Ah yes, HB… perpetuate the myth where HS athletes have a real-life chance of going pro right out of HS and can secure their future by skipping college altogether. Since 1987, when this stat began being tracked, the number of HS athletes who jumped directly to the pro ranks (regardless of the sport) is 12. Consider this NCAA statistic: (football only) Of the over one million high school football players, only 2.6% are eligible to play for NCAA DIV I teams. (that’s 26,000 players) 22% are Draft Eligible (that brings the number down to 5720 players) and only 1.5% of draft eligible players really get a shot at being an NFL player (That’s 86 players). So in the end, how many HS athletes make it to the NFL? Just .023%. And for the record, LeBron James is the ONLY player in the NBA who went pro out of high school.
Ah yes, HB… perpetuate the myth where HS athletes have a real-life chance of going pro right out of HS and can secure their future by skipping college altogether. Since 1987, when this stat began being tracked, the number of HS athletes who jumped directly to the pro ranks (regardless of the sport) is 12. Consider this NCAA statistic: (football only) Of the over one million high school football players, only 2.6% are eligible to play for NCAA DIV I teams. (that’s 26,000 players) 22% are Draft Eligible (that brings the number down to 5720 players) and only 1.5% of draft eligible players really get a shot at being an NFL player (That’s 86 players). So in the end, how many HS athletes make it to the NFL? Just .023%. And for the record, LeBron James is the ONLY player in the NBA who went pro out of high school.