Being outstanding in the classroom pays off in competition

Besides the bragging rights that come with recruiting student-athletes with good, if not great habits in the classroom, there’s a common thread their coaches will tell you is also important to wins and losses, and them keeping their jobs.

“If they have great habits towards their school work they are probably going to have it toward athletics,” Eastern Washington head basketball coach Jim Hayford said. He looks for that success in every area of their life, Hayford said. “You don’t always hit it 100 percent right as a recruiter.”

But it seems he did get it right with his long-distance recruiting...