NIU coaches and faculty are helping to prevent student-athletes from winding up in a negative limelight.

After photos surfaced of Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps engaging in drug use, some administrators working with student-athletes have warned against poor decision making and how it may affect them in their future. With the thousands of photos floating around on various networking sites, coaches and faculty encourage students to maintain a clean record to avoid jeopardizing future career opportunities.

Donna Turner, associate director for the department of intercollegiate athletics, said the athletic department is very proactive in educating student-athletes to make smart choices for their health and careers.

“We hold a convention at the beginning of each year to remind our student-athletes that they are always representing NIU,” Turner said. “Each student-athlete is given a Smart Card which acts as a reminder to make good choices. It’s a strong message we send.”

Terry Jones, associate director of Judicial Affairs, said student-athletes are held at a higher standard because they are constantly representing the university.

“Our office doesn’t have enough staff to respond to how many photos may be online of students participating in activities like smoking cannabis or underage drinking,” Jones said. “Although we are not actively searching for student-athletes breaking standard regulations, what we do tell them is if you’re going to do things like Michael Phelps, you need to be prepared for the consequences. Your career development may be compromised.”

Will Smith, assistant coach for the men’s basketball team, said NIU coaches monitor student-athletes’ online activity periodically.

“We like to make sure they aren’t portraying anything negative on their networking sites,” Smith said. “Our goal is to prevent the behavior before it happens. Recruiters often look at pages to research athletes.”