The coach isn’t giving away HIS money to a smart student who is a mediocre athlete. There are merit/financial aid scholarships available for those students.
That’s not to say the coaches aren’t looking for really smart athletes. The coaches want smart students who don’t constantly need tutoring to make grades, who need to be reminded to go to class, to turn in work. My daughter’s coach got reports from profs if players missed class. My daughter was reported as missing a class (it was a mistake, she’d just gone to another section) and the coach was all over her for it. My daughter graduated Magna cum laude, so she wasn’t skipping classes.