BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A bill aimed at helping public high schools track student-athletes’ NCAA eligibility starting in freshman year and prepare plans for life after high school won approval Wednesday from the House Education Policy Committee.
House Bill 567, sponsored by Rep. Jeremy Gray, D-Opelika, would require someone at each public high school to begin tracking a student athlete’s NCAA eligibility early and help guide that student toward college, the military or the workforce if college athletics aren’t an option.
Duwan Walker, a former coach and current owner of Hi.Ed, a guidance management system that tracks student progress toward graduation as well as student-athletes’ eligibility, said students can fall off track without someone monitoring their progress.
“There’s a big difference in high school eligibility and NCAA eligibility,” Walker said.
Some students, he said, are already behind when they enter high school.
“But what we found specifically for ninth graders, they start behind,” he said. “Ninth graders make D’s on the transcript, and when a ‘D’ hit the transcript, it sticks to the transcript, and you can’t retake a ‘D’.”
“So what this bill would do, it will help track those students and at the end of their 10th grade year, we will now know exactly where that student is,” Walker said.
“We want to make sure we track these students where they can make some sound decisions going into their junior year.”
Gray said the bill would apply more broadly than high profile high school sports.
“So we’re not just labeling like football, basketball – it could be anything,” Gray said.
Committee members questioned whether the bill would add to high school counselors’ workloads and whether other school employees, such as career coaches or athletic directors, could be responsible for tracking students’ progress.
House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville, said that with the right software, the work would be manageable.
“This is something that’s minimal and something that’s certainly needed,” Daniels said.
The bill also would require schools to develop transition plans for student-athletes at the start of their junior year.
“This bill is to make sure students transition,” Walker said. “It will shine a light and make sure we identify those students to make sure we can help that student transition into the military, into a two year college, directly into the workforce.”
If enacted, the bill would take effect July 1, ahead of the 2026-27 school year.
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