Wednesday, March 31, 2004
You enroll at Air Force to...
play basketball?Air Force center and Mountain West Conference co-player of the year Nick Welch would consider transferring if his coach, Joe Scott, leaves the academy to coach at another institution.
That makes little sense. Coming out of high school, Nick Welch was no David Robinson. If he intended to pursue a career playing basketball, he should have gone to school somewhere else. The Air Force Academy is one of the few Division 1 programs where you are a student (cadet) first and an athlete second.
That being said, it is hard not to sympathize with Welch. If he developed as a player during his time under Scott and is now an NBA prospect, I can understand his thinking. If Scott leaves and another coach (likely of lower caliber) replaces him, Welch's NBA prospects fade. He may not have imagined himself a pro player coming in, but a few years experience changes a man.
