Odds against playing college and pro ball
Posted by Mike Fields on May 9, 2008
Attention all you parents who think your little Johnny or Jenny is going to grow up to play NCAA or professional sports: Make sure your kids are hitting the books more often than they’re hitting a curveball. Make sure they’re focusing on their GPA more than their PPG.
I came across some interesting numbers in a recent issue of STACK magazine, which is targeted at high school athletes:
BASEBALL
134,477 – number of high school seniors playing baseball
8,219 — number of NCAA freshman positions in baseball
600 – number of NCAA athletes drafted into pro baseball
9.4% – percentage of NCAA athletes who transition into pro baseball
.45% – percentage of high school athletes who eventually transition to pro baseball
BASKETBALL
156,096 – number of high school seniors playing boys’ high school basketball
4,735 — number of NCAA freshman positions in men’s basketball
3% – percentage of athletes who transition from high school to NCAA basketball
44 — number of NCAA athletes who transition into pro basketball
.03% — percentage of high school athletes who eventually make it to pro basketball
FOOTBALL
306,227 — number of high school seniors playing football
17,501 — number of NCAA freshman positions in football
3% – percentage of athletes who transition from high school to NCAA footbal
250 — number of NCAA athletes drafted into pro football
.08% — percentage of high school athletes who eventually transition to pro football
May 10, 2008 at 5:38 pm
The chance of playing professional basketball is not really that bad!!!!
“.03% — percentage of high school athletes who eventually make it to pro basketball” is not true really. That may be the percentage of players who make it to the NBA, but every country in the world,
as far as I can tell, fields professional basketball teams.
So it isn’t really that hard to make a full-time living as a professional basketball player somewhere in the world. True, the traveling conditions may be dangerous and awful, the salaries may be as low as $30,000-per-year, the style of play may be violent, the fans may assault the coaches, officials, and players after the games, but the odds of playing professional basketball are not that bad really.
Almost anyone who is 6-9 or over can play professional basketball somewhere, regardless of their talent level, but as long as they played at the Division II level or better in college, even if they only sat on the bench in college. Almost anyone who was good enough to get a scholarship out of high school to play at the “big-time” NCAA division 1 level (ACC, Big Ten, SEC, Big East, etc.) can also play professionally somewhere, even if they’ve barely ever played on their college team.
nelsonjonkane@live.com
June 22, 2008 at 12:06 pm
The rationale for playing “anywhere” for as little as $30,000, under the conditions described should be a very clear statement to student/athletes. STUDY!! STUDY! Spend as much time with your bookds and using your brain in high school and college, as you spend on the basketball court!! Guess which skill you will be using your entire life. With an education or skill, you can easily make the $30,000 salary. Then, get in an amateur basketball league somewhere. Teach this little tidbit to high school coaches that are more intent on winning games and fighting to keep their “student” athletes from being academically ineligible, than ensuring that the “student” athlete is studying.