What if they really aren't that smart?

I wouldn't think it will affect pro interest, but it could effect signing bonus. As far as college, A player must be cleared by the NCAA. and that will require a certain GPA and SAT.
Jr colleges have very good baseball and more baseball scholarships

Parents need to be in charge and aware when it comes to the academics and choosing a college. I don't think the pros would care if a student is average. Many colleges and/or coaches won't either. That's where parents come into the picture. We had one college coach (my son ALMOST signed with them) that completely blew off my concerns that the school might be too academically challenging for my son. A coach should be able to tell you what assistance they have in place, what he expects as far as studying time, GPA, and how grades do matter to him. If they can't, that school might not be the place for an average student. I personally favor smaller schools and JUCOs for the average student. I think any time a player can have more individualized attention the better. However, I've known some very average students that have done just fine at a larger school because they had a coach that cared about grades and eligibility - made sure the kid was in class as well as getting the tutoring they needed.

From our own personal experience, an honor student with talent and a good scholarship to a top baseball school, has more signability issues than the average or below average student. If that player has talent, they may be more signable than the above.
I can also tell you from experience, as Lafmaom suggests, if you have concerns whether your son would struggle, and he wants to attend college, there is nothing wrong with going the JUCO route or smaller school.
Remember,if you lose academic eligibilty, you don't play, it happens.

You can be a average or below average student but if you are talented player believe me the schools will bend over back wards to help you qualify and arrange tutoring to stay eligible. A player could be going to a top baseball school or jr college, his signablity comes down to how much money does he want to play pro ball. Some will sign for nothing and others wouldn't give up school for a million

I agree with lafmom, njbb, and TPM...
I'll just say it again

Here is the way I see it. Options and signability are both factors in the pro draft. A player’s academic competence could be a factor in both his college options and his professional signability. If a player has very little in the way of college options after high school, his signability would increase because his leverage to negotiate would decrease. If the player has some great college options after high school I would think his signability would become more of an issue. Where does this put the average high school student? I think most public colleges with strong baseball programs feel if the player is academically eligible out of high school, they can keep him eligible while in college. Most will say the JUCO route would be more attractive from an academic stand point for the “average” student....Makes sense but I really don’t know. Cong, as far as the pro draft, I don’t see this as being a factor one way or the other if he has some college options. I think an average high school student (that is also a stud ball player) should have some college options out of high school.
Fungo

Since the majority of kids are not drafted right out of hs, he should put college on his list of priorities for now. If he does get drafted I would guess the C avg. wouldn't matter to the scouts. But it he is looking for a place to fit in, then it takes some investigating to find the right fit. My son is considered in our area to have been a "stud" baseball player but he also was diagnosed with ADHD in elementary school. He was an avg. student who never did really great on tests even when he knew the stuff. He did not ace the SAT's and only had a 2.3 GPA when broken down for D-I so he could've maybe redshirted at a big school until he got it up or he could've gone the D-II route. I often times would refer to "The Sport Source" since it lists the avg GPA and SAT scores of the students. I haven't seen it mentioned here lately but I found out about this book on this site. It's a good resource on all the colleges that have baseball programs. I think I got mine on Amazon.com. It even has info on the baseball programs, majors, student population,housing, basically alot of what you want to know. I didn't want him to go somewhere and have him not be able to handle it. He decided to go the D-III route since alot of JUCO schools don't seem to have campus housing. For him, it has worked out and his GPA has improved due to smaller class size and the willingness of the professors to give added help if they ask for it. This book also helped us cross off schools that didn't sound like they'd be a good fit. The cover of the book lists a website, http://www.thesportsource.com if that helps. Sorry, I don't see anywhere to to insert that as a hyperlink.

Well, that was cool! It hyperlinked for me and I didn't do a thing!

PAbbMom ...

Concur 100% on that book. Lots of good info about the schools, the baseball programs, advice on getting connected to coaches, etc. Almost as valuable as the info on HSBBW ...

I can't completely speak to the pro stuff, though I'm pretty familiar with some of it. But as the parent of a below-average high school student now in his third year of college, at the D-I level:

The pro scout will ask about academics if they really are interested. And they'll ask at the high school, JUCO and 4-year college levels. They want the whole picture, and that's part of said picture.

But with the pros, it's not usually a deal-breaker.

As for college, if you don't have the grades, you'd better have the tools, and you'd better have an explanation for the grades. You'd also better be prepared to get less money, because you have no negotiating position.

But it still can happen.

Having a son who had poor,and I mean poor grades, I can tell you that they can succeed in college if they have the support staff around themand they work hard.

Most college ball players are average or below average students--my guy was a 2.2 GPA-- he came out of college with his degree in Hotel Management and Tourism with a 2.7 GPA

I am sure that he is nothing special --many players don't excel academically in HS --they blossom in college when the possibility of academic ineligibility is there--they dont want that embarrassment

Bottom line-- if your player is a below average student make sure you research the schools interested in him for their academic support

And my son was at a VERY LARGE school so that is not an excuse for failure