Years ago I attended UCB for professional school. At that time, applicants needed 3-4 years of undergrad classes but didn’t need to finalize and complete a bachelor’s degree. I had my bachelors as did the majority of my class (some had masters or PhDs) but a couple of classmates didn’t. Because of that, when applying to the professional school, we also had to submit an application for the undergraduate program. I received acceptance from the professional school (in January) with a note saying that it was contingent on being accepted into the undergraduate program. Our applications were in the same pile as everyone else. Would the professional school have stepped in and helped those that didn’t get accepted as undergrads? Maybe but chances are they knew we were viable candidates when they accepted us in the first place.
Missy Franklin (Cal) is not an academic slouch. Coaches and AD know if a highly recruited athlete has the academic background to be accepted. My question is how UCLA knows that Lonzo Ball’s youngest brother ('19) will have the grades to get in. I’m sure there is small print saying that he has to achieve some minimum level of academic competence to keep his offer. His recruitment was a package deal with his older siblings.