NCAA Recruiting Observation

[NorthTexan95]

My daughter just started her freshman year of high school and she has a good shot at earning a basketball scholarship, perhaps even D1.  While that is still a long ways away, tonight I watched an hour long video on the recruiting process.  I feel like I am more knowledgeable about the process than most parents but there is A LOT of info involved in the process.  I can easily see how some kids fall way behind earning the required courses and grades in their first year or two of high school before they even think of college recruiting.

There was one fact in the presentation that really caught my eye and thought y'all might be interested as well.  You've probably seen that 3% of high school student athletes receive a college scholarship.  You may have heard that less than 1% receive a 4-year D1 scholarship.  It is the next fact that really caught my eye:  26% of students who enter college on an athletic scholarship as a freshman are no longer on scholarship entering their sophomore year.  

That's about one in four athletes.  The more I think about that number the more surprised I am.  Some of that will be due to kids being homesick ... injuries ... deciding their sport is no longer fun ... grades ... etc.  However, I'm sure a good number of that percentage is from schools not renewing a kids scholarship for a second year for some reason.  In most cases scholarships are not guaranteed for four years and you have to earn it each year.  That 26% is a cautionary tale for kids not to take their freshman year lightly.  

It also makes me think that some of these kids we see transferring from UNT may not be doing so on their own accord.  It could be our coaches have told them there would not be a scholarship available for them.