D3 Baseball

Check out the Centennial (Swathmore, Hopkins, etc), NESCAC (Tufts, (Williams, etc) and NEWMAC (Babson, Wheaton, etc). These conferences are in the Mid Atlantic and New England. You can get a lot of information on D3 ball at www.d3baseball.com.

Phillybball,

 

Many D3 school have excellent award packages for students that have high GPA's & test scores.Your son has an excellent GPA ! I would encourage him to take the ACT & SAT this month or next month.Whichever one he does better on, take that one again in June.If he can score 32 or above on the ACT he will qualify for most schools top merit award.When my son hit the high ACT score on the second try, he was bombarded with academic money offers from a wide range of schools.

 

A number of the NESCAC schools are "need blind" in lieu of merit awards.My son was recruited by a NESCAC and we are absolutely thrilled with his award package.Very generous !

 

If your son continues to do well in the classroom he'll have a lot of options.

 

 

All of the western US D3 conferences are very strong - SCIAC in So Cal, NWC in OR/WA and the Texas conferences.  Additionally, most conferences have very high academic schools (Pomona, CMS, Trinity, Occidental, Whitman, Cal Tech, etc.)

From my prospective, you D3 baseball is not really about conferences. There are great schools that play baseball all over the country. The attached link is for football (there are some difference in teams and conferences); what is important is to understand the geographic distribution of D3 teams. In that D3 schools usually do not have the travel budgets of D1 programs, location of teams especially relative to other teams will in many ways shape a schools schedule (ie competitive profile).

 

http://commons.wikimedia.org/w...n_3_football_map.gif

Yes, what you say is an important thing to consider, ILBB, but the Northwest Conference, without a doubt the most remote D3 outpost, generally ends up with the most difficult SOS rankings from top-to-bottom in recent years. 

the attached link lists most of not all schools, not broken down by conference or not but what i find interesting is finding a school, zooming in and checking out the sports complexes. someone put some real effort into this

 

https://maps.google.com/maps/m...0045acb606a0577b3b44

 

The D2 that is in our town is a VERY strong academic school. It has a great reputation in city.  I would look at each  school  individually and see if it fit sons interests. 3.9 seems pretty exceptional to me unless the classes are not at a high level.

I agree with ILBB that you should look at programs not conferences. There is probably a broader range of competitiveness in D3 than any level of college ball. The top 20 teams would likely give D1 programs a run for their money in a game, but the bottom end would not beat a top HS program. Take a look at d3baseball.com and look at the rankings and areas you are interested in and then match them up. My son was in a similar situation and found that except for a couple of DII programs they did not match up with him academically. There is a lot of academic money out there, depending on the school. 

 

As a follow up to like2rake I don't think that a Philly kid would want to go to the NWest across the country to play baseball in cr appy weather in an isolated baseball area. There are tons of programs in the east, south southwest.

 

Good Luck!

Which D2 is that?

I agree with BOF and ILBB on this.

Some of the best conferences in the country have some bad programs. D# conferences are not created based on the schools athletic aspirations. What you usually hear about is a group of like minded institutions, A small private liberal arts college with under 2000 students might not want to be in the same conference as a large state college with 10,000 students. 

The NCAC requires each university in the conference to have a phi beta Kappa chapter to join the conference. And most of the school have similar acceptance rates and tuition is similar.

 

And when considering D3 each student athlete should consider fit.

 

 

I'll "fourth" that along with BLD, BOF and ILBB.  Well said all around BLD.  I think the last sentence is ever more applicable to D3 since it is the all-around fit that counts most. 

Phillybball,

 

Some of this was covered back in December, including some opinions about DIII conference rankings.

 

http://community.hsbaseballweb...-conference-rankings

 

Regarding non-athletic scholarship money, see the Money Matters tab on CollageData.com for data about specific schools. That should give you a good idea about how well they meet financial need, and the average award size. Most of the Ivy and Patriot schools (DI) score very high on those measures.

 

D3 conferences are created more for travel convenience than any other reasons.  The difficulty comparing conferences allows everyone to claim their superiority for different reason.  We laughed after each visit because each D3 coach, or Ivy coach said their conference was best and had valid credentials to back them up:

Swarthmore (Centennial - best money)

Carleton      (MIAC - best baseball played by all teams in conference)

Dartmouth   (Ivy - Best reputation in the outside world)

W & L         (ODAC - best baseball and weather combo)

Tufts          (NESCAC - most regional appearances and championship teams)

 

Even Emory, who is actually independent for baseball, said their conference was best for all the other sports.  We were dumb for even bringing conferences up because its such a wide net and there are so many metrics involved that every conference can say its "best".  However, the biggest factor in conference irrelevance is that you only visit each conference school every other year while you will be at your own school every day.

