D3 Visit - Questions to ask?

The questions I want answered may not be the same as yours

Just be yourself and ask the questions that you feel you need annswered---the coach is a human being and most appreciate players/parents being open in their questions---they want the player to be comfortable in his choice when he enrolls

Is there such an anaimal as an "official visit" to a D3? I know there are certain NCAA rules which govern D1 "official visits". When coaches at D3's ask player to visit campus, is that considered an "official visit".?

Official visits are paid for by the school---they do not happen at the D-3 level-- a visit is a visit

My bad - Obviously used the wrong word when I said "official". What I meant was "my son was invited to come meet the coach, team, see the school, etc."

NoVa,
No need to apologize.
First of all, it is great that your son is generating this much interest this early. Many DIII's wait until late Sept/October to start bringing in players. They have found that earlier efforts leave them competing against the DI's without too much success.
Some things to consider when talking with a DIII coach:
Is there a Fall program and how is it conducted? Not every DIII has a Fall program.
Depending on the school and it's facilities, football or s****r may also use a part of the baseball field so Fall practice might be later, much later.
Make sure you know what is involved with strength and conditioning, especially the Fall aspects.
Does the coach place players in Summer wood bat leagues? If so, what should your son expect. If not, why not.
Can the coach help you understand how baseball vs class conflicts and travel conflicts get addressed in the school. This can be handled differently at each school. At DIII, though, baseball players are not entitled to any advantage not provided to every student. Getting excused from class and classes where participation is required can be impacted by baseball.
If there is a Greek system, what is the coaches view on joining, if there is an interest.
Rooming assignments: will baseball players be together or integrated with the entire student body.
What opportunities exist in the program for playing time? Where does the coach see your son as a possible contributor and at what stage.
Does the team play a full 40 game season. It is surprising that a number of programs play quite a number less.
Finally, and most important, I would ask the coach to try and describe for your son what his day would be like from morning to night, when he tries to incorporate strength and conditioning, practice, academics and some social life.
Good luck to your son. Hopefully others will add to this.

Infielddad:

Great suggestions! Exactly what I was hoping to get, and several things I had not thought of previously. We'll start asking these questions (and our own) tomorrow at the first visit.

Thanks for taking the time to give me these.

NoVa...another BIG question to ask is "How are tryouts conducted?" Some schools will have 1-2 cursory days, others may go a week to get a good look at players.

Another questions to ask is "How many freshmen do you typically bring in for tryouts?" Some schools have been known to bring a proverbial bus load of them.

Amen to JT's thoughts and Infield dad"s:

Some added thoughts:

1. D III's vary on excusals from class for sports travel; some require athletes be excused and allowed to make up missed tests, others don't.

2. Some will offer guaranteed roster spots for freshman year, some don't.

3. Some schools put athletes desired schedules into the computers first in their sport's season, others don't.

4. Some schools are very good about feeding players on trips, at the school's expense, others aren't.

5. Some travel on chartered buses, some in vans. You want buses if possible.

6. Some dining halls stay open to feed athletes after late practices, some don't.

7. Some schools allow athletes parking privileges close to the field during the season, some don't.


Answers to some of these will help determine the school's commitment to athletics. Even at D III level, commitment to sports programs can vary in a whole lot of nonmonetary ways.

p.s. A lot of your questions can be answered for your son by the players that show him around campus.

NoVa Baseball....

"infielddad" is right on the money with his thoughts, and so is "hokieone". Some other thoughts are:

- Is there one team, usually made-up of 22-30 players on the final roster, or do they also have a JV team?
- Are meals provided when playing out-of-town, or is the meal expense money taken from the players "flex" account?
- Are lunches provided between home double headers, or are the players expected to fend for themselves between games (usually 20-30 minutes)?

These may not seem important, but if a player needs to eat, the parents had better expect to contribute more to their sons un-calculated living expenses. This might seem to be "nickle-dime" thinking, but believe me it adds up really quickly.

Finally, if the coach or any of his assistants is in weekly contact, or more frequently than that, then you be rest assured the interest is defintely there. But, and let me be emphatic about this, nothing should be taken for granted, training, practice, running, exercising, academics, etc. because you still have to work hard and prove yourself every day that you are deserving of earning a spot on the team, and maybe even playing your freshman year. Our coach made it a point to make sure the team was attending classes, and even have them sitting in the first row or two of the class. He would make spot visits. He would check-up on grades.

My son was, and is very fortunate to have played his freshman year. He earned several conference honors, but, that was last year. 2007-2008 is a different year, and his school has new recruits trying to make the spring team by having "tryouts" in the fall. Nothing is taken for granted!!

Best of luck to your son, and also to your family during this interesting time in his life.

These are all terrific questions to ask. Many of them are asked and many are not. There are WIDE differences between DIII schools and some of those questions will tell you if your getting involved with a program that you want to. I think Roster size, JV squad, how many freshman, how tryouts work and travel with buses/vans etc, how many games played. It is also important to know if coach plays freshman. ALSO, look at the website, past stats to see what kind of game the coach plays, for instance: If you are a speed guy, make sure the coach will allow you to be aggressive on the base paths. I think these are the important baseball question. On the academic seen, Team GPA, how the program helps with academics, study halls, grade reporting, and how the school treats athletes who miss class. Some schools will have rules for the athletes, some will not. Good luck, and in my opinion as a coach, no question is a bad question and when you leave my campus I want you to have NO DOUBT that you got everything you came for. That doesn't necessarily mean you will come, but you will be well informed. You also may want to ask how many players have transfered FROM their program, and that will give you insight on how the players are treated and how fair the coach is...

Good Luck

VJC....nice input, Coach.

Nice to have a current coach chime in.

