The wRight Game Plan

Signing day 2020 has come and gone. Edgewater High School in Orlando, Florida had 12 seniors sign. That brings the total to 13 out 22 seniors signing a letter of intent to play at the next level. One was an early enrollee that signed in December. Some of these boys had no issue making the grade and becoming eligible. However, others had to put in more work to get the job done.

This is where listening to the plan comes into play. They had to trust the process. Some of these boys had never made above a C in their live. Yet with the right guidance and support they were able to make A’s and B’s for the first time in their lives. These grades opened up the door for more opportunities.

As a Student-athlete signing day is the goal regardless of what sport you play. All of your hard work over the years can come to fruition on this day. It takes a combination of academics and on the field/court performance. No matter how good of an athlete you are if you don’t have it together in the classroom your odds of being signed significantly decrease. The most important thing is that you put just as much effort into the schoolwork as practicing.

This signing day has shown that having the right people in your corner can make all the difference. Once the plan is set be sure to trust the process and see it all the way through.

A core GPA is a calculation of your core classes. A core class is an English, math, science, social science or foreign language class. These courses are used to determine your core GPA. Elective courses such as PE, Art, and other courses like that are not used in the core GPA calculation. A core GPA is what makes a student-athlete eligible to compete at the next level in college. The NCAA will recalculate your GPA based these core courses. Just because your overall GPA is a 3.3 does not mean your core GPA will be the same. Remember this GPA is recalculated based on certain courses removing the unnecessary courses. From 9th grade to 12th grade you should be taking all of your core classes seriously. Too many times students wait until senior year to take their classes seriously. By then it is too late because not many corrections can be made to your core GPA. Also at that point you’re deep into the recruiting process and schools are making preliminary determinations if you will meet NCAA qualifications. Knowing your core GPA shows the schools that are recruiting that you are taking the initiative to know your own status. You can report to colleges both your core and overall GPA. When I speak to college recruiters about my students I am able to report the core GPA. This lets the recruiters know where the student stands. Some recruiters will even pull back from a potential recruit due to their core GPA being too low. Do not let this be you, allow yourself to have options. Remember core GPA is THE important piece in the recruiting process. No matter how good of an athlete you are, if you can’t qualify then can’t be recruited. The most important thing to remember is that you are a STUDENT-athlete.