The NCAA and college coaches care about this GPA way more than most families realize…

Parents, your student athlete has two GPAs, and this is important to know for NCAA eligibility and recruiting. One GPA is on the report card itself. The second is the one that NCAA actually uses, and there are GPA requirements. The NCAA does not calculate eligibility using every class your athlete takes. They use something called the core GPA. That means only NCAA-approved core courses count. So your athlete could have A's in PE weightlifting, health, or other classes, and those grades may help their school GPA, but they may do absolutely nothing for NCAA eligibility. The NCAA is looking at approved English, math, science, social science, and other approved core courses. When I was a D1 coach and a parent said, "Hey, he has a 3.0 GPA," my first question was, "Is that his report card GPA or his NCAA core GPA?" GPA, because there is a difference and only one of them determines if he can be cleared to practice, to compete, and receive athletic scholarship money as a freshman. So here's what I would do today. Pull your high school NCAA-approved core list, match it against your athlete's transcript, and calculate the core GPA, not just the school GPA, because good grades are great, But the right grades are what keeps your athlete eligible. You may not see me again, so give me a follow if you want more recruiting tips. See you soon.