grades

grades are just as important as ability.actually more important if you want to play at a d1.
tell your friend to get on ncaa.org and look at the classes needed for each division.then look at what he needs.he may still have time to turn it around.

orioles - My son wasn't a good student in HS. He was a qualifier though. The grades won't prevent your friends from being recruited, but will prevent some from coming after him. By having the grades to match the talent will only give a player that many more options. If he can take a correspondence or night class to raise even one lower grade in a core class might make a big difference.

Good advice, most important you do have to qualify to play at the level you want to.

We had a stud pitcher from these parts, was he was surprised that he had to go JUCO route first, not that is a bad thing, but he thought ability alone would get him a great scholarship. Doesn't work that way.

If he is truly a stud he will get looked at regardless of grades. I know of one player who has been UIL ineligible for 2 or the past 3 years due to grades. He just signed with one of the biggest D1 programs.

quote:

Originally posted by Redhead:
If he is truly a stud he will get looked at regardless of grades. I know of one player who has been UIL ineligible for 2 or the past 3 years due to grades. He just signed with one of the biggest D1 programs.

What is UIL ineligible?

Those are the exception, though, Red. A small percentage.

For 99% of the boys, poor grades will really limit their options.

A 4.0, on the other hand, will ensure that no options are eliminated.

TPM,
In Texas, we have the "No pass-no play" laws. So if you're failing, you can't play sports!

I agree. I have a LHP friend who graduated from a D111 JC last spring. He was their top pitcher with just under 2 Ks per inning. 2nd in his conference with 1.8 era and he couldn't get a school to look at him. Finally got an NAIA school in Kansas to sign him.

TPM - for students involved in extracurricular activities - ie: sports, band, etc (anything that competes in UIL) a student must pass his/her classes with a 70 or above. If not, they are ineligible to participate until the next grading period or progress report. There are exceptions for AP classes and dual credit classes.

quote:

Originally posted by Redhead:
If he is truly a stud he will get looked at regardless of grades. I know of one player who has been UIL ineligible for 2 or the past 3 years due to grades. He just signed with one of the biggest D1 programs.

As others have said it will limit choices, and there will be some schools that will not touch him no matter what the talent level.

I really would like to believe that but in reality, if you are a big time athlete exceptions will be made. I know of multiple D1 football players from a certain school district in Texas that I used to live in. My best friend is a special ed teacher there and she can go down the list and tell me which players are literate/illiterate. They all have the same major - something like Modern Applied Agriculture.

quote:

Originally posted by Redhead:
I really would like to believe that but in reality, if you are a big time athlete exceptions will be made. I know of multiple D1 football players from a certain school district in Texas that I used to live in. My best friend is a special ed teacher there and she can go down the list and tell me which players are literate/illiterate. They all have the same major - something like Modern Applied Agriculture.

We are talking about 2 differnt things. Football players and basketball players are treated differently (revenue producing sports). Schools will give teams slots for academic waivers (NCAA qualified but not school admissions qualified) but they are limited.

The danger is we can all name the 1 kid who signs but there are others who are good players that have their choices limited. If a coach has the choice between 2 comparable players one with a 3.4 GPA and one with a 2.2 GPA who is struggling in his core courses who is he going to go for.

I was at a National showcase behind some very strong ACC coaches when they were watching a very projectable pitcher throwing 92-95. They were extremely excited about him until they saw his GPA and SAT scores on their roster sheet. Their response was what the hell am I going to do with that...they got up and grabbed some lunch.

This goes back to a previous Athletics vs Academic threads. I personally think it's a shame that some schools will stoop to the level of accepting academic nonqualifiers and then use the excuse that a good athletic program enriches the schools social environment.

Bottom line, IMHO, if you do not qualify under the schools academic guidelines an athlete should go to a school where he/she can.

Know of a HS baseball player was highly touted. Projected to be drafted with a nice bonus. Went UIL ineligible his senior spring, failing at least one course. Apparently had been marginal on grades for a while.

