"Leap over deserving kids".
Not sure I agree with this. This implies that the recruited athletes in question are not deserving.
Here's how I believe this needs to be looked at.
There are minimum standards to get into the academy. Even the recruited athletes in question meet those standards. So what you are saying is, that there shouldn't be minimum standards. Being the majority of applicants surpass the minimum standards, the academy should simply take the best applying. In theory, this sounds good, but how do you determine the best applying? The academy isn't just looking at gpa, test scores, and class ranking. They are looking at all around kids and a diverse class where cadets will grow into leaders by developing and benefitting from the diversity of their class.
Would the academy benefit more from from a diverse class made up of the whole person, ranging from 3.2-4.0 gpa as well as a spread out test scores but a class made up of kids with a diverse background? Leadership, teamwork, various experiences, etc. Or, would you think it's better to just have those with the highest gpa and test scores. I'll take the 3.5 gpa, 28act score kid with a whole person background than the 4.0 gpa 36act brainiac only kid every day.
The problem I see, is that the same problem you claim exists with athletes, could be used as an excuse for so many other applicants. Even non athletes. Minorities, kids from poor school districts where they don't have the same educational opportunities, kids who don't test well on standardized tests, etc.
People think it's great if you excel in ROTC, cap, scouts, class officer, president of a club, etc. but for some reason, there's no merit if you spent the last 6+ years working hard and excelling in a sport. Too many people think sports don't bring any useful or meaningful attributes to a person's application or their contributions.
When people realize that each activity can be excelled in, and those people should be considered, whether it's the best band member, best scout, best JrRotc member, best academia, best volunteer, best leaders, and best athletes,,,,,, then and only then will they realize the true purpose of an all around and well diverse cadet and leadership Corp.
Assuming of course that all cadets met the standards to attend. And they have. It doesn't matter if they excel in academics or sports.