Travel is a consideration, but not the main reason by any means. look around D3 and each school can probably find closer travel partners. 

In Ohio, their are enough teams alone in D3 that there is no reason to be in a conference with schools in Indiana and Pennsylvania,NCAC. Travel is secondary, Over the years there has been conferences with huge footprints. For example look at the old SCAC they had schools in Texas, Indiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Colorado and Arkansas. Even when the SAA broke off from the other schools in the SCAC, they claimed it had nothing to do with travel. (personally I think it was sour grapes, but that is another story.)  

 

to be accurate, for other readers, Emory is part of the UAA confernce, they are not an independent. The UAA conference does not have enough schools to gain an automatic bid to the NCAA tourney. You need seven, in a conference, and I believe they have 5. All the UAA schools get together on spring break and have their conference tourney. 

 

Getting back to the topic, Do not look at the conference, look at who the school plays every year. Do they play the top teams, marietta, Linfield, cortland? Or do they play cup cakes for their non conference match ups.

 

With the change in the D3 rules about in-region vs. out of region match ups and how they count toward a pool C bid, It will be interesting to see how spring break schedules change. My sons coach is trying to schedule some tougher OOC games this spring in Myrtle beach, instead of going to Florida again and facing the same mideast region teams they always face.

 

 

I have followed D3 baseball since my son's first year in college (2007). Over his 4-years he played a lot of conference and non-conference games. Your prospective as to the importance of conference changes. By my son's 4th year, conference was something that they had to win to get the regional selection. What became important were the games against good teams.

 

In talking with my son now; the important parts of his conference play was he got a chance to travel all over the south (Kentucky, Mississippi, Georgia, Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas) for conference play. However, it was the opportunity to play big games against the likes of Notre Dame and play in 2 NCAA tournaments that shape his baseball memories.

 

They had rivalries with certain teams (which were fun) and others were long weekends playing "poor" teams. In the end; the importance of conference was it allowed for direct way into the NCAA tournament.

 

Ultimately your degree is from the school, not the conference.

D3baseball is currently running through the regional previews.

Phillyball - 

 

The "secret" about D3 baseball seems to be getting out.  Used to be some kids were "D1 or bust", and it may still be for some, but word is out that D3's offer a great brand of baseball, some really fantastic facilities & really great educational opportunity.

 

"But there are no scholarships"…. is what the uneducated say.  The student athletes with good grades heading to the D3 programs are laughing all the way to the bank!  And none of the monies is related to baseball.  Perfect example is a SS I know from avg public hs received about $25k per year in academic & "leadership" scholarships.  He lasted 1 season on the team.  Still getting that $25k per year!

 

If an academic D3 is of interest to your son I'd like for you to take a look at either my Virginia, High Academic Mid-Atlantic or High Academic New England College Bus Tours.

 

The VA Tour includes 10 D3's.  Any of which can be competitive any given year.  Add decent weather, great facilities plus excellent degrees.  The guys on tour last year were blown away what D3's have to offer.

 

The H.A. Mid-Atlantic tour is going to be awesome.  Think Centennial "plus".

The H.A. New England tour will be including a lot of the NESCAC.

Both of those tours are about 50/50 D1/D3 and will being seeing Ivy & Ivy equivalent academic schools.

 

Take a look at the info… www.playinschool.com/bus_tour

 

If you have any specific questions about any of the Virginia D3's I'd be happy to discuss them with you.  Feel free to call or email.  I have worked with kids that attend every school in the state.

 

Good luck.

Rich

www.PlayInSchool.com

 

 

 

Well said Rich.  I've been at this for a few years with my sons.  First as a lurker and then a contributor to this site.  I do think the "D3 word" is getting out, but it really is up to baseball adults & parents to understand it and explain it in a way our kids, players and even other adults understand.  

 

As the high school recruiting world works today, D1 is going to get the attention especially for those top tier programs on TV and in the CWS every year.  My oldest son was fortunate to be recruited across some pretty good schools in both D1 and D3.  Middle son considered D3 opportunities as well, but decided to focus on his major at a state school. There is so much academic money and opportunity out there in the D3 world that it merits serious conversations at the dinner table.  Trust me, I've had more than my share of those D1/D3 "conversations".  I think if you truly believe baseball needs to be an integral part of your 4 year academic experience (and/or year abroad) then D3 could be the answer. JMO.

