Former Ohio State linebacker Arvell Reese made a big jump as a player to become a projected first-round draft pick, but made an even bigger improvement in the classroom.
In an interview with CBS Sports ahead of the NFL draft, Reese revealed that his high school GPA was as low as a 0.4.
“I think the secret is just time and effort,” Reese said in the interview. “In high school, it was a time where I didn’t even try in school or didn’t really think school was important. So, it just took for me to just lock in with it and take it serious.”
Reese previously told the Dispatch that he was “unfocused” in high school, given that his mother was dealing with health issues, and he needed to improve his grades to meet the NCAA’s minimum GPA requirements to be eligible for college football.
Reese transferred to Glenville High School and enrolled in a credit recovery program to lift his GPA. The program required Reese to take night classes on top of his regular course load.
Reese accumulated a 3.7 GPA in college, according to CBS Sports. He was a two-time OSU Scholar-Athlete and earned Academic All-Big Ten honors in 2023 and 2024, majoring in human development and family science.
The edge rusher/linebacker prospect is expected to be selected within the first 10 picks of the 2026 NFL Draft.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Arvell Reese went from 0.4 GPA in high school to 3.7 at Ohio State
Reporting by Dan Aulbach, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
