Roger Herndon denied Vandy entrance

[faninthestand]

The debate needs to seperated - Rogers athletic appeal to Vanderbilt, and Rogers Academic appeal to Vanderbilt.

 

Athletically - Vanderbilt did not place a high enough value on Roger to offer a scholorship, asking him to walk on. Was this the first mistake? Had the athletic office offered, would they have been able to drive his admission through with a 27 and 4.98 unweighted? I have to believe there are athletes on scholorship with numbers below Roger's.

 

Academically - With an ACT of 27 and GPA of 4.98 unweighed, how does this stack up to the other Freshman incoming or rejected? What other intagibles were in the decision process?

 

Don't get me wrong, from everything I have heard - Roger is great Student Athlete, and from what I have seen from Vandy recently, he would have been a good add to the program. My take is the the Football program didn't place a high enough priority on Roger's athletic contribution, and left the decision to the Academic folks which are only concerned with the high standards they have placed on academics.

Edited June 29, 2005 by faninthestand

[SemperFi]

faninthestand that was a very insightful post. Obviously the football coaches at Vandy didn't think he was good enough to offer him a scholarship. Instead they invited him to be a walk-on. If he was their top prize recruit - like Ron Mercer would have been 10 years ago, then you would think that they would have leaned on the administration to get him accepted. If you go to www.vucommodores.com and look at the 25 recruits that they signed this year, you will read comments under their respective bios like "National Honor Society, Honors Student, Tennessee Boys State Representative, etc. etc." I don't know what their GPA's or ACT scores were, but one gets the impression that they are a good crop of student athletes. It's not impossible for me to believe that a student with Mr. Herndon's good academic credentials could not get into the university as a regular student. The athletic department most likely could not do anything for him. They had their 25 scholarships already used up. I admire Mr Herndon for his attitude and determination and wish him all the best. He represents what is good about athletics.

[TynerRamFan]

faninthestand that was a very insightful post.  Obviously the football coaches at Vandy didn't think he was good enough to offer him a scholarship.  Instead they invited him to be a walk-on.  If he was their top prize recruit - like Ron Mercer would have been 10 years ago, then you would think that they would have leaned on the administration to get him accepted.  If you go to www.vucommodores.com and look at the 25 recruits that they signed this year, you will read comments under their respective bios like "National Honor Society, Honors Student, Tennessee Boys State Representative, etc. etc."  I don't know what their GPA's or ACT scores were, but one gets the impression that they are a good crop of student athletes.  It's not impossible for me to believe that a student with Mr. Herndon's good academic credentials could not get into the university as a regular student.  The athletic department most likely could not do anything for him.  They had their 25 scholarships already used up.  I admire Mr Herndon for his attitude and determination and wish him all the best.  He represents what is good about athletics.

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...SemperFi

 

...I'll bet that if Roger would have applied to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, he would have been accepted (or either at the Prep school in Rhode Island); and the Midshipmen have a higher standard than most universities and/or colleges; I know Navy's football team is better than Vandy's (beating them in 2003 & 2004)...the only thing is that he would have been committed after graduation to serve his time...Roger if you read this it's not too late to apply the Middies' are coming off 8-5 & 10-2 records the last two years and have played in bowl games going 1-1 thumb

[Harris' hooligans]

for those of you who think that Vandy cares nothing about athletics...if he was a scholarship athlete they would have let him in in the first place however...I know of a couple of student athletes there who have told me about how although they might fail tests because of how hard it can be there....there teachers give them certain lee way as in taking the tests 2-3 times until they get a passing grade. Vandy cares about athletics they just dont always show it to the outside world

[Flashy1048]

I personally think this is crazy!! this kid could probably go to any college in America with those grades!! I know a few kids that attend Vandy now and I KNOW they didn't get but a 19 on the ACT!! If I was that kid I would just go somewhere else that has a better program and walk- on! thumb

[CoachT]

I personally think this is crazy!! this kid could probably go to any college in America with those grades!!  I know a few kids that attend Vandy now and I KNOW they didn't get but a 19 on the ACT!!  If I was that kid I would just go somewhere else that has a better program and walk- on!  thumb

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As the article pointed out, Roger is interested in the education at Vanderbilt. Add that to the possibility of playing in the SEC some day and I think he is following exactly the right path in the long term for the simple fact that this is what he wants to do. He can always change his mind later and go a different direction. His attitude, even though he has to be disappointed, is remarkable.

[THSVikings2004]

Please forgive me if this was already mentioned in the article, but does anyone know what he plans to take in college? It probably played a big factor in why Vanderbilt turned him down.

Edited June 30, 2005 by THSVikings2004

[WestHightrojanfan2007]

Question:

 

Since Roger wasn't offered scholarship for athletics and was asked to walk on, isn't he just considered an average student applying. If so, like I posted earlier, Vandy is a Selective school and he probably should have submitted an SAT score. Also, his ACT score was below the middle 50% of admitted students to Vanderbilt.

 

 

just my opinion

 

GO TROJANS

[FHSrebel27]

Seems like Roger has a great head on his shoulders. If only there were more of him out there. He realizes that it's his education that is going to advance him in the world, not his atheletic talent. It's like that NCAA commercial that states that nearly every student athlete will go pro in something other than sports. He wants to get the best education possible while also perhaps hitting the field one day for the 'Dores. I admire him for his determination to reach his goal. We all could learn a lot from this kid.

[commish5238]

As a rising senior at Vandy, I'd first like to congratulate Roger for handling this disappointment so admirably. This shouldn't turn into a discussion of his test scores, but a 27 ACT would have been in the bottom 25% of the previous incoming class...

 

Vanderbilt Freshman Profile

 

...and college admissions is only getting more competitive. That said, it sounds like Roger would have been a great addition to Vanderbilt's campus. He has a lot going for him, and I hope he doesn't let this difficulty get him down. Hang in there, Roger. I hope you find a place in the classroom and on the field at Vandy in 2006.

[JC4life]

GPA is not as big an issue as people think, the class schedule plays an important part. Colleges like Vandy often look at the number of Advanced placement classes taken vs the number of AP classes the schools offers. Now I don`t know what classes Herndon took, but a 4.0 without AP classes could get you denied at Vandy. Being a walk-on means getting accepted based on regular admission. Also like WestHightrojanfan2007 said a 27 ACT is not high according to Vandy standards. So a 27 ACT added to a low strenght of schedule will get you denied.

 

Wow, its like explaining the BCS system

[Indian]

What happens if he's denied again next time? I say just play OVC football, get most or all of your education paid while doing so, and forget Vandy.