Fewer than 2% of NCAA student-athletes go on to play professionally. In actuality, the majority of student-athletes rely on their studies to prepare them for life after college. Education is critical. There are about 460,000 NCAA student-athletes, with the majority becoming pro in fields other than sports. Pro football has the most players (about 80,000), followed by basketball (nearly 40,000), baseball (about 35,000), and hockey (about 10,000).
The number of students who participate in intercollegiate athletics has been declining since 1980. About 9 million people attended NCAA events in 2010, down from a high of 11.8 million in 1995.
Intercollegiate athletics at many schools have suffered budget cuts over the past few years. At some schools, such as Miami, Oklahoma State, and West Virginia, large numbers of employees have been let go.
In addition to losing coaches and staff members, many teams also have seen their budgets cut back. Many institutions limit how much they will pay athletic recruits'salaries, forcing athletes to find other ways to make money to cover the costs of school expenses such as rent and groceries. The number of black men who play professional football has declined significantly in recent years because of the difficulty of making a living as a player without any guarantee of a job once you leave school.
The table shows how many NCAA athletes go on to pro careers in sports such as basketball, football, baseball, and ice hockey. Professional options are highly restricted, and the chances of a high school or even college athlete becoming a professional athlete are quite slim.
In fact, only a small percentage of all athletes who enter the draft into a signing day ceremony with their schools will actually end up receiving a contract from a sports team. And out of those that do get drafted, only about 1% will eventually become professionals.
Currently, there are no active players on any NBA roster who were recruited by an NCAA institution. However, several former players have had successful careers in the NBA Development League after leaving college programs.
The first NCAA player to be drafted into the NBA was Charles Barkley, who was selected second overall by the Philadelphia 76ers. Since then, several other collegiate players have been selected in the draft, but none have gone on to make an impact in the league.
Almost all professional athletes come from either the NFL, NBA, MLB, or NHL. In addition to these leagues, some notable athletes have turned pro after playing soccer, golf, and track and field.
We may all fantasize, but reality reveals a different story. There are a few million high school players and over 460,000 NCAA student-athletes, with less than 2% turning pro in various sports, according to http://www.ncaa.org. The prospect of competing after high school is scary. But looking at the numbers, it's not so impossible as you might think.
Many young boys and girls dream of playing sports in college and beyond. However, only 495,000 of the almost 8 million kids now competing in high school athletics in the United States will participate at NCAA colleges.
The odds are overwhelming against most students who play high school sports ever getting any attention from college coaches. Only a small percentage of high school athletes ever get recruited to play college sports.
In fact, only 1 in 10,000 high school athletes earn a full scholarship to a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) school. The other 909,000 kids on their teams have to pay their own way or find some other way to cover the cost of attendance.
So, how do most high school athletes manage to cover the cost of tuition, books, room and board? They work during the school year and study part-time during the summer. Some depend on aid from outside sources like scholarships or government programs while others use their athletic ability to make money doing something they love!
There are several ways that high school athletes can make money after their careers are over. They can work for a living or go to graduate school, but most choose to go to college to improve their knowledge and skills and have a better chance of finding a job later on.