By Ethan Guevin
If you have been watching March Madness, you have probably seen NCAA ads all over the place. As part of a new “2.3 or Take a Knee” ad campaign and continued efforts to focus on the student side of the student-athlete experience, the NCAA released this VERY IMPORTANT reminder to prospective NCAA student-athletes about new minimum requirements starting August 2016.
If you are an aspiring Division I athlete, you should use these as guidelines for your academics. The first step to playing college athletics at any level is your schoolwork. Remember, you are first and foremost a student!
Below is a brief summary of the new NCAA Division I eligibility requirements, but there is no substitute for the full list of NCAA requirements. Find the NCAA article here and remember, it’s “2.3 or take a knee!”
To play Division I baseball after August 2016, you will need to meet the following basic requirements:
- You need to graduate from high school.
- You need to complete 16 courses labeled “Core Courses” by the NCAA, including 10 before your 7th Semester.
- You will also need to maintain a 2.3 GPA in your Core Courses in order to be eligible to compete in your first year of NCAA athletics.
- You must have a combined SAT or ACT score that matches your core-course GPA on a sliding scale provided by the NCAA. Having a high enough GPA and SAT or ACT scores will impact your ability to practice with the team, play in competition, and receive scholarship aid.
The NCAA is very serious about academics, and you should be too. Don’t let “2.3” be the thing that prevents you from playing college ball. Stay on top of your school work and don’t wait until your Junior or Senior year to make up for lost ground.
We encourage you to visit NCAA .org or the eligibility center to read more about the new requirements. Visit the 2.3 or Take a Knee page here. You can also review our own information about how you can stay eligible.
