We were told this by our HS college counselor. If you are trying to get accepted by a top academic school as a recruited athlete, you are basically putting all of your eggs in one basket Because nearly all competitive athletes put most of their extracurricular time focused on sports, they really have nothing to show for in that category outside of athletics. If the coach of that school isn't interested in recruiting you, your athletic achievements essentially become meaningless to that school. And since most competitive athletes don't have any other significant extracurricular activities, you have no shot in competing against the many similarly qualified academic applicants who have. | 
