Question: Do college athletes have to be enrolled in classes anymore?

Kyler Fisher was ineligible for the 2024 Music City Bowl.

trfhawk said:

Serious question: When was the last time you heard of an athlete ineligible because of grades?

Click to expand...

If you can score touchdowns, it doesn't matter what your HS GPA was, or ACT score, you will be admitted to college. And you won't ever have to attend a college class, take a test or quiz, or finish an assignment. You will be at the top of the food chain for the next 5 years socially, and will get paid very well on top of it. My buddies nephew is a RS FRESH (starting) DL at NILL and getting $80K. Its insane. Not even 20 yrs old.

Kceasthawk@77 said:

He did graduate already, and is enrolled as a "non degree seeking student" which allows him to take a lighter load of online classes. MG earned his Master's in engineering AT Iowa in the spring semester while he was rehabbing, and then took "leadership" classes in the fall semester.

Click to expand...

I’d like to know what degree Brown earned in only three full years of college that included a transfer. He must’ve enrolled early at Auburn and also took summer classes.

trfhawk said:

Serious question: When was the last time you heard of an athlete ineligible because of grades?

Click to expand...

Well, isn't Terrence Smith at Iowa Western right now?

Another factor is that many (most?) high schools are now offering concurrent college credit classes, so kids are showing up on campus with a chunk of credit hours already under their belts. Some kids even have associate’s degrees before they leave high school.

I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that some of these supposedly college-level courses taken by high school sports stars aren’t exactly academically rigorous.

MeetTheFerentzes said:

I’d like to know what degree Brown earned in only three full years of college that included a transfer. He must’ve enrolled early at Auburn and also took summer classes.

Click to expand...

MeetTheFerentzes said:

I’d like to know what degree Brown earned in only three full years of college that included a transfer. He must’ve enrolled early at Auburn and also took summer classes.

Click to expand...

As I said graduated at Auburn or certainly at Iowa before this season, since he had the logo on his helmet this season. Brown was in the school of business at Auburn, but his degree was finished at Iowa this spring, in "enterprise leadership" in the school of business.

Max Rebo said:

Another factor is that many (most?) high schools are now offering concurrent college credit classes, so kids are showing up on campus with a chunk of credit hours already under their belts. Some kids even have associate’s degrees before they leave high school.

I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that some of these supposedly college-level courses taken by high school sports stars aren’t exactly academically rigorous.

Click to expand...

Max Rebo said:

Another factor is that many (most?) high schools are now offering concurrent college credit classes, so kids are showing up on campus with a chunk of credit hours already under their belts. Some kids even have associate’s degrees before they leave high school.

I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that some of these supposedly college-level courses taken by high school sports stars aren’t exactly academically rigorous.

Click to expand...

You'd be wrong. My oldest granddaughter had enough AP dual credit where she went back in this her second year as a college junior. She says to this point she hasn't run into anything in college any harder than what she was taking in high school. (Business/ accounting). She's looking to pick up the pace, so she met with her counselor and has set up a dual major and a minor, and still plans to have her CPA study done by the end of her 4th year, so she is ready to sit for the CPA when she graduates. She has internships set up for next summer to gain requisite experience beforehand. As for how that affects sports stars, I don't think kids who take those AP dual courses get a break in their requirements.

Probably safe to assume that Iowa has players that run the gamut from legit scholars all the way down to kids learning basically nothing but football.

It’s naive to think we don’t have at least a few kids just majoring in football. And there is near zero percent chance that a player that is a major contributor will be academically ineligible, which obviously didn’t use to be the case.

I remember back when you would hear about star recruits not able to get into school so they would have to go to junior college. That basically never happens anymore.

I know some schools like Northwestern basically can’t recruit kids that don’t have good test scores. But I can’t remember the last time we heard about Iowa liking a high school kid but he didn’t have the test scores to get in.

From AI so take it with a grain of salt but it did find a few:


One of the most recent high-profile examples was Spencer Sanders in December 2023.

Sanders had been a star quarterback at Oklahoma State, throwing for 9,553 yards and 67 touchdowns during his career there.

After transferring to Ole Miss, he was declared academically ineligible for the December 30, 2023, Peach Bowl against Penn State. However, he was a backup quarterback by that point, so he wasn’t a current star when it happened.

