Kudda was privy to attend two college recruiting nights presented by the coaches at some of the top D1 and DIII programs.

For the boys recruiting night, Dave Pietramala from Hopkins and Gene McCabe from W&L presented the process from a D1 and D3 perspective. For the women, sponsored by the M&D Lacrosse Club, Kelly Berger from UMBC, Ricky Fried-Georgetown and Muffy Bliss from McDaniel College spoke.

There were several themes that were present at both evenings’ discussions:

Grades

Time Table

Club Lacrosse, Camps and Tournaments

Specialization

Future of recruiting

Grades

ALL coaches stressed the importance of solid academic achievement. There are so many top players that will never get admitted to these colleges because of poor grades. For example, during Jake Reed’s Blue Chip Camp, coaches were given their packet that also included player’s academic achievement. So often coaches would see a great player, turn to see the grades and realize this player had no shot of attending their college.

Coach McCabe stressed how strong grades make the process so much easier… coaches aren’t going to be scrambling and pleading with their admissions people if you don’t have the grades.

The Recruiting Timetable

All coaches addressed their timetable for solidifying their recruiting classes. For the D1 coaches, Fried, Berger and Petro, this process has been accelerated over the last 2-3 years. Petro shared that he has juniors right now committing and that he’ll probably have the 2010 recruiting class wrapped up by spring. For the D3 coaches, McCabe and Bliss, their timetable is pushed back a bit. Right now both coaches are solidifying their 2009 recruits. McCabe told us that he’s looking at juniors but will start to recruit them come springtime. Check out Coach Fried’s thoughts on the timetable by clicking on The drop down menu for “Choosing a Playlist” and selecting “Recruiting Timetable”

Club Lacrosse

The coaches addressed the proliferation in club teams, recruiting tournaments and camps. They all urged players to limit the number of tourneys and camps that players attend in the summer. One area that divided the men and the women coaches was the role of the Club Coach. Coach Petro seemed very concerned with the influence of some of the club coaches in the recruiting process. He and McCabe revealed that they rely more heavily of the HS coach, who probably has more contact and interaction w/ the players during the year and has a genuine vested interest in helping their players make the right college decisions. Petro shared some stories of some club coaches who charge their players a fee for contacting college coaches. That, with the incentive to boost that the club’s players are attending certain schools to increase enrollment made both coaches much more focused on the HS coach’s opinion. This differed from the women coaches who rely on the input of the Club coach almost as much as the HS coach. Then again, girls’ club lacrosse has been around longer than the mens’ club scene.

Specialization

The topic of Specialization came up on both nights as parents asked if it was better that their child play lax instead of basketball or soccer. The coaches all agreed that they look for those athletes who play multi-sports. They don’t want the players who are just lacrosse players. They’re looking for that well-rounded athlete. The players will specialize in college- no need to do it in HS. All coaches agreed that there is no advantage to playing just lacrosse year round and that it’s better to play other sports.

The Future of Recruiting

The women coaches felt that since their sport is growing, both in the number of players and in D1 schools offering scholarships, the timetable won’t change too much. Not so with the men. Petro feels that it’ll be even more competitive since there are only 50+ D1 schools and lots more players from all over the country. He sees colleges possibly looking at freshmen and possibly younger in the years to come. McCabe is alarmed, as were the other coaches, at the number of tournaments and recruiting camps that are stretching family budgets and players’ intensity. Unfortunately, since there is a huge financial incentive from running these events, the coaches feel that we’ll continue to see an increase in the number of camps and tournaments.

At this point of the summer, my son has done several tournaments with his club lacrosse team and has attended a “recruiting” camp…Top 205. At all of these venues, there are always 8-15 college coaches watching each game. Personally, I have no idea how these guys can really differentiate between all of the 6’0, 175 pound middies who are fast, shoot well on the run, and play great defense. As you scan the sidelines, it’s easy to recognize some of the top D1 coaches at these venues…they all have their polo’s…usually UnderArmour…hat, folding chair and clipboard. By this time of the summer they have been on the road for 4 weeks at various tournaments and camps… and they look exhausted! But as you scan the sidelines you’ll also see many coaches you don’t recognize, from colleges that you may not have heard of…primarily the D2 and D3 coaches. Chances are this is where your son or daughter will end up playing so don’t dismiss the fact that these coaches are interested just because they are D3.

With a little over 50 schools that play D1 men’s lacrosse and each school able to give a maximum of 12.6 scholarships…usually split into halves or quarters… we’re talking 1000-1600 players that are awarded a D1 scholarship of some value. So in any given year, there are maybe 300 HS players that might get a scholarship to play lacrosse. So unless you’re one of these top 300 who want to play at the D1 level, most HS players will be playing at the D2 and D3 level.

Let’s face it… every parent and player wants to be considered a D1 prospect. It helps the social status of the player, it helps the “cocktail party” status of the parents…it strokes everyone’s ego. But the actual college experience of being a D1 athlete may not be in every player’s best interest. Many of these players don’t realize the amount of work and commitment involved with playing a D1 sport. Just because you have the ability to play D1, doesn’t mean that you should. For many top athletes, playing D3 might actually be a better option.

Playing at the D3 level enables the athlete to have a better balanced college experience. According to Anne Phillips, head women’s lacrosse coach at Franklin & Marshall, D3 schools allow for players to be fully focused on their academics while being able to play sports at a competitive level. To see all of Anne’s thoughts about the benefits of D3, check them out at the Kudda library.

http://video.kudda.com/clinic/Benefits_of_Going_D_III

According to Matt McGinnis, head coach at Denison, many of the liberal arts schools are more academically demanding and may do a better job of preparing students for grad school, law school or med school. (I got to spend time with Matt, as we were both eating at a pizza place outside of Gettysburg)

For many of the D3 colleges, the financial aid available may be more than a partial scholarship from a D1 program. It may be a more attractive situation overall…more affordable, better balance between academics and athletics, and more flexibility in doing pursuing other extra-curricular work.