added that their tight bond developed when climbing the coaching ranks together won’t be strained by the increasingly hostile rivalry between their two schools.
“The game has never been about us,” Chryst said. “We take coaching serious and we feel very fortunate to be coaching. And we also believe that the game is played between the lines… our relationship goes a lot deeper than letting a rivalry get in the way of that.”
