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Effective Sunday,
December 19, 2004, the 2004-2005 BSU men's basketball team adds another
accolade to their growing list - they become the only Division 1
men's basketball program with three post-graduate players. |
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Prior to Sunday, Ball
State was the only men's team in Division 1 basketball with two
post-graduate players, Michael Bennett and Matt McCollom. On Sunday, Dennis
Trammell joins his academically distinguished teammates as the third. |
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Congratulations to
Michael, Matt, and Dennis for the hard work and dedication they have given
their studies. Congratulations also to the BSU coaching staff for finding and
developing these fine young men. These three Ball State graduates have set
great examples of what student-athletes should be. |
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Dennis
Trammell |
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On what having three
post-graduates on the team means to him: |
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With us three, we had a
goal in mind, we set out to do it, and that’s what we wanted to do. We
wanted to be successful on and off the court. That’s what we did. |
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On how tough is it
academically to transfer from one school to another: |
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It is tough. When you
come in – they didn’t take very many credits from me. They only took like
three – I still had to make up the classes that they really didn’t offer. It
can be difficult, but at the same time, if you want to get that degree,
you’ll stick to it. |
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On how the expectations
of the support staff and the coaches help him academically: |
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It helps out
tremendously. I have had a lot of help here with school and everything else.
If I was struggling in a class, I always had help. I always had support. It
meant a lot. |
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On how important is it
for players to be role models to the kids: |
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That’s very important,
because that’s the longevity part of everything – getting that degree. You
know, you can play basketball, but if you don’t have that education, you can
only go so far. It’s big. Getting your education is important. |
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On how tough is it to
balance basketball with academics and seeing his family: |
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It’s tough. It’s very
tough. You’ve got to know what’s important and know what you need to tend
to. First and foremost, it’s your education, then it’s basketball.
Everything else just kind of falls in line from there. I mean, you’ve got
your family and everything. It can get really tough, but if you’re willing
to work it out, it’s possible. |
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Matt
McCollom |
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On what is it like to
being a part of this accomplishment: |
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I guess it was a goal
coming in my freshman year that I wanted to graduate as soon as possible.
That’s pretty cool that we’ll be the only team in the country to have three
people (that have graduated). I think it’s awesome. It shows what kind of
student-athletes we do have here. |
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On what kind of a
message this accomplishment sends to kids: |
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It just shows that we’re
more than just players. It shows that there is a life after basketball.
You’ve got to put yourself in a good situation for when you make it through
basketball. Unless you can make it your profession, you’ve got to have that
education to fall back on. I think that’s what a lot of our guys have been
focusing on. You know that you can take away basketball, and you’ll still
have a job. |
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On how he was able to
play basketball and get a business degree in three years: |
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It’s called taking
summer courses. It was just a goal of mine. I just thought it would be cool
to try to get my Master’s in four years. I’ll come really close. |
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On how hard is it to
pursue a Master’s degree and play basketball: |
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I found out it is tough.
At first, it wasn’t too bad, but there’s a lot of work. But it’s not that
bad. |
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On the academic
expectations of the coaching and support staff: |
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It’s been since my freshman year…they expect you to be at
every class. They push you to do your best. Not every guy is capable of
being a straight A student, but every guy has the ability to do their best
and get good grades. We just work hard. Not everybody is going to get a 4.0,
but they just expect you to give it everything you’ve got – be at every
meeting possible and know that academics comes first, because if you don’t
have that education, you can’t do anything. |
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Michael Bennett |
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On
Ball State being the only program in the country after the semester break to
have three post-graduate players on its team: |
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I think it shows that we pay attention to grades. We're not
just here to play basketball. I think it shows younger kids in the community
and younger kids on the team that college is not just about playing
basketball and going to the NBA. If that is there for you, then take that
opportunity, but if it's not there for you, then get your education. My
parents told me that my freshman year. We kind of realized that I wasn't
going to be able to play beyond college. I think that just brings a sense of
knowing to younger kids. |
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Coach
Buckley |
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On
Ball State being the only program in the country after the semester break to
have three post-graduate players on its team: |
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Well, the university has
made an unbelievable commitment to the education of our students as well as
our student-athletes. Our guys have an opportunity every summer to go to
summer school. We don't allow them to take summer school to catch-up,
because if they're catching-up, they're not playing. What they do is they
get a chance to get ahead. Ninety-five percent of it is the student-athlete,
about four percent of it is the support that they get from the academic
support people, who do a tremendous job at that, and about one percent is
that thing hanging over them called playing time. I think we recruit the
right guys, and education is important to them. We talked about it when I
took the job. I said, 'we're not going to tell you what we're going to do
graduation rate-wise, you're going to see it.' We've proven that, and
obviously that's the ultimate for those guys. |
