Answer: I would contend that the right answer is the C) whether or not student-athletes are students who participate in sports, or athletes who may also go to class.
Explanation: Just to elaborate a little on the answer, it can be added that Christopher Saffici and Robert Pellegrino wrote their article in 2012 with the title "Intercollegiate athletics vs. academics: the student-athlete or the athlete-student." Their main argument is that the students who are accepted in colleges due to their athletic skills often are not prepared to do well academically while meeting the expectations and demands as athletes, so, in turn, they are given preferential treatment in school, and they are overworked, becoming more athletes that go to college (without truly succeeding academically, as they are supposed to), that students who are also athletes.
In fact, they say that "It is not a question of whether or not the experience for a student-athlete is different from that of a traditional student. Instead, the issue at hand here is whether or not student-athletes are students that participate in extracurricular competitive sports, or have become athletes that also go to classes whenever their athletic schedules allow."
