Student athletes attending and competing at a two-year community college often aspire to compete their last 2 years at a Division I four-year college or university. The impact of advising community college athletes can influence their ability to transfer to an NCAA Division I institution. Students intending to be Division I athletes after high school fall into one of two categories: qualifiers and non-qualifiers. Non-qualifiers can enroll in a community college with the hope of meeting NCAA criteria to transfer. Many of these student athletes enter community college underprepared for the rigors of higher education and, of particular importance to academic advisors in community colleges, are the students who are deemed to be of "academically underprepared" status. The process of taking remedial courses and graduating from a community college combined with meeting the demands of the new NCAA transfer guidelines needs to actively involve the academic advisor. Some first-year community college student athlete issues to consider are as follows: 1. How is the impact of academic advising affecting community college student athletes who aspire to transfer to NCAA Division I institutions? 2. How is the student athlete educated on transferability to NCAA institutions? 3. How is the student athlete being assured that academic advisors are knowledgeable of transfer guidelines to NCAA Division I institutions? ii The most important aspect of this study is the first-year community college student athlete. The student athlete carries the burden of producing "on and off the court," which entails not only being studious but also athletically successful. This study examined the experiences of academically underprepared first-year community college student athletes as well as their experiences related to transferability and NCAA Division I athletic programs. An increased awareness of transferability rules by the academic advising staff and the student athletes will only enhance the educational experience and involvement for the students. Data for this study consist of qualitative interviews from questions that were formulated and posed to academic advisors for student athletes, academically underprepared student athletes, the institution's coaching staff, and the athletic department personnel within a community college in Alabama. iii