 

We're having this discussion with my 2015 right now. He sees the DI baseball scholarship as the best way to measure how much a school wants him. Mom and I are encouraging him not to rule out the schools with no baseball money (DI or otherwise), since one of them might be a better overall fit.

My boy did the dance with a few D1's.  He had a very nice D1 offer from a school that did not meet his academic goals and had his heart broken by an Ivy.  In the end, there were more than a few high-academic D3's making the pitch for his services.  Be forewarned that most of the very high academic D3's in the northeast offer no merit aid - need based aid only.

I found this list ranking D3 programs to be interesting (2013 data); there are some very good academic schools decently high on the list.

 

http://www.boydsworld.com/baseball/isr/d3_isr.html

 

This is a good resource, but this leans strongly on SoS. While very accurate, in my opinion, the NCAA criteria are quite a bit different when deciding Pool C and Pool B bids. 

 

 

I am sure it varies by program but what are some to the difference in time commitments between a Mid-level D1 vs High Level D-III program.

DIII most likely have less travel commitment.  Do what’s the difference in number of games, practice rules.    Do strong DIII players have opportunities to play in a NCAA sanctioned summer league, or is that generally limited to D1 and D2 players.

If a young man has talent and the college coach is respected a young man can play in the better summer leagues.
There are a few d3 players in Cape cod most years.
My son played in the great lakes league last year. They trusted him enough that he received 8 or nine starts and he started the first game of the championship.
Many posters have sons from d3 that have played in leagues such as the necbl, and the  cpl. My son will be in the Valley league this year.
If the coach is unable to help many players contact these leagues them selves and if they have the have done well against college competition they may get a shot.

When my son was a high school freshman I attended the NESCAC tournament. These are high level academic schools. Parents from two teams told me if the choice is between a test and a game the player won't be on the bus. I don't know if it's true across the board at high end D3s. But at a D1 chances are the test would be rescheduled. Some D3s don't have fall ball. The season is shorter by about twenty games in D3.

Given that Christopher Newport seems to have built a D3 powerhouse program, I would add the Capital Athletic Conference to the list.  Not sure how it rates top to bottom, but the conference is apparently strong enough to allow its champion to rate at or near the top of the rankings.

With few games played here is Masseys ranking for D3 conferences.

 

http://www.masseyratings.com/r...mp;sub=11620&c=1

 

Sons conference, North Coast Athletic Conference actually number 10 on this list. I did not expect that. I do not think it is so much the top teams are getting better in the NCAC, but that the teams that used to be very bad are improving. 

My son is a first year D3 player in the mid-Atlantic area. He received significant merit money, about 40% of the total tuition, room and board bill.

 

The coach mentioned to me that last year their closer couldn't play weekday away games because of a lab. I know that upperclassmen can miss fall ball to study abroad for the fall semester.

 

Don't get me wrong, they are still serious about baseball. My son just finished his first week of spring practice, and it was grueling. He won't have time for anything else this spring other than baseball and classwork. Which is a good thing!

 

here is Massey's map of d3's

http://www.masseyratings.com/m...s=205461&t=11620

You can watch the ongoing SOS rankings throughout the year using NCAA criteria on D3 Baseball.

 

http://www.d3baseball.com/seas...le?tmpl=sos-template

 

Currently not that many teams have played so things are bound to change once the Eastern and northern teams start to play.

I know the title is "D3 Baseball" but don't forget about NAIA baseball.  It's no different from D3 and there are 12 scholarships awarded.  That coupled with some other scholarships covers some of the bill. 

I recenty heard of NIAA but I don't think there are many if any NIAA schools in the part of the country and they seem to be very small with a few exceptions.  My sister lives in NOLA so we have thought about Loyola NO and Spring Hill College (who is moving to D2.)  That being said we have no idea what level of player and students these teams have.   Also I dont think those schools recrute in this area. There is time and cost involved to even get in front of those schools.

There's one with baseball in the Pittsburgh area. None in Delaware. None in New Jersey. None in Maryland.

 

There are a 7 left in Ohio, Shawnee state, and Rio Grande to name two.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L...of_NAIA_institutions

 

Ther used to be many more but many of them have gone to D2. In Ohio, many of the NAIA schools are comparable to D2's. Many of the NAIA schools do not carry as many sports as the D2 or D3's