What’s more stressful than being a struggling D1 basketball player on top of normal schoolwork responsibilities?
Nothing.
Being a college basketball player is fun and games, but definitely has a downside. Despite the excitement of being in season, college basketball goes on for a majority of the school year. After the first seven weeks of school you have no choice but to eat, sleep, and breathe basketball. Better yet, being a college athlete at a D1 school takes up your whole life.
From practices, to weight lifting, conditioning, additional skill work, film sessions, therapy, and who could forget the excessive amount of hours driving to away games. Where do you find the time to get everything done and still be on top of your school game?
It looks like a dream on TV, but it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. Many people fail to understand what goes on behind the closed doors of an athlete. The worst part about it all is the fact that you give so much of your time and dedication for a one percent chance of playing in the pros.
In episode 4 of Grow-ish similar situations occur for California University’s new basketball star, Cash Mooney. He falls behind in his work and is not on top of his game on the court, and the constant televised game coverage creates immense pressure for this upcoming star. Luckily, he has Zoey to help him out.
Hoping that Zoey tutors him so he won’t be the biggest college bust in school history, Cash’s window could possibly close on him before it even opens. How could you blame Cash? There aren’t enough benefits to being a college athlete anyways.
Colleges make billions of dollars off of these athletes and for them to not even be paid, how could you expect guys like Cash Mooney to perform at their best? The amount of damage being done to his body over the course of a long season makes sense why his performance is low. With all the work he has to stay on top of, I wonder when he has time to eat. Coaches aren’t allowed to feed their players, and with additional time being put into practice and homework the last thing on Cash’s mind is probably food.
Although you are rewarded with a free education, expectations are set very high for you. Matters become worse if you don’t live up to those expectations, and then in the snap of a finger everything could be gone. I think people sometimes forget that these college athletes are human and no older than 21 years old. It’s honestly pretty sad how they are treated.
We’ll see if Zoey can work her magic and do whatever she needs to do to help Cash make it over the top.
