Too many student-athletes think that they don’t need to challenge themselves academically in high school. Academics are far more important than most people think.
Academics:
- Will determine the schools into which the student athlete will be admitted.
- Will determine the schools at which the student athlete can succeed.
- Will determine eligibility through the NCAA Initial Eligibility Center.
- Will determine whether the student athlete will remain in school as well as his/her future success.
Too many players think that if they are good players, they don’t need to be good students. Nothing could be further from the truth. Good athletes will get into schools into which they otherwise might not be admitted. It’s one thing to get into school. It’s quite another to be successful in a curriculum from which you can build a career.
If you are in the bottom 10% of your incoming class, you will be competing in the classroom against people, 90% of whom are better qualified than you. I knew who thought she had taken all the right courses, performed well enough academically, was accepted into the college she desired. Following her acceptance, she was contacted by the coach of a sport in which she participated in high school and got her hopes up of competing at the college level, only to be deemed ineligible her freshman year because she had not taken all the required courses in high school.
