Faculty Athletics Mentors Work Behind the Scenes for Quakers' Student-Athletes

“Athletes are students first,” says Craig Eilbacher. Guilford’s Faculty Athletics Representative plays a key role along with the school’s faculty advisers to enrich a Guilford student-athlete’s college experience and provide the best education possible.

Eilbacher, a professor of sports medicine at Guilford, is responsible for communicating with the athletic director, serving on search committees for hiring coaches, dealing with NCAA regulations, solving issues student-athletes have with coaches, and maintaining the balance between coaches, faculty and athletes.

Eilbacher describes himself as an arbitrator and mediator. He believes the biggest problem student-athletes face is time management. Figuring out how to plan out one’s day ties into the tricky situations presented by scheduling conflicts with athletics and academics.  “I push athletes to have an open line of communication with the faculty,” he says. Eilbacher says this medium of exchange helps prevent clashes arising from various tournaments and rescheduling conflicts. When athletes are unable to reach solutions with their professors, Eilbacher steps in to reach consensus.   

Eilbacher says student-athletes are not just jocks. “Guilford’s campus is very vibrant,” he says, listing various activities such as theater, art and clubs. Eilbacher encourages student-athletes to branch out and embrace these aspects of campus life. “Whether you are a student, or a student-athlete, you represent Guilford College with distinction.”  

If Eilbacher addresses issues at the institutional level, faculty advisers cater to individual concerns.

Garland Granger (right) is one such faculty adviser. His tenure began as an observer attending baseball practices to watch his nephew. The Guilford accounting professor quickly developed relationships with other baseball players. When head baseball coach Nick Black ‘02 subsequently asked Granger to take on a new role, he became much more than an observer. He became a faculty adviser—or, as Granger likes to call it, a mentor.

Granger is not the school’s only faculty adviser. Their ranks also include Guilford faculty members Heather Hayton, Kyle and Erin Dell, Barbara Lawrence and numerous others who personalize the student-athlete’s college experience. As Granger puts it, “Faculty advisers bridge the gap between athletics and academics.” 

The impact of faculty advisers is both big and small.

Basketball player Will Koppenhaver prepared to transfer after his freshman year. When Hayton (left), the team’s faculty adviser, asked Koppenhaver for one more semester, the power forward listened. In the year that followed, he traveled to the Himalayas as part of a study abroad program and became a better student with Hayton’s help. Koppenhaver will graduate from Guilford this May and started all 26 games in his senior season

Faculty advisers also help in more nuanced ways. Granger recalls when first basemen Chuck Noble struggled to hit the baseball. Granger, who previously played tennis, told Noble to focus on his technique. “When you get up to the plate, take three deep breaths,” Granger said. “What that does is force your muscles to relax.” In the next few games, Noble piled the stat sheet. Days later, Granger received a note from the first baseman, “Thanks for the advice.”

Black says Granger assists students who are unable or afraid of building a bridge with faculty themselves. These relationships can help address any academic-related issue: professors, exams, expectations or life beyond Guilford. 

“The role mostly involves being a sounding board, adviser and resource for the team as they navigate through Guilford,” says Kyle Dell, adviser to the soccer team. Advisers also fulfill a role for student-athletes that coaches cannot. “Coaches aren’t on the academic side of things,” says Black, “so we aren’t able to bridge that gap.” Faculty advisers fill this void for student-athletes by maximizing the educational opportunities Guilford offers.

Faculty advisers have a unified goal. “My greatest gift with students is to instill courage,” says Granger. He says the faculty adviser’s role is to stand beside student-athletes and push them towards improvement while also aiding them in the trials of being both a student and an athlete. “As someone that came through a small liberal arts college myself,” says Dell (right), “I know how important it can be to have personal connections throughout one's different roles in college--as a student, as an athlete, as a leader of a club or even just as a person.” What Dell, and other faculty advisers do, is attempt to establish that connection.

Granger says he stumbled into the opportunity to become faculty adviser. The Dells were offered the job by head soccer coach Jeff Bateson. The three established a relationship during club soccer events. Thanks to the longtime assistance recently retired professor Kathy Adams provided as adviser, Bateson realized the role’s importance for student-athletes.

“This is a position I really wanted,” Eilbacher said. “[I like] working with as many people as possible to make things run smoothly.” Eilbacher relishes the challenge of finding balance between athletics and academics to make the student-athlete’s experience as fulfilling as possible.

“We want to maximize the athlete experience,” says Dave Walters, Guilford’s Sports Information Director. “But at the same time, we want athletes to be successful as students. When student-athletes leave Guilford, we know it will be their education that helps them with gainful employment.”

