Every once in a while, we like to remind college baseball hopefuls of the importance of doing well academically. As you already know, doing well academically is critical in the college baseball recruiting process. Not only must you meet minimum academic qualifications to be eligible to play college baseball, but having quality grades and test scores will open up many more college baseball options. Many coaches will not consider recruiting a player who is just barely eligible, believing that marginal grades make them an off-field risk. Good grades and test scores are also the best way to make college more affordable because academic aid opportunities outnumber opportunities for athletic scholarships. The bottom line is academics matter a lot, whether you like doing schoolwork or not.
Here are some articles that have provided information and tips from educational professionals to help you stay focused and improve your grades. They are worth your time to read:
Better Grades Mean More Opportunities
Get the Grades: Get Organized
5 Ways to Improve Your Grades Even if You Hate Studying
Another article, Your Transcript Tells Coaches More Than You Think, describes the way coaches use a recruit’s academic record to evaluate desire, motivation, competitiveness, risk and much more. The last few years, we have sent out a survey and asked college coaches from all different levels of college baseball how they rated the importance of good grades and test scores when evaluating potential recruits. Coaches have been nearly unanimous in stressing the importance of good grades. Since 2017, the average rating coaches have given for the importance of good grades has been right around 8.5 (out of 10), with almost no coaches ranking grades lower than a 7 and over 1/3 of respondents giving it a 10 out of 10! Like grades, SAT/ACT scores have been ranked as highly important for recruiting by college coaches, with average rating of close to 8.
College baseball coaches of all levels have responded to our survey with a clear message to recruits—if you want to play at the college level, you must do well academically. If you haven’t taken care of business in the classroom in the past, it’s not too late to turn things around. Get ahead to start this school year and stay ahead. College coaches are going to ask about your grades and test scores and the bottom line is your academic success matters a great deal.
