As colleges and universities wrap up their spring semesters, we will see a number of undergraduate athletes declare to go professional. Whether that be to the NBA or the NFL. There will be those who will make it and those who shouldn't waste their time.

First, this article is not to discourage those men and women who love their respective sport and want to play that sport for a living.

This article is simply here to explain your chances in a rational way. I had dreams of playing professional basketball, but that dream fell a little short. There are plenty of athletes in college who have the ability to make it. Just consider this a warning if you will.

It will be easy if we stick with the most common sports like football and basketball, but some sports may find there way in this article as well.

Jake New, who writes for insidehighered.com, found that less than 2 percent of all Division I men's basketball players will make it to the pros. In this case, the pros are the NBA. Think about that number for a second. Barely 2 percent of around 4,500 male athletes will even have the chance to make it to the NBA. New also found that 3/4 of all these athletes believed that they could make it.

It is good to think big for your future, but that odds are against you in the NBA. The next sport doesn't get any better with the numbers.

College football players stand at only 1.9 percent with making it to the NFL. There are over 12,000 college football players and only around 200 will actually make it to the big leagues.

I know these numbers can sound discouraging, but this is the reality. There has been a false idea put in the heads of these athletes that they can go pro when in all actuality, their chances are slim to none. That is where the title of this article comes into play.

Maybe telling these athletes that, "no you won't make it into the NFL or the NBA" might do some good. But, how can saying that do them any good? When you remove the NBA and the NFL from the equation, then these athletes can venture onto different avenues.

There are basketball teams overseas who could utilize these other thousands of athletes talents well. While you may not be playing with the greatest athletes, you still have a chance to get paid well and play the sport you love for a living. It has also been proven that you will have a longer playing career overseas rather than playing in the NBA. The schedules aren't grueling and the teams aren't so demanding as over here in the states.

To football, there is not much else these college players can do professionally other than the NFL which is discouraging. There is the CFL (Canadian Football League) and the Arena Football League. But, those leagues aren't well respected in the sports world, unfortunately.

If we can put into the minds of these athletes that there is more than the NBA or the NFL. Then we may not see all the disappointed faces on draft day when they don't hear their names called. Like everything else in the world though, there are always exceptions to the rules.

For example, Isaiah Thomas of the Los Angles Lakers has defied all reasoning by being a great NBA star at the height of 5'9''. He was also drafted as the last pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. He beat the stereotype of a small guy not making it in the league, but this is a rare story.

I know this article sounds like it is trying to destroy the hopes and dreams of college athletes, but that isn't the purpose. Understanding that the numbers are not on your side may help you and your families to think about the next career move. Because if you declare for the draft and don't make it. You can return to college, but you will be unable to play for any college team and that scholarship money will be lost as well.

Just think carefully before you proclaim you have what it takes to go pro. A lot of athletes believe they can, but only a handful will make it and only a smaller handful can be successful. Don't psych yourself out and only declare if you know that you can make it. Otherwise, these athletes will have to start to think about what they can do with their college degrees instead of their athletic talents.