TRhitt...
I have to disagree with you...not out of any real knowledge base other than my personal experience-but my son is being recruited by several DIII, and some JUCO's schools, and one in particular is located in NJ, (NCAA DIII) and they are paying to fly him there for a 4 day "official visit", putting him with a student in the dorms for that period etc, and covering all costs. Granted, this is the only one so far--but it must exist. I have noticed that not all DIII schools are NCAA affiliated(?).
Maybe that is the difference? Can anyone else shed any light on this?

quote:

Originally posted by ckrepps:
TRhitt...
I have to disagree with you...not out of any real knowledge base other than my personal experience-but my son is being recruited by several DIII, and some JUCO's schools, and one in particular is located in NJ, (NCAA DIII) and they are paying to fly him there for a 4 day "official visit", putting him with a student in the dorms for that period etc, and covering all costs. Granted, this is the only one so far--but it must exist. I have noticed that not all DIII schools are NCAA affiliated(?).
Maybe that is the difference? Can anyone else shed any light on this?

I do believe if the college is a D3 school, they are definitely part of the NCAA. If they were NAIA or a JUCO, then that's a different story. But this does sounds strange to me if it's a D3.

No mistake there, it is definately a DIII school. Now I am really curious. Please pardon my ignorance, but I have always wondered...Since NCAA's purpose is to govern athletic scholarships (as I understand it, anyway), and DIII schools do not offer athletic scholarship money, why are they under NCAA? Sorry if that is a stupid question.

I'll be shocked if it's allowed for a NCAA D III school to cover the costs of a recruit's flight and lodging, but I guess that school knows what it's doing.

D III sports are still regulated-there's lots more to college sports than just scholarships, and the NCAA is involved in all aspects of college sports, not just scholarships-rules, competition, officials, allowed and unallowed events, practice times, academic standards, etc.

You'll find some D III baseball rules seem almost silly, as in a very limited number of official fall practices, being allowed to play 1, repeat 1, game against another school in the fall (most schools play one very looong game, 18-27 innings, to get everyone playing time).

Some D III schools value athletics highly, and want to put time and money into their programs, others believe it should be no more than upper level intramurals, and there's a constant struggle between the two sides. There's been discussion of creating a D IV level, so that "serious sports D III's" can compete against like minded programs, and the glorified intramurals folks can keep to themselves as well.

Don't assume that all NCAA rules are athlete friendly, and that the organization always has the student-athlete's best interest at heart. Some NCAA rules are just the opposite, but there are politics and outside influences, just as in most other aspects of life.

It is legal for a DIII to pay for the travel expenses of a recruit just like at a DI or DII. The reason it is rarely done is simply due to the fact that DIII's recruiting budgets aren't large enough to allow it.

Thank you. It is indeed a learning process!

If you have a highly selective D3 school looking at your child and he might get in without baseball, but chances are probably slim, but could get in with baseball; would they give you academic money? Not sure how the academic money works. Would love to hear from anyone with experience in this arena.

Thanks for the input DBL2- I was getting a little concerned. He is a top academic student with SAT of 1310 and ACT of 28. The coach has the budget to bring him up there, but did mention that with my sons academic record he was going to see if admissions/academics would foot the bill so he didn't have to take it out of his budget. This school as well as Rhodes (which has also contacted him) is extremely pricey but the money is there in academic scholarships/grants. We are lucky, he is an extremely good student. He is what is referred to here as "Joint-Enrolled"--he only takes one course at the high school (allowing him to play ball his senior year) and three core courses per semester at the local university. So when he is done with his Senior year this year, he will also have more than half of his first year of college behind him. We made sure he enrolled in core courses that will accept the credits almost anywhere he chooses to go.
I'm not sure at DIV III your son would get academic money, if he is not a strong student. As those same funds would have to be available to all students, and he would be competing with them for those monies. Don't quote me on that, but that is my impression. I'm sure someone on here knows better. Thanks for the congrats--like I said, I got blessed with a good kid! I'm very proud of him.

My son has exact same scores, but he is on the low end of some of these academic schools (ACT starting point is a 28 or a 29).

I would say then based on my current experiences that he would qualify for academic money. Sounds as though you have been blessed as well

Thanks, I hope so, because the schools he is looking at is also very pricey (by the way Rhodes is also talking to my son). Does anyone else have opinions?

Academic money for athletes can only be awarded on the same basis as with non-athletes. Private schools seem to have a plethora of funds available to all students, and athletes can get those the same as anyone else, based upon the same standards. Don't assume the academic marks need to be "off the charts" to qualify for academic money. It seems the coaches are normally aware of just about how much is available, or they'll send you to a person that can tell you what amounts can be expected . In our area, the academic funds normally bring the overall cost down to something closer to what in state public school costs would be for a resident.

Thanks Hokie. BaseballMom...are you going to look at Rhodes? I really like what I have researched about them so far, and Stephen has too.

quote:

Originally posted by baseballmomtwo:
Thanks, I hope so, because the schools he is looking at is also very pricey (by the way Rhodes is also talking to my son). Does anyone else have opinions?

bmomtwo, if you are looking at Rhodes, then SCAC programs including Millsaps, Southwestern, and Trinity could be options. Very similar academics and baseball programs...since they play each other.
I only met the coach at Rhodes very briefly. He was quite a gentleman at the time as his program was truly at the bottom of the SCAC. He has done an excellent job and has to be both a very good recruiter and coach.
I can assure you the coaches at Millsaps and Trinity are top quality. Certainly I have a bias toward Trinity but the fact they have had 2 players drafted since 2004 and both did well professionally supports my view of that staff. Trinity, on a comparable basis, is quite reasonable for tuition with top academics...but now I am really am showing my bias.

quote:

are you going to look at Rhodes

yes, we are going in several weeks.
We are looking at Trinity and Southwestern, have not heard of Millsaps