DIII - what to expect

quote:

Originally posted by 2013 Parent:
2013 has done a few visits/overnights with DIII schools (none have ED) and each has said they expect he would be an immediate impact player.

They all ask who else he's talking to and where they rank on his list, and he's been honest with them. One coach said he expects 2013 will have many choices and he's not going to push him and understands that some players in his situation even wait until spring to pull the trigger.

Do DIII coaches make a formal pitch, or at some point ask for a commitment, or how does it work, since there's no "offer" or NLI?

wait till you fill out the fasfa..get the schools price and then try to play them off of each other ,,you'll find that some can get you some special scholarships like alumni scholarships etc etc.we picked the school that was close to our home,with a great downtown area that had many choices of food and amenities.Being close to home is a big big advantage believe it or not..have these schools come to watch him play summer ball with his high school last year ? fall ball? did they go out of their way to see him more than once? they ALL tell you he could be an IMPACT player.that really means nothing.look at their actions not their rhetoric..hope this helps.

quote:

Originally posted by wogdoggy:

quote:

Originally posted by 2013 Parent:
2013 has done a few visits/overnights with DIII schools (none have ED) and each has said they expect he would be an immediate impact player.

They all ask who else he's talking to and where they rank on his list, and he's been honest with them. One coach said he expects 2013 will have many choices and he's not going to push him and understands that some players in his situation even wait until spring to pull the trigger.

Do DIII coaches make a formal pitch, or at some point ask for a commitment, or how does it work, since there's no "offer" or NLI?

wait till you fill out the fasfa..get the schools price and then try to play them off of each other ,,you'll find that some can get you some special scholarships like alumni scholarships etc etc.we picked the school that was close to our home,with a great downtown area that had many choices of food and amenities.Being close to home is a big big advantage believe it or not..have these schools come to watch him play summer ball with his high school last year ? fall ball? did they go out of their way to see him more than once? they ALL tell you he could be an IMPACT player.that really means nothing.look at their actions not their rhetoric..hope this helps.

Thanks - he has been accepted at all of them and been notified of his merit awards, which are significant because of his strong grades and ACT. He won't qualify for need-based awards or grants.

Yes, they have all come to see him during the summer and fall and approached both his travel coach and him personally.

I thought it was pretty clear that athletes could not be given any academic money that wasn't available to all other students with identical credentials? And I guess we're still wondering what, if anything, we should expect to hear from the coach.

quote:

Originally posted by 2013 Parent:

quote:

Originally posted by wogdoggy:

quote:

Originally posted by 2013 Parent:
2013 has done a few visits/overnights with DIII schools (none have ED) and each has said they expect he would be an immediate impact player.

They all ask who else he's talking to and where they rank on his list, and he's been honest with them. One coach said he expects 2013 will have many choices and he's not going to push him and understands that some players in his situation even wait until spring to pull the trigger.

Do DIII coaches make a formal pitch, or at some point ask for a commitment, or how does it work, since there's no "offer" or NLI?

wait till you fill out the fasfa..get the schools price and then try to play them off of each other ,,you'll find that some can get you some special scholarships like alumni scholarships etc etc.we picked the school that was close to our home,with a great downtown area that had many choices of food and amenities.Being close to home is a big big advantage believe it or not..have these schools come to watch him play summer ball with his high school last year ? fall ball? did they go out of their way to see him more than once? they ALL tell you he could be an IMPACT player.that really means nothing.look at their actions not their rhetoric..hope this helps.

Thanks - he has been accepted at all of them and been notified of his merit awards, which are significant because of his strong grades and ACT. He won't qualify for need-based awards or grants.

Yes, they have all come to see him during the summer and fall and approached both his travel coach and him personally.

I thought it was pretty clear that athletes could not be given any academic money that wasn't available to all other students with identical credentials? And I guess we're still wondering what, if anything, we should expect to hear from the coach.

quite honestly,,you are going to have to make the next move,,they have all shown genuine interest and there is not really much more that they can say or do at this point.you still have time,,,we didnt notify the coach until 3/4 of the way thru his senior year..

western suburbs of chicago??

My son went D3.
Any student not only athletes can ask for more money. I hate to say this and I am sure some will disagree. It is a lot like buying a car. If your son falls into the profile of the type of student a school wants they can and will offer more. We did not cross anybody off the list till we heard no twice. My son did not make up his mind till the end of season banquet may 30th of his senior year.

All the coaches explained that D3 recruiting is a long process. My son did not go on several of his over nights till February.

Many of the schools have scholarship days, were all students with a certain test and grade point show up on campus and compete for additional scholarships through tests and round tables. If your son fits into this category it is another opportunity to visits campus and get to know potential school mates.

You might talk to admissions and understand there timeline. Since there is no NLI, the coach may be tied to that time line.

At no time did any of the coaches recruiting my son pressure him for a commitment. And only one school (not the coach) did. I actually believe that hurt there chances.

