'The Dodie' is academic and recruitment magnet

COLUMBIA -- It looks like a mansion on a hill. Standing inside, Raymond Harrison is surrounded by three floors and 40,000 square feet of inspiration, plus a salad bar.

The University of South Carolina's new $13.5 million Dodie Anderson Academic Enrichment Center for the school's athletes includes three computer labs, a cafeteria, wireless Internet, a staff nutritionist, two sports psychologists and a multipurpose room that comes with a real estate broker's dream view of Williams-Brice Stadium.

But Harrison, USC director of academics and life skills in chargeof the facility's $1.1 million budget and 150 tutors, sees "The Dodie" in more personal terms.

From a sunny second-floor balcony, he sees Stephon Gilmore walking through the front door of the glassy building named for Greer philanthropist Dolores F. Anderson.

"Oh, Stephon is here almost every day," Harrison said of the sophomore from Rock Hill, a Southeastern Conference Honor Roll student and perhaps head coach Steve Spurrier's most valuable football player.

Such an example is why Harrison, fellow administrators and their colleagues at Clemson University and within other major athletic departments around the country staunchly defend the need for such large, separate academic centers that have become recruiting magnets displayed to convince prospects (and their parents) that graduation is probable with such nearly round-the-clock help. Improved grade point averages, honor roll statistics and graduation rates, the school officials say, counter concerns about cash-strapped public universities with athletic departments often requiring subsidies to stay in the black.

"I'm in the wrong business if I don't think it's worth it," USC Athletic Director Eric Hyman said. "If we're not doing this part of it then what's the difference between us and the professional teams?"

Clemson Athletic Director Terry Don Phillips agrees, and then some.

"I don't make any apologies whatsoever for the academic facilities we have at Vickery Hall or for what they have at other schools," Phillips said. "Conversely, we would be doing a disservice to our student-athletes if we didn't have these facilities."

A classic Catch-22: The top-level major college football or basketball player often is a student who might not attend a given university if not for athletic ability and the obligations of practice and travel allow less time for academic pursuits for athletes than fellow students, most of whom are more academically capable.

Add two of the Palmetto State's most distinguishing characteristics -- a passion for college football and poor public education records in SAT scores, literacy and other academic ratings. Clemson was way out front in 1991 with its Vickery Hall athletic academic center, a bridge to relative classroom success that has been copied at schools around the country.

"I really could not imagine how our student-athletes are supposed to meet their athletic demands and academic demands without this kind of support," said Becky Bowman, Clemson's associate athletic director for academic services. "They need somebody to talk to weekly. They need people who are experts and are able to answer questions about the classes they are in.

"Just look at the travel demands placed upon these athletes. These kids take off for Boston or Maryland. I mean, how are they supposed to do that and keep up with studying, too?"

The Norwood example

Harrison and his staff had some high-profile success at USC without the benefit of The Dodie.

Eric Norwood, the former Gamecocks star now with the NFL's Carolina Panthers, was denied admission to USC three times. He finally won acceptance on appeal and graduated in just three and a half years, receiving a criminal justice degree last December.

The national champion Gamecock baseball team had a 3.0 grade point average for the 2010 spring semester, best of all the eight teams at the College World Series in Omaha. The men's basketball team had a 3.0 grade point average for the spring of 2009 and 2.6 or better for four straight semesters.

But when Dodie Anderson, a longtime Gamecock fan, asked what Spurrier needed most for the football program, he said a free-standing academic center. The widow of former Anderson Hardwood Floors chairman Robert Anderson jump-started the project with $5 million. It opened in January, replacing space Harrison and his staff shared in three buildings around campus.

"It's a top-notch facility," USC senior football player Shaq Wilson said. "It has everything you need: Tutors, advisers. We really needed that place and I'm glad we have it."

Harrison and other USC administrators visited other athletic academic centers before compiling their own design suggestions.

"We went to Florida, Ole Miss, Georgia, LSU, Auburn, Alabama, Clemson, Vanderbilt and Tennessee," Harrison said. "I think ours is really up there with the best. I really liked Alabama's; they took their old football dorm (Bryant Hall) and renovated it. LSU's (54,000-square-foot Cox Communications Academic Center for Student-Athletes) is nice but it was just so large and it wasn't very sound-proof."

The NCAA does not consider the athletic academic center idea akin to "jock dorms," a disparity banned two decades ago because general learning centers are open to all students on most campuses.

As with Clemson's Vickery Hall, The Dodie is open to athletes in all sports. But the obvious aim is "revenue- producing" football and men's basketball and the pool of prospects historically more academically challenged than most other freshmen.

Bigger and nicer means better for recruiting.

"This will definitely help," Gilmore said. "Everyone should know they are going to work hard on their own, but this does make life easier."

A Dodie visitor, or football recruit, immediately sees the touch screens in the Hall of Academic Excellence. There are taped welcome messages from Hyman and USC President Dr. Harris Pastides.

"We want to give them the resources so they can succeed not only athletically but also academically," Hyman said.

Athletes at USC are required to do one community service event per semester and participate in mandatory programs including an etiquette dinner and Dress For Success. Harrison is one of 11 full-time employees at The Dodie.

The five things

Smaller and "mid-major" athletic departments such as those at The Citadel and the College of Charleston more or less wedge academic areas into other buildings on campus.

If it works for them, why spend so much at bigger schools?

"But they don't recruit the same kind … Or, I guess I would say, they don't have to have as many student-athletes who do not fit a usual academic record/success ratio profile," a USC administrator said.

A larger campus also means longer commutes after odd-hour games and practices. A separate academic center means tutor and study hall slots built around football and basketball schedules.

"The student-athletes have the late hours after practice and the travel," Hyman said. "If you have a shared facility and (athletes) are coming in after hours and waiting in lines, you are defeating the purpose and it just makes it more difficult."

Tori Gurley, a USC sophomore football player, said campus distractions are numerous for players.

"Everywhere I go, folks know who I am and they want to come up and talk," Gurley said. "With me being a friendly guy, I tend to have a light conversation with them. But I know I have to stay on top of my academics and The Dodie building is the best place for me to get away from all that and do my school work."

Athletes from non-revenue sports are at least as likely to praise the academic center option.

"It would be so hard, especially with practice and everything," said Kelly Hall, a member of the Clemson rowing team. "I don't think people realize we work out two times a day and then we barely have any time to study. If I didn't have a place like this to come and make sure they kick my butt every day and make sure I do my stuff, I don't know. Well, I'd probably be struggling."

Harrison admits some aspects of The Dodie, including wide-angle views and comfy couches, are not particularly scholastic.

"But we didn't want it to be like a prison," he said.

The design is intended to motivate current students -- "No excuses," Harrison said -- and prospects.

"When we have the successes we have academically and athletically it sends a message," Hyman said. "I try to tell parents whenever I can that in the formative years, the academic commitment needs to be there."

Harrison knows he works in a fancy building. But he lives in a glass house with results constantly updated on paper. Or touch screens.

"Our foundation," Harrison said, "is five things: Go to class every day, get to know your professors, turn your assignments in on time, be respectful and use the resources available.

"This building is fantastic. But just because you have a great building doesn't mean your grades are going to go up," he said.

Reach Gene Sapakoff at 937-5593 or gsapakoff@postandcourier.com .