[TrumpCard]

FR, thanks very much for that anecdote.  It got me thinking.  If you're looking for one potential indicator of intent to return, the academic all-conference team may provide a hint.  It's not just that kids who do well in school tend to like school more.  I'm thinking about dollars and cents.  Kids who make an academic all-conference team are more likely to qualify for a co-term, and, if they do, would receive a substantial boost in post-football earnings by staying to get the master's degree.  For example, Dallas Lloyd, like Conrad Ukropina, made second team with a solid GPA in the STS major and would likely qualify for a co-term program.  Johnny Caspers and Jordan Watkins (assuming he's invited back) are in a similar boat.  They both are on the second team all conference, so a co-term should be within reach for them as well.  Of course, making the academic all-conference team is neither necessary nor sufficient for a guy to stay for his fifth year.  Pat Skov made the first team last year, but chose the MBA program at Georgia Tech over the MSE co-term at Stanford.  Further, few, if any, of Stanford's returning 5th years this year were academic all-conference last year.  I'm just saying that the master's degree should carry some extra weight for the kids who have that option.  The Ukropina anecdote seems to support that hypothesis. 

[TrumpCard]

FR, thanks very much for that anecdote.  It got me thinking.  If you're looking for one potential indicator of intent to return, the academic all-conference team may provide a hint.  It's not just that kids who do well in school tend to like school more.  I'm thinking about dollars and cents.  Kids who make an academic all-conference team are more likely to qualify for a co-term, and, if they do, would receive a substantial boost in post-football earnings by staying to get the master's degree.  For example, Dallas Lloyd, like Conrad Ukropina, made second team with a solid GPA in the STS major and would likely qualify for a co-term program.  Johnny Caspers and Jordan Watkins (assuming he's invited back) are in a similar boat.  They both are on the second team all conference, so a co-term should be within reach for them as well.  Of course, making the academic all-conference team is neither necessary nor sufficient for a guy to stay for his fifth year.  Pat Skov made the first team last year, but chose the MBA program at Georgia Tech over the MSE co-term at Stanford.  Further, few, if any, of Stanford's returning 5th years this year were academic all-conference last year.  I'm just saying that the master's degree should carry some extra weight for the kids who have that option.  The Ukropina anecdote seems to support that hypothesis.