Congrats to you and your son.

My son is also playing at a DIII now, but frankly I did not know much about the process until late in the game. The school he is at approached him just like the D1’s he was recruited by; he had the same phone calls, emails, and visit. The only difference was that it was later in the process. You need to do the same due diligence as you would with any other program. First select a school that makes sense from an academic standpoint, and a place he really wants to be at for four years regardless of baseball , plus one that makes financial sense. Then look over the roster, look at the depth chart, talk to other players, you should track down other parents of players, just like you would do with any program. Finally does he like the coaching staff and want to play for them?

Once you have done all of this then the choice will likely become self-evident.
Good Luck!

Our experience was all over the map. 2010 was courted by several D3's but several others were polite but not aggressive. He ended up choosing one of the latter because of the overall school experience. 2013 had a powerhouse regional D3 agressively court him saying "don't compare us to the D1 schools compare them to us". Coach made some great points but 2013 chose a prominent D1 school. General comment - those D3 coaches who are looking to make baseball a career (or have made it a career) are very aggressive and others are not.

quote:

Originally posted by 2013 Parent:
Do DIII coaches make a formal pitch, or at some point ask for a commitment, or how does it work, since there's no "offer" or NLI?

As others here have noted, each school is different. We didn't have any coach make a formal "offer". Mostly, they maintained contact. The important thing is to decide what are your son's top choices (based on things other than just baseball). Then start working down the list. What you want to hear from a coach is that you have a guaranteed Spring roster spot. Sometimes, you will have to ask. In my son's case, he had a coach that was calling him every week (just to touch base and talk baseball, no pressure). The roster spot was implied but we never had the exact words until my son asked and the coach confirmed that he had a spot. At that point, he was ready to make a decision and let the coach know that he was "committing".

Another school (lower down on my son's list) had also maintained contact, but when my son asked about a roster position, they said that they wanted to see him pitch again. And that was after they saw him throw an effective 100+ pitch game a few months earlier against a highly rated showcase team. I knew (from these boards) that they already had "commitments" from other pitchers, so we knew that it was time to cut them loose. Until we had asked the question, my son had been given the impression that they really wanted him.

One warning, you still need to do your research. The guarantee is only as good as the coach's word. Also, a roster spot does not mean playing time. DIII schools do not have a roster limit and some of them do carry over 40 (or even 50) on their roster. Also, make sure you are not walking into an over recruiting situation. Use the "Ask About Colleges" section of these message boards to get a read on the different programs.

Good luck.

"Your son has a chance to make an immediate impact as a freshman."

This is the baseball version of "I will respect you in the morning."

Player and parents hear, "He might start as a freshman".

Coach means, "I like him or we wouldn't have recruited him, but we will see how he does".

College players chuckle when they hear this line. It's just coach-talk.

Hello 2013,

My son was recruited by 5 different D3's, and each was different. Some coaches contacted him every week, and asked about the other programs he was interested in. Some contacted him once or twice a month. One school guaranteed a roster spot for 4 years. This was a school where all players participated in workouts and spring trip, so that was nice to hear. Another school with a roster of 70 told him he would be an impact player as a freshman. Son thought it was too big a risk to commit to that program, was afraid that if he had a bad game, he would be shuffled back into the deck and never given another chance.

It doesn't hurt to be honest with the coach and ask if other players at your son's position have committed. If he is a firstbaseman and 5 other firstbasemen have already committed, it may be tough to get noticed.

VaRHPmom gave very good advice. If your son is comfortable waiting a little while, he might want to see the teams he is interested in play in the spring. You can get a pretty good idea of the atmosphere in the dugout, and see if there are any disgruntled players. It's also a good chace to see how the coaches behave when they don't have their recruiting faces on. My son had pretty much made up his mind, but made his final commitment at the game when his top 2 schools played each other. He was just much more comfortable with how the coach and players related to each other at the school he ultimately chose.

To answer your direct question - I would say without ED (or even some sort of rolling admission), then you have only your word (and the coach's word) that the school is where you are going. If you scrounge around this website - I think you'll find many schools use the ED as the "process" to replace NLI. The only way out of ED is if the financial package doesn't work for you.

Sounds like it's time to make the chart of likes and dislikes. You have multiple choices and just need to decide where to go. Although you've been told about being an immediate impact player - does the current roster allow that to play out? Do they all pass the "broken leg test"? That is, if you are injured such that you couldn't play, would you still be happy at the school? If playing right away is a top concern, then is the position "open"? Nothing like being told you're important, but then finding out there's an All American in your spot and you are asked to play elsewhere. If you cannot be happy in that role, then what? Hard to displace an upperclassman with experience. Harder to replace a popular upperclassman - that is popular with teammates. Just remember that every year the coach is telling players the same thing, you are this year's version of I want you really bad. Next year there are more fresh faces coming in each told the same thing.

it has been my experiece that u should not assume anything interms of what a college can offer you in terms of money


let them tell you-----you might be pleasantly surprised

My son is going the D3 route. He went ED at the coach's request in exchange for a roster spot next year.

