A truly talented athlete who brings crowds to life with his exploits on the field for two, maybe three seasons, finally receives the scholarship offer of his dreams.
A few months later, that same athlete is still struggling to score 820 on his SAT, or scrambling to find a way to make up a deficiency in his core curriculum.
He can't accept the scholarship.
Scanning the campuses of Oahu for football players who are both athletically and academically desirable to institutions of higher learning, you don't find many at this time of year.
It's not a matter of whether or not the prospect is staying home to play. It's a matter of whether or not he'll be able to play anywhere.
As the NCAA eligibility requirements have increased, fewer and fewer athletes are making it over the hump.
With that in mind, Assets School athletic director Bill Villa has organized tonight's (6:30) seminar in the Damien cafeteria, entitled, "What school counselors, parents, and student-athletes need to know about athletic scholarships."
One of the seminar speakers, Hawaii Pacific University athletic director Tony Sellitto, said an epidemic of neglect is to blame.
"The kids are not checking NCAA clearinghouse requirements," said Sellitto.
The clearinghouse is essential to every student who wants to play NCAA ball, but too many remain unaware of that throughout their high school careers.
When it comes time to sign a national letter of intent, the lack of one of these core courses can scutttle a scholarship: four years of English, two years of math, algebra, or geometry, two years of social sciences, two years of natural or physical science, two additional years of academic courses and one additional year of a math, english or science program.
"The clock starts when you're a freshman," said Scott Hardman, assistant compliance coordinator for the NCAA clearinghouse at the University of Hawaii.
"I emphasize to counselors that they keep the student-athlete's 48H form updated from their first year in high school. The No. 1 problem is that the NCAA puts the burden on the high schools and the student to make sure he is ready."
Sellitto said the problem is not unique to Hawaii. He said he's had to do clearinghouse checks for a number of mainland athletes in his program.
It's the student's primary responsibility to look after his own college preparation. But coaches agree that it often takes a lot of prodding to make an athlete care about his academic well-being.
But Linda Semones, assistant athletic director at Kahuku High School, said there is sometimes a cultural complication.
She said humility is stressed so strongly in some Polynesian families that underclassmen athletes might be discouraged from presuming they'll get a scholarship.
Certain athletes struggle because they've resisted being classified as learning disabled. They and their families see special education class as a stigma.
"But being diagnosed as learning disabled doesn't mean there's anything wrong with the way you think, it just means you have a problem with academics," said Paula Bailey, a psychometrist at Assets School, which specializes in treating learning disabilities.
"Accommodations can be made for the learning disabled student, such as a double time limit for the SAT test," said Bailey.
Educators say an athlete should start taking the SAT as a junior so that he'll have it mastered well before letter of intent day.
Regardless of whatever obstacle the student-athlete faces, there is no reason a promising athlete should have to crash and burn in his or her senior year.