Collegiate and professional careers of high school athletes

We examine approximately 1,000 high school quarterbacks that are recruited into collegiate athletics to determine what factors impact the player’s decision to transfer to another school, change their position from quarterback, complete their eligibility (and presumably graduate), to be drafted into the National Football League and/or to make a professional roster at any level. Results suggest that minority student-athletes are more than twice as likely to change their position; this is especially sensitive because most college coaches are white. Players that attend universities near their hometown see significant benefits in terms of their collegiate outcomes and likelihood of playing professionally, perhaps because of greater access to their hometown’s social network.