Faculty advisers can personalize a student-athlete’s Guilford experience and Eilbacher helps maintain an infrastructure that stimulates student success. Both build bridges for present and future endeavors of Guilford’s student-athletes. 

- by Jacob Kapp '15

Guilford's Will Koppenhaver Finds His Way On and Off the Basketball Court Through Helping Others

Frustrated, injured and disenchanted, freshman Will Koppenhaver walked into the office of basketball faculty adviser Heather Hayton. A few months into his college career, Koppenhaver’s original purpose for attending Guilford College had not panned out. He wanted to play basketball. He also liked the campus and Guilford’s strong focus on service and diversity. “If students wanted to act on something that they felt strongly about, then they could,” Koppenhaver said. But being relegated to the bench for the Quakers’ basketball team and unable to find a worthwhile community, Koppenhaver felt anything but empowered.

“Give me one more semester,” Hayton asked the disgruntled 6’6’’ power forward that day in her office. Koppenhaver sat across from the English professor pondering his decision on whether to transfer. He heeded her request.

Now, over two years later, Koppenhaver has concluded his Guilford basketball career after starting all 27 of the team’s games as a senior. He is ready to don the cap and gown with his fellow Guilford seniors this May. Getting to this point, however, was a quest of self-discovery where Koppenhaver exited his comfort zone and came to grips with his dreams of helping people.

Koppenhaver was born in Durham, North Carolina but relocated multiple times until he landed in Boone, North Carolina where his father teaches English at Appalachian State University. Throughout his youth he followed in his mother’s footsteps with involvement in Habitat for Humanity. “I am all about empowerment in the instances of service to others—especially for the good of others,” Koppenhaver said. Now, his post-graduation plans are in motion: Koppenhaver wants to join AmeriCorps—even if it means being paid on the poverty line. His goals crystallized when Koppenhaver struck the balance of student and athlete with Hayton’s help.

Hayton recalls the moment when Koppenhaver first approached her. He was frustrated and aggravated in his body posture. She wanted to find him a community outside of basketball where he could find direction. “As a mom, I immediately fell in love with him,” said the diminutive Hayton. “Here was a giant who wore his heart on his sleeve.” 

The first step towards Koppenhaver’s self-discovery was enrolling in Guilford’s Honors program and getting accepted into the school’s Principled Problem Solving Program. The Center for Principled Problem Solving cultivates students who possess the knowledge and moral values to tackle complex social problems and effect positive change. Koppenhaver was a good fit for the program.

Koppenhaver took a break from basketball for his sophomore season. “I think I needed to be 

away from the team,” he said. “I had a negative attitude.” During his time away from the team, Koppenhaver expanded his horizons by participating in non-profit endeavors like building houses and even planning a hip-hop concert. The biggest step, however, happened during a study abroad trip to Sikkim, India, during in the summer of 2013.

“I wanted him to go to India because it’d be good for him,” Hayton said. “But, second of all, so I could help direct him for the next stage in his life.” Koppenhaver did not expect to be the sole male in a group of nine females, including Hayton. With car rides lasting up to five hours, India was a reckoning experience in more ways than one for someone used to male-dominated circles. For a month Koppenhaver did historical and cultural studies about Sikkim and the surrounding area. He also participated in a variety of service projects aimed at helping the local populace.

“I know it sounds cliché, but it was life-changing,” Koppenhaver said. “It was humbling to see how other people live without iPhones and TVs—all the materialistic things we Americans take for granted.” Koppenhaver realized that he did not have to help everyone, and that people can live differently than him. Hayton noted Koppenhaver was finally able to get out of his own head and see the world from a different perspective. That revelation did not change his desire to help people, but reinforced it.

Being unable to change everything reignited Koppenhaver’s desire to play basketball. This came in spite of four months recovering from a torn meniscus at the end of his freshman year. Now a junior on the team, Koppenhaver was transformed. “Will is a great team player who is willing to sacrifice his personal stats and goals for the good of the team,” said coach Tom Palombo of the now-senior.

But that statement was not always true, hence the visit to Hayton’s office. Now a regular starter, “It’s nice to be sore after games,” Koppenhaver said. After his visit to India, Koppenhaver became more patient and overcame his anger and frustration, which helped both on the court and in shaping his career.

“Heather gave me a bunch of options, and that was the big turning point in my personal and academic life,” Koppenhaver said. If it were not for individuals like Hayton and others, Koppenhaver would no longer be at Guilford. “Through her I realized all the things Guilford offers.”

When Koppenhaver walks to the commencement stage in May, he says he will be thinking about how he took advantage of everything Guilford offered. “I didn’t make any mistakes, but just had lessons to be learned,” he said. Eventually Koppenhaver wants to pursue a master’s in business and continue to find ways to help people through non-profit endeavors.