There is an even more recent example:

• December 26, 2025 — Nahree Biggins, Central Michigan: Ruled academically ineligible for the GameAbove Sports Bowl. He was a team captain and led Central Michigan with 540 rushing yards and 975 all-purpose yards in 2025. He was a significant contributor, although not a nationally recognized star.
• May 2022 — Milton Wright, Purdue: Declared academically ineligible for the entire 2022 season. He was Purdue’s top returning receiver, with 732 yards and seven touchdowns the previous season.
• September 2021 — John Emery Jr., LSU: A former five-star recruit and projected starting running back who missed the entire season because of academic ineligibility.

My conclusion: If you’re thinking of an established star at a major football program losing an entire season because of academics, Milton Wright at Purdue in 2022 is one of the clearest relatively recent examples I could verify. If you’re including prominent former stars who were backups when ruled ineligible, Spencer Sanders in 2023 is more recent.

Academic ineligibility hasn’t disappeared, but publicly reported cases involving major stars seem much less common than they once were.

I asked AI specifically about Iowa players being found academically ineligible:



The most recent significant academic eligibility problem I’ve found involving an Iowa Hawkeyes football player was wide receiver Jerminic Smith in April 2017, during Kirk Ferentz’s tenure.

Smith was expected to be one of Iowa’s top receivers for the 2017 season.

• 2016: Caught 23 passes for 314 yards and two touchdowns.
• April 7, 2017: Removed from football activities for failing to meet Iowa’s academic standards.
• May 12, 2017: Iowa announced Smith was leaving the football program.
• Impact: Iowa lost one of its most experienced returning receivers before the season began.

Iowa’s own athletics department confirmed the academic issue, although it did not specifically say he had been declared academically ineligible under NCAA rules.

I couldn’t verify a more recent publicly reported case of this kind.

Another particularly interesting example is Shonn Greene in 2007. He was formally ruled academically ineligible, missed the entire 2007 season, and attended Kirkwood Community College to improve his grades. He returned in 2008, rushed for 1,850 yards and 20 touchdowns, and won the Doak Walker Award.

So the distinction is:

• 2017: Most recent significant academic-related removal I could establish — Jerminic Smith.
• 2007: Clear example of a notable Iowa player formally declared academically ineligible — Shonn Greene.

For Iowa Hawkeyes men’s basketball, the most recent confirmed case I’ve found is Brennan Cougill in June 2010.

On June 29, 2010, new head coach Fran McCaffery announced that Cougill had been declared academically ineligible and would not return for the 2010–11 season.

• He had played in 31 games as a freshman, starting seven.
• He averaged 4.0 points and 3.0 rebounds.
• He transferred to Kirkwood Community College to improve his academics.

Cougill acknowledged that he hadn’t put enough effort into his schoolwork.

Other notable Iowa basketball cases include:



The 1961 men’s team is an especially remarkable story: Iowa lost 80% of its starting lineup because of grades but still finished second in the Big Ten.

Bottom line: I couldn’t establish a more recent academic-ineligibility case than 2010 for Iowa men’s basketball or 2008 for Iowa women’s basketball. That suggests these incidents have become much less visible in recent years, although it doesn’t prove they never occur.

Coach Tom Davis had a major academic eligibility problem during the 1989–90 season, when Iowa lost two important players because of their grades.

January 9, 1990 — Two Iowa starters declared in eligible

• Ray Thompson: Iowa’s leading scorer, averaging 19.1 points per game, was declared academically ineligible for the remainder of the season.
• Brian Garner: Iowa’s point guard, averaging 3.6 assists per game, was also declared academically ineligible for the remainder of the season.

Davis announced both players’ ineligibility on January 9, 1990, when Iowa was 8–3.

Garner decided to transfer, while Thompson initially intended to stay and improve his grades. Thompson ultimately left the university in April 1990.

How badly did it hurt Iowa?

The 1989–90 Hawkeyes finished 12–16 overall and 4–14 in the Big Ten, their worst season under Davis. Losing Thompson and Garner was a major blow to a team that had reached the NCAA tournament the previous three seasons.

There was also an earlier issue with Thompson: Iowa had withheld him from the 1989 NCAA tournament after he failed to meet university academic requirements.

MountainManHawk said:

Probably safe to assume that Iowa has players that run the gamut from legit scholars all the way down to kids learning basically nothing but football.

