Why Student-Athletes Need To Focus On Academics for College Recruiting

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High School student-athletes really need to focus on their grades for a variety of reasons, including for college recruiting. Only 1% of college athletes play professionally. That means the other 99% of college athletes have to go out in the workforce. It is important that you make good grades in High School so you can get accepted into a respected university and ultimately help yourself get a good job.

When it comes to NCAA recruiting, academics are very important as well. Coaches are looking for athletes who excel in the classroom more so than on the athletic field. Coaches only have a certain number of scholarships. If there are two athletes who are about the same in athletics, but far different in the classroom, the coach is going to choose the athlete who has the better grades. Why? They will choose the athlete with better grades because that athlete will get more money from financial aid which ultimately will save the coach money on that specific scholarship.
 

Coaches are looking for every way to turn a scholarship into multiple athletes. The best coaches can recruit academically accomplished players and split 8 full scholarships into 15 players. Here at Thoroughbred Baseball and Softball Academy we believe that Academics are a huge piece in the recruiting process, and we believe you need to be able to impress coaches on the field and in the classroom.

Q. Why are my high school academics so important? The following list is the updated academic requirements to play at the collegiate level.

A. 1. You must graduate from high school – well duhh!!!

2. You must complete 16 core courses and receive a minimum high school GPA of 2.3 in those courses. The core course requirements are as follows 4 years of English, 3 years of Math (Algebra 1 or higher), 2 years of Natural or Physical Science, 2 years of Social Science, 1 extra year of English, Math or Science and 4 years of Religion, Philosophy, Foreign Language or additional years of any of the categories above.

3. 10 of the 16 core courses from above MUST be completed prior to your senior year. You CANNOT retake any of these 10 core courses to earn a higher score, prior to your senior year.

4. Your SAT or ACT score is on a sliding scale and the minimum requirement you need to score on these tests is determined by your HS GPA.

5. Take the SAT/ACT as early in high school career as possible. Take the SAT/ACT several times, keep improving your test score.

Q. Why is my Junior Year an Important Year for Eligibility?  Things you must do to be eligible your freshman year of college and the college recruiting process.

A. If you haven’t already done it, go to the NCAA Eligibility website. You will need to register on the website at the beginning of your junior year.
 

You’ll want to get to see your guidance counselor because he or she can help you choose the right classes and make sure you stay on track. Don’t guess which classes to take!
 

The NCAA has a list of approved classes, and those are the only ones that count toward your eligibility. The list of courses at your school are available on the NCAA website.
 

Don’t use a list from another school and assume that the classes will be ok. You might need some help getting the list of approved classes at your school.

Q. What  is competition at the College Level?
As you will read below, scholarships in baseball are limited. The small amount of scholarship money available to baseball programs places an even greater emphasis on academics.

Division I

There are approximately 299 NCAA Division I baseball programs with each team being allowed to offer a maximum of (11.7) scholarships. Under NCAA rules, these 11.7 scholarships can be divided between a maximum of 27 players, with all players on athletic scholarship having to receive a minimum of a 25% scholarship.

FYI, less than 2% of the nearly 500,000 student athletes that participate in high school and legion baseball will play at the Division I college level. More than 80% of collegiate baseball players play at the Division II, Division III, NAIA, and Junior College level. 

Division II

There are approximately 274 NCAA Division II baseball programs with each team having a maximum of (9.0) scholarships per team. Recruiting rules are similar to the Division I level with the exception of the distribution of scholarships.  Some athletes who play Division II baseball have the ability to play at a Division I program, but ultimately choose to play at the Division II level because they can play earlier in their career or are able to obtain athletic scholarship money.

Division III

There are approximately 387 NCAA Division III programs across the country. There are more opportunities to play college baseball at the Division III level than any other level made up of four-year institutions. Division III programs are not able to offer athletic scholarships but can put together attractive financial aid packages that rival the partial athletic scholarships at other levels.

NAIA and JUCOs

There are approximately 184 NAIA baseball programs with each program being allowed to offer up to (12) scholarships per team. With this scholarship number, NAIA programs are allowed to offer more athletic scholarships than any other level with four-year schools.  While scholarships are often divided up into partial scholarships amongst many players on the roster, many high-level players will choose to play at the NAIA level to obtain a better athletic scholarship package.