The probability of high school and NCAA student-athletes going pro averages out to be less than two percent in their sport. A breakdown of the stats among sports tells the tale.
Only 0.08% of high school football players make it to the pros, 0.09% for men’s soccer, 0.03% for women’s basketball, and 0.03% in men’s basketball. The percentage of high school athletes who go on to play in the NCAA are 6.5% in football, 5.7% in men’s soccer, 3.7% in women’s basketball, and 3.3% in men’s basketball. The percent of athletes that do play in the NCAA have even slimmer odds of playing professionally: football 1.6%, men’s soccer 1.9%, women’s basketball 0.9%, and men’s basketball 1.2%.
Although the chance of playing professionally is low, sports participation is valuable to character and career development. In fact, student-athletes graduate at a higher rate from college than their non-athlete peers and those rates are on the rise every year.
-Source: Probability of Going Pro Figures and Methodology 2013, NCAA
