The Southeastern Community College Rams baseball team charged through their academic goals during the fall 2023 semester with a team GPA of 3.12. Leading Rams baseball in his third year, head coach Robert Burns said this is the highest GPA he has witnessed.  

“I’m very proud of us because it’s very tough, especially at the community college level, to have a team GPA over 3.0,” Burns said. “I can’t recall many teams I was on that had that, so I’m really excited to have that for our guys.” 

Burns said that high effort given, access to resources on campus and quality instructors contributed to the success of each player on the team. After challenging each player to attain a 3.0 GPA or higher, Burns said the 1.8 GPA requirement to be a student athlete was below his expectations. If a player had a 2.5 GPA or below, he would make sure the player received extra help to boost their grades.  

“We’ve got to find a way to work it out and push through it together,” Burns said. “That’s the best thing we can do for the school and for that student athlete’s life.” 

Holding weekly study halls, the team has opportunities to help each other with assignments and keep a schedule to reserve time for completing assignments. Burns said the fall semester was crucial in instilling structure in each player’s study habits and work ethic in the classroom.  

“I think it’s a lot of discipline and high expectations for our kids,” Burns said. “They knew those expectations would be set, and we would be tough on them.”