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The following article is sponsored by National Scouting Report. Visit NSR’s web site at nsr-inc.com
RECRUITING BLOG: THE IMPORTANCE OF ACADEMICS IN COLLEGE RECRUITING
By Gary Silvers
Tyrone Lewis sat across the table from Drexel University basketball coach Bruiser Flint expecting to be offered a full athletic scholarship.
Flint asked to see Lewis’ transcript from Harry S Truman High School.
Lewis pushed it across the table.
Flint picked it up, looked at it for a moment and pushed it back to Lewis.
“I can’t offer you a scholarship,” Flint said dejectedly. “You can’t qualify.”
Lewis, a two-time Suburban One League basketball player of the year and the all-time leading scorer in Lower Bucks County history (2,211 points), didn’t have the grades to be admitted to Drexel in 2006. In fact, he also couldn’t qualify at Niagara University in Buffalo, N.Y., where he emerged as the school’s all-time leader in 3-pointers and steals from 2006-10.
Fortunately for Lewis, Niagara offered him admission, contingent upon him passing two prerequisite courses. Lewis passed both courses, worked extra hard in the classroom and earned a degree in sociology.
How important are academics in recruiting?
“Very important,” said Lewis, 27, a social worker at Woods Services in Langhorne. “I averaged 30 points a game in high school and almost didn’t get a chance to play in college.”
The NCAA sets minimum academic eligibility requirements for high school seniors to receive athletic scholarships and compete during their freshman year of college.
Division I requires student-athletes to graduate from high school; complete 16 core courses; sport a minimum required grade-point average; and earn a combined SAT or ACT sum score that matches a core-course GPA on a sliding scale.
In Division II, student-athletes must graduate from high school; complete 16 core courses; sport at least a 2.0 GPA in core courses; and earn a combined SAT sum score of 820 (verbal and math) or ACT sum score of 68.
However, those are MINIMUM requirements. Many – make that most – college coaches won’t touch a recruit with those academic numbers. It’s too much of a gamble that they won’t remain academically eligible in college.
Bottom line: The better high school student-athletes perform in the classroom, the better their chances of playing college sports and earning athletic scholarships.
For one thing, they can qualify for admission to more colleges, so more college coaches will be interested in recruiting them. For another, they can compete against more high school seniors for the same scholarships.
Let’s say one high school senior has a 3.5 GPA and 1800 (out of 2400) on the SAT; another one has a 3.0 GPA and 1500 on the SAT; and they have equal athletic ability. Guess which one will be offered the scholarship? You guessed it.
Also, if a student-athlete is a standout in the classroom, he or she might be able to qualify for an academic scholarship or partial academic-partial athletic scholarship.
College coaches, who have a limited number of athletic scholarships, would much prefer a student-athlete to receive an academic scholarship because it saves the athletic scholarships for other student-athletes who aren’t as academically talented.
So, student-athletes, the next time you don’t feel like studying or doing your homework, remember how important academics are in recruiting. If you earn scholarship money, you are actually being paid to be a good student.
What are you waiting for?
Hit the books!
Gary Silvers, Area Director of College Scouting for National Scouting Report, writes a weekly recruiting blog for SuburbanOneSports.com. He can be reached at (215) 480-8764 or gsilvers@nsr-inc.com. Follow him on Twitter: @GarySilversNSR