Mom's company helps athletes make sure they're college-eligible

BY ROKEYTA ROBERSON • FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER • July 21, 2009

In 1982, Kevin Ross, the father of McBride’s oldest son, finished four years at Creighton University. Only Ross was illiterate.

Years later, Ross and McBride's son, Kevin Shorter, also had plans on competing in basketball at the Division I level. But McBride quickly found out that the process for becoming eligible to play collegiate sports was difficult.

That's when McBride decided she could do something to make the process more simple, not just for her son, but for other student athletes, their parents and coaches.

"The process of becoming eligible to play Division I and II sports is a complicated process," McBride said. "There are different qualifications for the divisions and most students don't know what the requirements are."

So in 1997, McBride created GradeCheck, a Detroit-based company dedicated to helping college-bound athletes become eligible to play Division I and II athletics by excelling academically.  Students' eligibility is determined by the NCAA Initial Eligibility Clearinghouse. GradeCheck uses an Internet-based program that assists high school counselors, student athletes and parents in tracking the academic progress of students to ensure they meet clearinghouse requirements.

In a rare move, the Michigan High School Athletic Association gave GradeCheck its endorsement. It was an easy decision, according to MHSAA executive director Jack Roberts.

"Over the years we have had a lot of recruiting services try to get our endorsement," Roberts said. "We found that GradeCheck is not a recruiting service, but it provides student athletes, parents and school administrators (a way) to track the academic progress of the athlete. This system gives student athletes the opportunity to ensure an academic or athletic scholarship."

McBride said while checking on her son's eligibility, she discovered there was no clear path to eligibility set up that they could follow.

In 1995, the NCAA implemented Proposition 16, requiring high school athletes to maintain a 2.0 grade-point average in certain core classes and achieve certain scores on standardized tests. In Division I, eligibility is determined on a sliding scale; the higher a student's GPA, the lower his or her ACT or SAT score can be. In Division II, students must have a 2.0 and achieve at least an 820 on the SAT and a sum score of 68 on the ACT.

"The NCAA requirements specified having equal achievement in both academics and athletics in order to become eligible and receive scholarships," McBride said. "There were certain classes that needed to be taken and grades that needed to be achieved, and Kevin (Shorter) was not on track to accomplish this."

In 2008, GradeCheck helped student athletes obtain more than $2 million in scholarships. One of those athletes was University of Michigan cornerback and Detroit Cass Tech graduate Boubacar Cissoko.

"I would not have made it, if it were not for the help of Mrs. McBride and GradeCheck," Cissoko said. "I knew at all times what classes I needed to take for high school and for the NCAA, as well as the required test score."

That's exactly the kind of impact McBride is going after. She works hands-on with all of clients and tries to spread the message that playing collegiate sports is not just about athletics.