NCAA Division III Recruiting

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

Does anyone out there have some first-hand, recent, knowledge about NCAA Division III recruiting?

I am wondering if Division III schools send commitment letters?  (For those who do not know:  Division III schools do not offer athletic scholarships like Division I and II schools do.  Those other divisions do, in fact, issue commitment letters that a player signs (often with great fanfare).  Division III players are students first, and must meet the school's admission criteria.  Division III scholarships are in the form of merit awards for academic and extracurricular excellence.)

If not, how does a student-athlete know for certain they are on the team they are being recruited for?  My point is, if it's not in writing... 

Do you think an email from a coach saying he/she is looking forward to your child playing on his/her college team suffices?

[swamp]

I did it in 1988. I just showed up at practice. Kept in touch with the coach.

[alabamagal]

DS had the opportunity for a football scholarship at a D3 school.   In general the recruiting comes pretty late in the athletic scholarship process, as a lot of kids are hoping for better.  You will get a lot of communication from the coach saying that he wants the kid on the team.  There may be some discussions between the coach and the admissions department (if needed).

My son was put in contact with recruiters/coaches for a D3 school where they thought he would be a "good fit". Which basically meant that he was good at football and had good grades.  He was asked to apply to the school, see what scholarships he would get and then the athletic department would work with him on other opportunities.  He applied and was offered a 90% academic scholarship and some work/study opportunities.  He is much happier being a student and attending football games!  Plus based on his position he would have been encouraged to gain weight to be in upper 200s-300 lbs.

He did not accept, and instead went to a public university where he got a 90% scholarship also.

Several other kids DS played football with went with D3 scholarship route, but only lasted 1 year.  Football takes a lot of your time.  1 kid quit becuase his grades fell and he lost his academic scholarship.  The other kid just got gave up, because part of his money he got was working for the athletic department (washing uniforms) and between football, school and work, he just felt overwhelmed.

In general, it is pretty early in the year for any college decisions (aside from the top level academic recruits).   

[hoops902]

You don't know.  You register for school, and all the students at the school are eligible to join the team if they make the cut.  I don't believe there are commitment letters.  My brother played DIII basketball after junior college and I believe all he got was a letter that basically said "we're excited to have you on the team", but not an actual signing letter.

After he got on campus the football coach asked him if he wanted to play football too.  It all seemed pretty informal, high-schoolish really. 

[Deleted]

Sept 30, 2014 10:16:22 GMT -5 alabamagal said:

DS had the opportunity for a football scholarship at a D3 school.   In general the recruiting comes pretty late in the athletic scholarship process, as a lot of kids are hoping for better.  You will get a lot of communication from the coach saying that he wants the kid on the team.  There may be some discussions between the coach and the admissions department (if needed).

My son was put in contact with recruiters/coaches for a D3 school where they thought he would be a "good fit". Which basically meant that he was good at football and had good grades.  He was asked to apply to the school, see what scholarships he would get and then the athletic department would work with him on other opportunities.  He applied and was offered a 90% academic scholarship and some work/study opportunities.  He is much happier being a student and attending football games!  Plus based on his position he would have been encouraged to gain weight to be in upper 200s-300 lbs.

He did not accept, and instead went to a public university where he got a 90% scholarship also.

Several other kids DS played football with went with D3 scholarship route, but only lasted 1 year.  Football takes a lot of your time.  1 kid quit becuase his grades fell and he lost his academic scholarship.  The other kid just got gave up, because part of his money he got was working for the athletic department (washing uniforms) and between football, school and work, he just felt overwhelmed.

In general, it is pretty early in the year for any college decisions (aside from the top level academic recruits).   

a kid in my neighborhood signed his letter of intent for Penn State earlier this month (or maybe last month)....he just started his junior year of high school

[swamp]

Penn State is D 1. A whole different world than D III

[alabamagal]

You can't sign a letter of intent until your senior year.  You can receive an offer from a school, they can verbally commit to the school, but cannot actually sign the actual letter of intent until the recruiting day for their sport (Feb. of senior year for football).

DS has 2 friends who did walk-on at a D1 school.  As a walk-on, they can get preferred admission status to the school (I don't think either of these needed it though), and have to show up and try to make the team.  One was a kicker who did not know he was on the team until July.

It is still pretty early in the season to make final decision, but if he wants to go to the school and gets the "we're excited to see you" from the coach, he likely could play for that team.

[bobosensei]

DH's younger brother just started at a D3 school and is playing football.  From what DH told me his senior year several of the D3 schools said they'd let BIL be a starting quarterback his freshman year.  He was hoping to go D1, but had 2 major shoulder surgeries during high school because of football and ended up not being able to play most of his junior and senior year.  He did not make a decision on which school he would attend until super late in the year.  I mean ridiculously late, just days before school started.  Part of it was I think BILs hope that he could play for a better school, so they were waiting to see if anything became available at a D1 school.  The other issue was financial aide related because after the in laws filed taxes their EFC went way up because another BIL had graduated college.  Now that BIL is on the team he is not playing as quarterback.  I'm not sure what happened, but it is blowing BILs plan to do well his freshman year and then transfer to a D1 school.  I think he is learning a valuable lesson in humility because he was always the football stud in his hometown.  I'm not sure if the school switched their decision on what position to play him because he wasn't officially on the team until very late, or if the coaches go around making promises to a lot of kids just to get them on the team.  I also didn't realize how competitive sports can be at the D3 level. And I think for a lot of kids it is a good choice, they get an education and honestly whether you play D1 or D3 most people don't end up pro anyway.

[Shooby]

That's a good question. My son is a Junior and I would love for him to have the opportunity to play basketball at a small college. I am in the process of looking into this too so this is good info.

[swamp]

Oct 1, 2014 5:49:06 GMT -5 Shooby said:

That's a good question. My son is a Junior and I would love for him to have the opportunity to play basketball at a small college. I am in the process of looking into this too so this is good info.

St. Lawrence university.

[ArchietheDragon]

Oct 1, 2014 7:57:08 GMT -5 swamp said:

Oct 1, 2014 5:49:06 GMT -5 Shooby said:

That's a good question. My son is a Junior and I would love for him to have the opportunity to play basketball at a small college. I am in the process of looking into this too so this is good info.

St. Lawrence university.

That is not the answer to every question!

[Cookies Galore]

Oct 1, 2014 5:49:06 GMT -5 Shooby said:

That's a good question. My son is a Junior and I would love for him to have the opportunity to play basketball at a small college. I am in the process of looking into this too so this is good info.

My cousin played basketball for Immaculata.

[swamp]

Oct 1, 2014 8:06:56 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

Oct 1, 2014 7:57:08 GMT -5 swamp said:

St. Lawrence university.

That is not the answer to every question!

Small college, good ranking, DIII sports, beautiful setting, extensive study abroad programs, generous with the financial aid, Top 10 earners for liberal arts education. What's not to love about it?

[973beachbum]

Oct 1, 2014 11:13:44 GMT -5 swamp said:

Oct 1, 2014 8:06:56 GMT -5 ArchietheDragon said:

That is not the answer to every question!

Small college, good ranking, DIII sports, beautiful setting, extensive study abroad programs, generous with the financial aid, Top 10 earners for liberal arts education. What's not to love about it?

Albright college also fits most of what you said.  I'm not sure how good their football team is but they do have one and it is a DIII school.  My understanding is their swim team is very good though.

And great financial aid and scholarships.