It’s naive to think we don’t have at least a few kids just majoring in football. And there is near zero percent chance that a player that is a major contributor will be academically ineligible, which obviously didn’t use to be the case.

I remember back when you would hear about star recruits not able to get into school so they would have to go to junior college. That basically never happens anymore.

I know some schools like Northwestern basically can’t recruit kids that don’t have good test scores. But I can’t remember the last time we heard about Iowa liking a high school kid but he didn’t have the test scores to get in.

Click to expand...

MountainManHawk said:

Probably safe to assume that Iowa has players that run the gamut from legit scholars all the way down to kids learning basically nothing but football.

It’s naive to think we don’t have at least a few kids just majoring in football. And there is near zero percent chance that a player that is a major contributor will be academically ineligible, which obviously didn’t use to be the case.

I remember back when you would hear about star recruits not able to get into school so they would have to go to junior college. That basically never happens anymore.

I know some schools like Northwestern basically can’t recruit kids that don’t have good test scores. But I can’t remember the last time we heard about Iowa liking a high school kid but he didn’t have the test scores to get in.

Click to expand...

No one said there were NONE, but here's some research for you, since were talking Iowa. Most of these schools who have STARS who are getting paid big$ and probably are not going to class are QB's, WR's or DL. So WHO at Iowa whose getting paid above average $ is not going to school. All of our QB's have graduated, and are still taking classes(at least the ones getting ;paid). Even MG who had graduated pre Iowa and was reportedly getting 1 to1.5 million was still taking classes. Brown has graduated and he's taking classes. Iowa had 25-27 seniors last season, (many in key positions) and they all had grad stickers on their helmets. (they don't give those out to non grads by the way). So what players who are getting any real money at Iowa are not going to classes?

Kceasthawk@77 said:

You'd be wrong. My oldest granddaughter had enough AP dual credit where she went back in this her second year as a college junior. She says to this point she hasn't run into anything in college any harder than what she was taking in high school. (Business/ accounting). She's looking to pick up the pace, so she met with her counselor and has set up a dual major and a minor, and still plans to have her CPA study done by the end of her 4th year, so she is ready to sit for the CPA when she graduates. She has internships set up for next summer to gain requisite experience beforehand. As for how that affects sports stars, I don't think kids who take those AP dual courses get a break in their requirements.

Click to expand...

Apologies … I only meant to imply that SOME concurrent credit classes taken by high schoolers may lack academic muster. My own kids both benefitted from this opportunity as well, with both graduating from college in less than four years. Certainly AP courses, in particular, almost always come with high standards.

But working in a school setting myself, and seeing the proliferation of concurrent credit classes, especially as a bragging point for schools, I don’t know that all of these classes are particularly rigorous. There’s far more to be gained by schools to get kids AA degrees before they leave high school than setting and keeping rigorous academic standards. And if there’s a local sports star, headed for a big-time college, it’s easy for me to believe a kid like that might be able to sail through any and all classes that might ease his path to stardom.

MeetTheFerentzes said:

I’d like to know what degree Brown earned in only three full years of college that included a transfer. He must’ve enrolled early at Auburn and also took summer classes.

Click to expand...

Don't recall where I saw it, but I saw an article somewhere about Hank Brown saying he did indeed attend summer classes at Auburn, which put him ahead of the curve to graduate early.

I don't recall that article getting into particulars why he chose to do that, if there was a Football angle to it as well or purely academic reasons. Seems unusual to me anyway, relative to a P4 Football player.

Another factor that hasn't been discussed yet is the NCAA's Progress-Toward-Degree rules, or PTD, which started in 2003. Before then, eligibility was mostly about hitting basic GPA targets, but PTD added structured benchmarks on top of those grades. It's built around the 40/60/80 rule, where athletes must a specific chunk of their actual degree every year: 40% before year three, 60% before year four, and 80% before year five.

While it sounds stricter on paper, the end result is that it forced schools to build massive academic support systems to map out every single credit in advance. Between flexible majors, summer classes, and advisors managing every semester, players actually have a much clearer roadmap to stay eligible today than they ever did in the past.

I don't specifically remember football players but Erek Hansen and Mike Henderson were declared academically ineligible for Iowa bball under coach Steve Alford...