Can My Grades Keep Me From Getting Recruited?

An athlete can be incredibly talented and still lose college opportunities because of academics. That is something families need to understand early because recruiting does not happen only on the field, court, track, or mat. College coaches are recruiting students as well as athletes, and academic preparation can significantly affect the opportunities available to a student-athlete.

Grades Can Demonstrate Discipline & Time Management Skills

Coaches do not want to constantly worry about whether an athlete will remain eligible or struggle to manage college coursework. Strong academics can actually expand recruiting opportunities and make an athlete attractive to more programs. Grades can also tell coaches something about the athlete beyond the classroom. Managing practices, workouts, travel, tournaments, homework, exams, and family responsibilities demonstrates discipline and time management.

Don't Make GPA An After-Thought

One of the biggest mistakes families make is waiting until junior or senior year to suddenly become concerned about grades because recruiting has become real. By that point, repairing a GPA can be much more difficult. Athletes should begin understanding their academic standing early, researching the expectations of schools they are interested in, and treating academic preparation as part of their recruiting strategy.

Athletes Edge Gives Grade-Specific Recruiting Guidance

At Athletes Edge Recruiting, Academic is one of our 5 Pillars of Recruitability™ because recruiting is bigger than athletic performance. The stronger the academic foundation, the more options an athlete may have. The goal should not be to ask, “What is the minimum I can do?” The goal should be to create the strongest possible academic profile.

Your recruiting plan should include academic checkpoints just like you track athletic performance. That is also one of the reasons we created the Recruitable Blueprint—to give athletes grade-specific recruiting guidance so families are not trying to figure everything out at the last minute.

Start with My Recruitable Score™. If your Academic Pillar needs improvement, use the Recruitable Blueprint to build a month-by-month plan before academics become a recruiting obstacle.