Bonus talk went bye-bye. Pros figured he wouldn't go to college. So they didn't have to dangle big dollars in front of him to lure him away from school. Ouch.

Grades will NOT stop a player from being recruited. It is true that because of talent, many doors will open to him that may not have opened otherwise. I know my son was admitted to some schools he wouldn't have been without the baseball factor. However, I also know that grades cost him some opportunities for offers.

It's pretty simple IMO.... great talent (work hard to get great) + great grades (word hard to get great) = more offers/opportunities. Less talent = less opportunities and less of a GPA = less in opportunities.

Never compare football recruitng to baseball recruiting! With 80 scholarships vs. 11.7, baseball coaches have to be more careful.

Some players get signed on purpose, if they do not qualify they head off to JUCO or get drafted.

Lafmom is correct, poor grades do NOT stop the recruiting process. Limits opportunities.

The situation I was refering to was that this stud player who thought he could play for the best schools in our state did not qualify for D1.

Dawgfan brings to our attention that coaches are only allowed to recruit so many that would normally not pass admissions. Also, these days for baseball, many coaches want to know their recruits will not become academically ineligible.

quote:

Dawgfan brings to our attention that coaches are only allowed to recruit so many that would normally not pass admissions.

My question is why should they be allowed to recruit any of them? If a kid cannot be admitted on his academics, there are other great schools in this country that will take him in and teach him on the level he belongs. Instead, he is granted immunity at a good academic institution, and is hand held through the years to make sure he stays eligible. Thats BULL. In the mean time a general student who truly desires the education is denied because he/she does not qualify academically.

I know a previous post identified the issues but I'm still "postal" about it.

quote:

Originally posted by Redhead:
If he is truly a stud he will get looked at regardless of grades. I know of one player who has been UIL ineligible for 2 or the past 3 years due to grades. He just signed with one of the biggest D1 programs.

Given the NCAA policy on pulling scholarships from programs that have issues with academic ineligibility, most coaches don't want to take a risk on a kid that struggles with the school work. Baseball programs already have so little scholarship money to work with that they need every dime. It's a simple fact that poor grades in HS will close doors regardless of a kid's talent. Private schools may have a bit more flexibility on admissions and GPA versus top public schools that have to more rigidly follow state admissions policies, but that's still a small accomodation open to boundary-case students.

My son was an average student ... basically a pretty consistent 2.9-3.0 ... and I know that reduced his options with some of the more academically challenging schools, despite his abilities.

quote:

Originally posted by rz1:

quote:

Dawgfan brings to our attention that coaches are only allowed to recruit so many that would normally not pass admissions.

My question is why should they be allowed to recruit any of them? If a kid cannot be admitted on his academics, there are other great schools in this country that will take him in and teach him on the level he belongs. Instead, he is granted immunity at a good academic institution, and is hand held through the years to make sure he stays eligible. Thats BULL. In the mean time a general student who truly desires the education is denied because he/she does not qualify academically.

I know a previous post identified the issues but I'm still "postal" about it.

To expand on this there is also a difference between being eligible for the school and being able to be admitted. For example my Son was a good student with pretty good SAT scores. A number of schools said that even with his grades that without baseball he might not get in. When you look at the number of students that apply to school vs admitted there may only accept 30%. It does not mean that the all of the 70% were poor students or did not meet the standards...there were others that had more to offer (including grades, background, activities, volunteer work and major and more factors than I know). Athletics is just one reason a student may get a step above another student who is applying.

Athletics as a whole has a positive impact on the underclassman and the schools ability to attract students, even those not participating in sports. I know that my Son's grades and SAT scores were part of the equation. Every school is different but "the stud" ball player is going to get looks, but if the coach doesn't think he will be around for 3 years due to academics why is he going to invest in him...Don't forget what we as parents think as Stud may be different than what the coach thinks as a stud.

In regards to the student athlete who is border line NCAA qualified, yes there are schools and coaches that will go after these athletes, I truly think it is a smaller % than many people think. In regards to strong students that would not get in for sure without baseball it might be more than you think (if that makes sense).