Why Academics Matter to College Coaches

High school coaches tell players all the time to "keep your grades up" or "work hard in the classroom" but outside of the obvious benefits of getting good grades, academics can really help you in the recruiting process.

In a sense, this is the quintessential blog post for a guy who blends academics and recruiting, but I also hope it will help students better understand why college coaches care about academics.

Why Academics Matter in Recruiting

First, the info here isn't necessarily meant for the top 1% of athletes. Yes, the NCAA has a minimum high school GPA requirement, but it's close to the requirement for high school eligibility. And frankly, if you're a five-star athlete, especially in a revenue sport, a college coach just wants to know if you'll accept the academic resources that school has to offer.

For that level of athlete, the colleges fight over them, they're not fighting to earn offers and impress the schools. Everything about that recruiting process is different. So, if that's you. There are so many benefits to keeping your grades up, looking into the academic side of the schools you visit, etc. but this post isn't really for you.

For the other 99%, the way you perform in the classroom can completely change the direction of your recruitment.

Academic vs. Athletic Scholarships

There are three ways athletes can earn their scholarship money, and it often depends on your situation and the schools recruiting you:

1. Full athletic scholarship: Most D1 schools give full athletic scholarships for their revenue sports (Football + MBB/WBB). Here, players with a 2.7 get the same money as players with a 4.0. But as a percentage of total scholarships, these are relatively rare. Most schools/scholarships fall into one of the other two categories

2. Academic Scholarship (Non-scholarship athletics): Some D1 schools (Think Ivy League or Pioneer League) and most D2/D3 schools don't give athletic scholarships, but your athletic ability can help you earn academic scholarships. I'll expand on this below, but basically, the better you are on the field, the easier it is to get a more-favorable academic scholarship package and the better you are in the classroom, the easier it is to get recruited on the field.

3. Partial athletic scholarship: Many schools give partial athletic scholarships to their players based on skill level. In this case, teams typically have a pool with which to fund scholarships for their team. It is usually up to the coaches how that gets divided. So, the top player in their class will likely get more aid than a player the staff doesn't think will contribute as much.
   

Why Academics Matter For Full Scholarships

Yes, bigger schools are the ones that typically offer full athletic scholarships, but they still care about academics.

Coaches hate having to keep up with their players' grades. If they think you're somebody they'll have to spend extra time coddling because you won't work in the classroom, they'll recruit someone else.

Also, though it's rare, a lack of team academic success can lead to postseason bans. In 2025, there is an FBS football team automatically ineligible for the a conference championship and bowl game because its APR (Formula including team GPA and graduation rate) was too low.

Even if you can get recruited to a school, it is still possible that your grades hold you back from certain majors or programs. Keep your grades up, even if you're the best player in the country.

Why Academics Matter For Non-Scholarship Sports

This one should be obvious. If a team can't offer you athletics money, you have to make it based on academics. If it's a private school (or even many public schools) college is extremely expensive. Even one point on an ACT could give you thousands more in scholarships.

On the sports side, coaches recruit in tandem with the admissions office. So, smart coaches limit their recruiting to players they know can get plenty of academic scholarship money, because it's easier to convince someone to pay $5,000 to go to school and player for them than it is to convince someone to pay $50,000.

The smartest D2/D3 and non-scholarship D1 coaches won't recruit players they know won't get much academic money and instead focus on the players who can get in for close to free, and they'll emphasize the academics of the school in their recruiting pitches.

Important Aside: Athletics can be a gateway to an elite college. Plenty of elite academic institutions (Think Ivy League, Pioneer League and several of the elite academic schools in the south) have slightly lower academic requirements for athletes than regular students. This means, for example, that a talented baseball player with a 1300 SAT and 3.7 GPA might be able to get into Dartmouth, a school known for denying plenty of students with perfect SATs and 4.0 GPAs.

If academics are important to you, your sport could be the key to getting into an elite academic institutions.

Why Academics Matter For Partial Athletic Scholarships

This one is where a blend of on-field talent and classroom success can put you ahead. Coaches at schools that offer partial scholarships for athletics work in tandem with admissions.

Being good at one part of the formula directly helps you with the other.

College coaches love to recruit decent players who are great students. Ultimately, what they do on the field matters most to them, but if you can be a role player while not taking up much of the athletic scholarship pool, (Because you got a ton of other scholarship money on the academic side) you'll check some boxes while allowing the coaches to spend more money on the players they really want who can't earn as much academically.

Conversely, the amount of effort a coach puts in with the admissions and financial aid offices on your behalf is directly related to your talent and character. Put another way, if you're a high-character, talented player that the coaches like, they'll do whatever they can do to get you into school and get you as much scholarship money as possible.

I see it all the time. If a coach really wants a player, it's likely other teams do as well. Those coaches then implore their admissions counselors and financial aid offices to do whatever they can do to help those players.

I have countless stories of coaches going to bat for the recruits they really like. I hear things like, "What could we do to get this kid a bit more money?" and "Are there any other scholarships they could apply for?"

Heck, I've had coaches approach me to say, "We legally can't pay you to tutor this player, but our financial aid people told us he'd get $5000 more if he can raise his SAT to ______. If they pay you, can you help? It'll save them thousands."

Coaches don't do that if the recruit isn't both talented on the field and talented in the classroom (If there's no hope of raising a GPA or SAT/ACT score, all of this work is useless).

The Bottom Line

No matter what your recruiting interest is, the quickest and easiest way to improve your chances of being recruited and earning scholarship money is to raise your GPA or SAT/ACT score. A few extra correct questions on a standardized test could be worth dozens of scholarships and thousands of dollars.

If you start early and put yourself in a good spot academically, your recruitment will be way less stressful in the long run.