Putting the "Student" in Student-Athlete

In college sports, practicing, training, and playing ball is only half the battle. Student-athletes must find a way to be full-time in the classroom and in the field. In a chat with starting pitcher Isaac Rohde gave lots of credit to the coaching staff for how much work they put into organizing their practice plans and daily schedule around class schedules and anything else that would come up.

I also talked with relief pitcher Lex Meinderts. Meinderts, one of twenty Pilots who graduated this year, which accounts for half of the 2025 roster, graduated with a degree in business finance and signed a professional contract with the Washington Wild Things from Washington, Pennsylvania. The Wild Things are a member of the Frontier League. Meinderts is one of five players from the 2025 LSUS baseball roster to sign with a team in the Frontier League.

As for how Meinderts did in class, he told me he did great. These were the most classes he had taken in a single semester. In total, he had seven classes, twenty-one hours' worth of credits, and passed every single class. Meinderts told me, “Kind of crazy that my hardest school semester was in the same semester we went 59-0.” According to the LSUS athletics site, all student-athletes averaged a 3.05 GPA. This is the twelfth consecutive semester in which the athletics department averaged a GPA above 3.0. Brendan Burns and Deyven White made the Chancellor's List. Nathaniel de la Cruz, Cameron Henson, and Camden Stephens all made the Dean’s List.

One question I had was if Meinderts scheduled all online classes to avoid having any interference with baseball. Meinderts is from the Netherlands, and told me as a foreigner, he is required to attend at least 9 hours of in-person classes. In the Spring 2025 semester, he took three classes in-person and four online so he could graduate. He says, “It’s hard to balance everything throughout a season so it’s important to stay on top of your homework and study what you might’ve missed in class due to a game.”

Another player I chatted with was catcher Diego Aragon. Aragon told me he was able to take all online classes. Aragon said the coaches took care of scheduling everything, so the players did not have to worry about classes interfering with baseball.

Assistant coaches on the baseball staff monitored the players’ schoolwork when needed. Meinderts told me there is a study hall implemented by assistant coaches for players who are struggling academically. According to Aragon, the team study hall took place throughout the fall semester. According to an article by Matt Vines on the official LSUS website back in January, LSUS athletics hired Megan Bruce as an assistant director to student-athlete success. This is the first time LSUS has done this. 

I asked Meinderts if he had classes with teammates. He says he took one Admin Policy class with Jack Parks. Overall, athletes at LSUS excel in the classroom. In the previously mentioned article by Matt Vines, Athletic Director Lucas Morgan stated, “Our student-athletes are doing something special in the classroom, especially with the amount of success they are also having in competition,” “We are so proud of the work they are putting in.” Morgan says with the additional services added in, he can “only imagine academic success will continue to improve.”