Et. Pascarella et al., INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC PARTICIPATION AND FRESHMAN-YEAR COGNITIVE OUTCOMES, The Journal of higher education, 66(4), 1995, pp. 369-387
Controlling for precollege aptitude and other influences, male interco
llegiate football and basketball players demonstrated net freshman-yea
r declines in reading and mathematics while nonathletes and athletes i
n other sports showed modest net gains. Female athletes made smaller n
et gains in reading than nonathletes, but the effect depended upon pre
college ability.