Mike Carmin

mcarmin@jconline.com

This is considered halftime in J.J. Prince’s academic pursuit.

The sophomore right tackle on Purdue’s football team will graduate this weekend. He’ll earn a degree in economics with a minor in Spanish.

Nothing out of the ordinary, right?

Prince, though, has accomplished this feat a full five semesters prior to his football eligibility expiring — an usual feat.

“He’s the only football student-athlete I’ve had in 11 years who is graduating in five semesters,” said Seth Schwartz, an assistant director for student services.

The time demands of playing college football can cut into academics. Extended free time is hard to find with games, practices, film study and meetings. Prince took 18 hours of classes in the fall semester – by far his toughest since arriving on campus.

The academic and athletic workload didn’t make offensive line coach Jim Bridge worry about Prince’s performance.

“No, because he’s proven he can handle it,” Bridge said. “We talk about these guys being student athletes and J.J. is the epitome of that. He’s smart, he’s opportunistic. He’s talented enough to handle it. He sees the big picture out there.”

The big picture is only halfway from completion for the 6-foot-6, 302-pound Prince, who made nine starts this season, splitting time with Cameron Cermin, while battling injuries to both shoulders. By the time the Southlake, Texas native leaves West Lafayette, the goal is to obtain an MBA from Krannert’s School of Management.

Any chance for a Ph.D?

“There was probably a path where I could’ve started one,” Prince said, smiling.

Suffice it to say, Prince takes his academics seriously.

He was raised in an environment where attending college was expected. Prince was encouraged to read growing up and continues with the same passion today. The last book he read was “No Country for Old Men,” while receiving treatments on his shoulders throughout the season.

Prince carried a 3.93 GPA into the fall semester, earning a spot on the dean’s list.

“He’s a very cerebral player. He’s meticulous about his preparation, meticulous about his approach, he’s smart but the compliment to him is he gets it,” Bridge said. “He’s worked at it. He’s just not a genius that shows up. He asks questions, he seeks the right answer and works to get it.”

Prince was ahead academically before he stepped on campus. He brought 25 credit hours from Carroll Senior High School through Advance Placement classes.

Perhaps it comes as no surprise that he’s a big fan of Trivial Pursuit.

“I like to know things,” Prince said. “I like to pull things out of thin air and be that guy. Knowing a little bit about a lot of things is something I like to do.”

Schwartz meets with football players annually to go over their plans of study and where they stand academically. It wasn’t until meeting with Prince after his freshman season that Schwartz became aware of the ambitious goal.

“J.J. is pretty self-sufficient. He was able to figure it out on his own,” Schwartz said. “J.J. is extremely smart or he wouldn’t be doing this.”

Since the next MBA program doesn’t start until the fall of 2015, the challenge is finding the right classes in the spring and summer to bridge the gap.

Schwartz said most players prefer to spread out the coursework.

“We have others who can graduate early, but they decide they want to stretch it as much as they can, still meeting the NCAA minimums,” he said.

What is Prince’s motivation to graduate so early? More free time, maybe?

Hardly.

He’s driven by his major – economics. Prince wants to maximize the scholarship opportunity.

“The way I see it is I could get an economics degree, which I’m interested in and stretch it out for five years. Now, I’m forced to make a decision – can I afford graduate school or find a job and work my way up the corporate ladder?” Prince said.

“There’s no sense to focus entirely on football if you think you can do just as well focusing on something else and play less video games,” he explained. “You only get so much time here paid for. Why not push myself and complete as much as I can in the shortest amount of time?”

However, this past semester Prince said was “the hardest I’ve ever had, having a starting role on the team, getting injured to the extent where I had to spend more time in the training room. On top of that I took 18 (credit) hours, which is more than I would ever recommend to any student athlete, at least in football.”

Regular students usually procrastinate until weekends, but Prince was occupied on Saturdays, trying to fend off defensive linemen or opening holes for running back Akeem Hunt.

The round of midterm exams challenged his time-management skills. That was around the time the Big Ten season was underway and Prince was starting to deal with a right-shoulder injury, which he suffered on Sept. 27 against Iowa.

“I had all sorts of things that were coming down on top of me, whether it’s an increased level of competition in football, studying for four finals,” Prince said. “Having to do all of that and maintain some of level competence in both of them was kind of difficult.”

But at least it’s all downhill in Prince’s mind now.

“There’s some sort of relief that I’ve cleared the hump,” he said. “I’ve seen how bad it can get from a time management standpoint.”

Prince injured the left shoulder Nov. 8 against Wisconsin. He will have his shoulders repaired, but won’t be available for spring practice.

He won’t attend graduation ceremonies because “I don’t want to ruin the family Christmas. We planned to have it that weekend.”

This is not the end for Prince, who’s proud of what he’s accomplished yet still keeps his eyes on bigger goals ahead.

“It’s not going to be a huge moment for me until I finish my graduate work. It’s just another step,” he said. “I’m going to school and I’m playing football. I’m going to continue to go to school and play football and do everything I’ve been doing. I just have a diploma to go with it.”

J.J. Prince

Class: Sophomore

Position: Right tackle

Hometown: Southlake, Texas

High School: Carroll Senior

Notable: Started nine games. ... Helped the rushing attack average 157.2 yards and 4.7 yards per carry. ... Four-year letterwinner at Carroll Senior. ... Member of 2011 Texas Class 5A state championship team, which was 16-0. ... Academic all-state.