Arizona State sophomore defensive lineman C.J. Fite is a scholar and a baller.
A 2024 All-Big 12 Second Team selection, Fite is a business entrepreneurship major with NFL hopes and aspirations to one day open his own training facility.
“Since high school, I’ve always wanted to be my own boss,” Fite said. “When I was thinking about majors, I thought, ‘Business entrepreneurship works perfectly.’”
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On the gridiron, the 6-foot-1, 295-pounder is a proven talent as an enforcer, registering 30 tackles, four tackles for loss, two sacks and a fumble recovery that he returned for a touchdown last season.
Coupled with a 2024 Fall Academic All-Big 12 selection, Fite isn’t just flourishing on the field, he’s also setting the standard in the classroom.
Fite’s success on and off the field exemplifies a broader trend at Arizona State University. In recent decades, ASU has seen a massive rise in athlete graduation rates; a testament to the university’s dedication to fully support their academic and athletic journeys.
Graduation Success Rate (GSR) is the NCAA’s primary measure for assessing academic performance for Division I athletics. Sun Devil Athletics posted a GSR of 69% in 2005. In 2023, ASU achieved an all-time high GSR of 93%, which the athletic department matched in 2024.
“The support is great,” Fite said. “There are a lot of requirements and people watching over things like that. I know some schools may not do that, but here it’s a big priority. It’s all about getting your work done and being accountable.”
The significant GSR improvement is no accident – ASU has strategically implemented a multi-faceted approach to propel students toward timely graduations.
Success with athlete graduation rates
Several key contributors have driven this steady success.
Andrea Lore, senior associate director of student-athlete development and well-being, has been a part of ASU’s athletic department since 2001, a year before ASU president Michael Crow became the university’s 16th president. She speaks highly of Crow’s unwavering dedication to enhancing resources for athletes to excel in the classroom.
“President Crow has been incredibly supportive of our academic endeavors in many ways,” Lore said. “Over the years, we have added sports, and he has supported the need to increase academic staff and operations to meet our evolving needs.
“His commitment to innovation and inclusivity has had a profound impact on all learners at ASU, ensuring they have access to resources and opportunities that help them thrive.”
Denzel Burrell, associate director academic coach, echoed praise of Crow and his “tremendous sustainability and innovation efforts,” referencing ASU’s recognition as the most innovative university in the United States for the 10th year in a row by U.S. News & World Report. A former University of Virginia linebacker (2005-2009), Burrell came to the Valley in the fall 2012 as a graduate assistant.
He talked about the continuity of everyone within Sun Devil Athletics, highlighting how academic coaches go the extra mile — even on the road — to assist athletes with their studies.
“We have academic personnel that will travel with many of our teams to provide academic support,” Burrell said. “Football and (men’s and women’s) basketball historically will have people travel that provide academic support and study halls.
“Focusing on a psychology exam or writing a five-page term paper the night before a game in a hotel is not ideal. You probably want to be watching film, talking to your family or getting rest to get ready for the game. We definitely take that into consideration and try to build that into their scheduling academically as best as possible.”
Jean Boyd, a recently retired longtime member of the athletics department from 1995 to 2024, played a massive role in spearheading efforts to prioritize the GSR and institute a strong foundation of support. He co-founded the Scholar Baller program in 2001, an incentive-based program recognizing athletes who achieve a semester or cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher. Rewards come in the form of free Sun Devil gear that includes the Scholar Baller logo or patches with the logo for football uniforms.
Lore says the program has developed to be a “pride point” for ASU athletes and that 85% earned this scholar status in the spring of 2024 semester.
“Sun Devil Athletics has continued to invest in these programs to be able to ensure or promote student-athlete success in the classroom,” Lore said. “We’ve added staff over the years in the form of additional learning specialists and academic coaches to support students’ success in the classroom while navigating their ASU major and NCAA eligibility requirements.
Before athletes arrive in Tempe as freshman or transfer students, ASU academic support staff members work tirelessly to determine how much help each individual may need to succeed in the classroom. Re-evaluations occur every semester to monitor their progress.
“We might have somebody that comes in as a freshman and struggles with their grades. Maybe something personal happened to them we don’t know about,” said Natalie Thackrah, director of student-athlete academic services and data. “We want to identify anyone who could potentially be at risk academically or in their personal life to make sure we are providing them with the support they need.
