I think the problem here is that you are assuming that just about anybody can look at a student's transcript and see how he/she is doing.
Au contraire, mon frère. The privacy laws make it a federal offense to release a student's transcript unless the kid says it's ok. And there is simply no way at all that anyone outside the institution involved itself can keep up with how well a student is doing. Shoot, often the profs themselves can't tell you until the semester is over; kids make the most remarkable recoveries. As for keeping up with the student's grades and progress towards a degree, forget about it. There's no way anyone outside the student and the registrar at the institution involved could be privy to that.
It is too bad that this worked out the way it did. I was counting on Whitehead to be a real force for us this season. But the coaches can only go on what the students tell them until they get the final transcripts. It's a blow and now I think it is necessary for some of the freshmen to play. Let's hope that goes well.