First In Class

Courtesy: OhioStateBuckeyes.com
Release: 06/11/2010

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Two members of the 2010 Ohio State football team will be among 8,000-plus Ohio State students participating in Spring Commencement Sunday afternoon inside Ohio Stadium.

Offensive lineman Scott Sika and safety Aaron Gant will graduate after finishing their degree in four years and continue their playing careers on the field with the Buckeyes this fall in hopes of bringing a national title to Columbus. Sika will receive a degree in sport and leisure studies while Gant earned his degree in consumer services.

Sika is in the mix at both center and guard after playing in five contests in 2009 as a reserve lineman while Gant has played in 32 career games, making 23 tackles, battling injuries much of his career. The two have made it to a BCS game each year, including a pair of national championship games, while winning the Big Ten each season.

Perhaps more importantly than anything Sika and Gant have done on the field is the fact that both of them stayed on the right track academically and finished their undergraduate degree in just four years, a great accomplishment for any college student, let alone a Division I student-athlete.

"It means a lot to me because there is a lot more to being a football player at Ohio State than on the field stuff," Sika said. "Finishing in four years is pretty important to me and I'll be the fifth person in my family to graduate from here."

For Sika, playing football at Ohio State made him a better student and put him in a much better position for life after football.

"You learn how to balance your time," Sika added. "The athletics part of it really helps you focus on your academics because everything is so scheduled and it forces you to stay on task. I'm going to grad school and looking to be an athletic director or work in sports marketing because of what I have learned in my time here. I've grown up in sports and I'm looking forward to making it a career."

However, let there be no mistaking the fact that the Strongsville, Ohio native has more on his mind than pursuing his education further.

"I want to win a national title. If you ask anybody on our team, especially the seniors, we want to get that national championship and build off the strong finish and Rose Bowl victory last season."