“Some students meet with learning specialists or academic mentors, which means they might be here every day working one-on-one with somebody to make sure they are staying organized.”
The 90% threshold
For years, Sun Devil Athletics’ target GSR was 80%, a feat that was finally eclipsed in the fall 2012. The 90% threshold was reached first the first time in 2021.
Another impactful resource for the Sun Devil athletics department is the Watts Center for Academic Excellence and Championship Life, which opened in 2018. The Watts Center is 15,515 square feet, more than double the space that used to exist on the second floor of the Carson Student-Athlete Center (7,770 square feet). There are 99 work stations, a sharp uptick from the 58 they had before, four large screen displays, before there were none, five total printers, and a nutrition station.
These innovative technologies support current ASU athletes and serve as an attractive recruiting tool to lure future high school prospects to Tempe.
“Before, we had all of our tutoring, mentoring and academic coaching programs condensed into a very small space,” Lore said. “It was a very distracting environment. Now we have multiple rooms and a learning suite that is a much quieter space.”
Courtney Skipper, assistant athletic director of football and men’s basketball academics, started at ASU nearly two decades ago, overseeing every step of the quantum leap in academic support assets.
“When I got to ASU, we had 20 sports,” Skipper said. “Now we are up to 26, so if you’re adding a hundred or so student-athletes, then you need to add more tutors and more academic advisors. That goes hand-in-hand with more mental health specialists and more nutritionists as well. The student-athlete population has grown, so you couldn’t expect any organization to keep the same number of staff.
“Everyone has a voice. Our athletic department does a great job of noticing those changes and having a plan of attack to address them.”
Alonzo Jones, associate athletic director of championship life at ASU, is not a former collegiate athlete, but touched on the path former athletes can take back to collegiate sports after they graduate, working full-time in an area of extreme passion and comfort.
“There’s an element of reciprocity where someone reflects and looks back (on their life) and says, ‘Man, I’m appreciative of what others did for me. By way of a thank you, can I then do that for others?’” Jones said. “That’s why a high percentage of folks working in collegiate athletics, and an even higher percentage of people working in professional athletics, are former athletes themselves.”
Sun Devil running back Kyson Brown has taken on the rigors of the Barrett Honors College as an architectural studies major. The sophomore was one of 59 athletes in Barrett during the 2023-2024 academic year.
Extra assignments and more studying comes with the territory for Brown and Honors College students, and he has the perfect roommate to match his level of academic intensity: sophomore defensive back Keith Abney II.
“Keith and I are both in Barrett,” Brown said. “We keep each other honest to be on top of our grades. That’s been a big benefit to me.
“In football season, (the academic load) is lighter in terms of the in-person commitments, but the overall workload might not be lighter. In the offseason, I try to do as many in-person classes as I can just because it’s easier to learn and maintain my (standing).”
Not every athlete has aspirations of playing professionally, but their love of the game is bonded to them regardless. Competing in sport is part of their core being. When that chapter closes, they face the challenge of redefining their identity.
Jones discussed how the athlete support team at ASU is more prepared than ever to help these young adults succeed in life after college.
“The critique in the past 10 years is, ‘OK, you’re graduating them, but are they prepared for life?’” Jones said. “The midlife crisis is associated with those in their mid-50s, not with early 20-year-olds, but some will experience that because of the reality of the position.
“At one point, college will be over, and when it’s over, with your Sun Devil for life status, you can always loop back to the resources that were available to you at 20. The alumni base is tremendously successful. Hopefully, they are tapped into a network of love and their own growth process can manage a (fulfilling) reality that may not have been as picturesque as they thought when they had professional dreams.”
The beginning of the 2024-2025 academic year brought an added layer of excitement for Sun Devil Athletics in their inaugural Big 12 campaign. Football secured a conference championship and a spot in the College Football Playoff, while volleyball won the Big 12 regular season crown.
The hourglass never runs out for education — learning is a lifelong journey. Members of the ASU academic support staff, like Burrell, are along for the ride.
“We are a very energetic staff,” Burrell said. “We are a modernized institution that focuses on what the future is going to hold in terms of job markets. We focus on degrees that are going to optimally get you towards a career focus. We stay away from things that are going to be obsolete in five, 10, or 15 years.
“ASU is a place that I’ve loved for over a decade now. Each day, you’re more excited to come to work to see what it holds. We have a great staff with excellent resources that translates to high graduation success rates here at the university.”
