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 Students first, athletes second! That is the common refrain from anyone associated with college sports. Students who do not meet the academic requirements of college, simply will not be granted the opportunity to make it in college athletics. It's that simple!
The number one job of any students who hopes to one day play college sports is to take care of their academics! Too many students have made the mistake of thinking that because they are the best on their high school team that they can skate on the classwork. Wrong!
If you have the talent to play college sports, do not shortchange yourself by skimping on the academics. Make your classes your first (yes, first) priority! It is the only way you will make it!
In order for Division 1 or Division 2 colleges to accept a potential recruit, that student must have first been approved by the NCAA Eligibility Center. The NCAA Eligibility Center is the entity which determines student eligiblity for Division 1 or 2 (Division 3 no need as there are minimal sports scholarships offered at that level).
 The NCAA Eligibility Center will determine your eligibility for recruitment by D1 and D2 schools through your courses (you must taken specific core courses), grade point average in those courses and SAT test scores. Since certain courses are specified, students and parents should consult the NCAA Eligibility Center website early to make sure they are proceeding on a path toward eligibility.
Please check the NCAA Eligiblity Center's website. It's been updated and is considerably more user friendly, but just the same, the first time through can be confusing. Contact your school counselor if you have questions.
Many students have a dream of playing college and/or professional sports and have put a lot of time and effort into those sports. Unfortunately, many students have not put the same amount of time and emphasis on their school work. Some barely manage to make Hawai'i's 2.0 rule in order to play now. That's not good enough for the NCAA!
The sad truth is that if you have not been building your academic skills over the entire course of your school career, it will be next to impossible to suddenly be great in Alegebra, Language Arts, Social Studies or Science.
Consider the reverse. Suppose I am a great student academically, nearly a 4.0 and get great test scores but had never gone out for football...would there be any reason to think that I could suddenly in my junior or senior year become the starting quarterback and earn a scholarship to a Division 1 college? Of course not! I would not possess the skills or background in the sport to succeed. Maybe (and this is a big maybe) I could make the team in high school, but would I be a starter? Not likely! Would I be good enough to get an athletic scholarship in football? Very, very unlikely!
Yet, students who have emphasized sports over academics their whole lives regularly have the notion that they will slide on through academically. Sorry, but that is also very, very unlikely! So let's be real.
Here is a quick reference sheet containing exactly what students will need to be eligible at the D1 and D2 levels. Click it to see the reality...
Also, notice the "Sliding Scale". You can use your current GPA to get an idea what kind of SAT or ACT scores you will have to get. (Check your PSAT, SAT or ACT scores if you have them to see where you stand now.) But remember, this is just to get through NCAA eligibility. The NCAA standards are most likely lower than the college's admission criteria which also must be met.
"OK, so what now, Mr. Carpenter? I don't think I can make NCAA eligibility, but I still love to play and I do still want to go to college. What can I do?"
I'll give the same response that I give to every student worried about whether they have a future in college...the only way you can not make it, is if you give up!
Have no fear! Ever hear of Junior Colleges or Community Colleges? (They're the same thing btw.) These 2 year colleges generally have open door admission policies which means that they don't care what your high school GPA or test scores were. You will be accepted! And many states (sadly, not Hawai'i) have Junior Colleges with full on sports programs!
California, for instance, has very competitive sports programs of all kinds at the Junior College level. We recently had a Hilo High grad compete for the Cal State championship in water polo! They won, by the way. She had a great time! And she got meaningful playing time right away! (Hannah scored two goals in the championship game!) She did not ride the bench behind juniors and seniors as most new four year college players wind up doing! Check out Hanna Bennett in the "Victorious Vikings" page!
Also, Arizona has Junior Colleges with sports teams and they are WUE schools! Very inexpensive way to attend a mainland college! (Check the link on the navigation bar at left to learn more about the Western Undergraduate Exchange program also known as "WUE".
So take heart, student atheletes! There are still very attainable possiblities out there for you! But no matter what, we still come right back were we started in this discussion...
Students first, athletes second!!!
Here's some links of interested to Student Athletes:
"College Athletic Scholarships" This page has a number of interesting articles on it. You have scroll down to get to articles like "5 College Athletic Scholarship Recruiting Myths and Truths" and "3 Important Steps to Earning a College Athletic Scholarship"
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Student Athletes/NCAA Eligibility