I was concerned that he would get short changed on the merit scholarship front by going ED but the award was more than we expected. We are very pleased, and he feels wanted by both the coach and the school. In fact, he continues to hear from the coach even after committing.

quote:

Originally posted by twotex:
My son is going the D3 route. He went ED at the coach's request in exchange for a roster spot next year.

I was concerned that he would get short changed on the merit scholarship front by going ED but the award was more than we expected. We are very pleased, and he feels wanted by both the coach and the school. In fact, he continues to hear from the coach even after committing.

That's what I often hear about ED. They know you will be going there unless the offer makes the finances impossible. So it is there best interest to ensure the finances work.

quote:

Originally posted by twotex:
My son is going the D3 route. He went ED at the coach's request in exchange for a roster spot next year.

I was concerned that he would get short changed on the merit scholarship front by going ED but the award was more than we expected. We are very pleased, and he feels wanted by both the coach and the school. In fact, he continues to hear from the coach even after committing.

Be very careful about taking a D3 coach's word regarding a roster spot. As much as they may hint otherwise, they have to financial commitment to a player once the walk onto campus. The issue of over recruiting has been discussed ad nauseum on this site. At the D3 level, once on campus, everyone is the same.

A good barometer of how consistent a coach is in his roster commitments is looking a few years back at roster turnover. This doesn't take into account those who arrived on campus in the fall and were cut, but does show whether players are developed through the program for their entire 4 years.

D3 coaches live or die by their reputation and relationships. However, whoever goes to any college, no matter what the division, without checking out the coach's reputation is taking a big risk. So we checked it out.

In my son's case, the coach and his family are well known to us. We know friends and family of the coach. In addition to what we know about the coach, we know the school carries between 30-35 on the roster. Two walked on this year, everyone else was recruited or a returning player.

We know the coach supports players with Admissions. In my son's case, the coach walked him to his admissions interview. My son took a campus tour afterwards. The admissions officer told the tour guide that my son was a baseball recruit. Needless to say, Admissions will not look kindly on the coach if he advocates for a player, then cuts them in year one.

My son also did an overnight visit, spending the night with 3 players. He attended an on campus camp.

So that was our due diligence. Even if we completely misjudged the situation, or my son gets hurt, he still has a 4 year, 70k scholarship at a very good school, independent of baseball. Good enough for me!

There are also other clues you might infer to the level of commitment and integrity of a D3 coach, and his word, etc. Here's a quick story:

My son traveled alone from so cal to Minneapolis for a visit to Macalaster College in St. Paul MN. He flew out on a Sunday, spent all day Monday on campus, toured the facilities, went to a class, took an admissions interview, roomed with some players for a couple nights, typical stuff for any visit.

However, the Sunday night my son flew to MN happened to be Halloween. Head Coach Parrington from Macalaster, who I know has children of "trick or treating" age, assured me that he would be at the airport to pick my son up, and get him to campus safely that evening, essentially sacrificing his Halloween with his own children to help my son. This was despite my initial statement that our son could procure a cabby and get himself to campus. Although my son ultimately applied ED and was accepted and is playing at another school, Coach Parrington's actions that evening proved to me that he was a man you could trust. My son called Coach Parrington when he decided to apply ED elsewhere, and Coach P's response could not have been classier.

Point of my story I guess, look for those types of clues towards character.

I assume D3 coaches are a reflection of life. We make judgments based on lots of information, some guesses and insights, and hope for the best.
Our son met Coach Scannell from Trinity University in the Summer of 1999. They still talk about once per week, sometimes more, sometimes a bit less.
From the first phone call in the Fall of 1999, Coach Scannell communicated what he would do and what he expected our son would and where that combination would end, in terms of baseball playing.
Coach Scannell far exceeded his end of the deal.
When our son got drafted, as Coach predicted, the one who showed up with Blue Jay hats all around...Coach Scannell.
When our son got voted an All Star in Milb, one of the first to call with a congrats...and a reminder about the next regular season game..Coach Scannell.
When our son was injured and down in the dumps realizing the end was near, yup, the calls still came.
Now that our son is a D1 assistant, the calls still come, in support, encouragement, to provide guidance, encouragement, and reality.
Yes, there indeed are D3 coaches who recruit and rely on, and teach, integrity. They are investing in your son in ways more than money!
I don't present Coach Scannell as an exception, just an illustration of how much a D3 coach will invest in ways $$$$$ can never measure. We could never measure in $$$$ the difference made for our son, and many, many others beside our son. I am sure there are situations at the other end of the spectrum and most in between. When we take $$$$ out, relationships can be awfully special.

Infield, great story.

twotex - your story is pretty good too! I really like reading stories like yours in this crazy process.

twotex:

Congrats to you, your family and your son!