The D3 Numbers Game

I've talked to a few people about my blog and I've been told that I promote D3 like it's the best thing ever.  I am biased to it because I played in it and coached in it.  There is definitely some things wrong with D3 and I'll talk about it today.

When you look at a lot of D3 basketball rosters at private schools you will see HUGE numbers.  And when you see these massive rosters, you will see large amounts of freshmen (not first year's, that's a stupid concept) and sophomores and a lot less juniors and seniors.  The reason you see this, like many other things, is because of money.

Tuition money is huge for a lot of these private schools to survive.  The more incoming players coming in, the more money the school has.  So, when you see a large number recruiting class it is usually based off the Admission office of the school pushing to bring in more athletes to the school.  Sometimes this leads to the college having a junior varsity team in order for these athletes to have a place to play and to still be on the roster.

Here is the simple economics of a school that brings in large amounts of basketball players (other sports are pushed to do the same thing as well) to their school.  Let's say there is 15 incoming basketball players.  Tuition is $25,000 (I'm not including room and board).  That's $375,000 in tuition alone for incoming basketball players.  After their freshmen year a five guys see the writing on the wall and decided to transfer out.  That's $125,000 out the door but still $250,000 going towards the school.  Five more guys decide to give up basketball after their sophomore year but like the school a lot and decide to stay.  So, by the time this group becomes seniors only five of the fifteen are still on the basketball roster but their tuition brought in $1,125,000 to the school.

Now, not every athlete is going to have to pay a full $25,000 in tuition to the school based off of academic scholarships and financial aid but you get the point.  Even if this group brings in $900,000, that's $900,000 that the school didn't have in the first place.

Imagine if this is done for ten years, that's roughly $9,000,000-$10,000,000 to the school.  Then you add in bringing in big numbers for football, soccer, and track & field.  That is why athletics should be an integral part of any D3 private school.

There are some D3 schools that recruit huge numbers because of a coaching change, hope for a culture change, and/or to fill a JV roster.  The Admissions office is never unhappy with the coaching staff when these large numbers happen.  Wins and losses are important but the bottom line is the most important thing for a majority of D3 schools.

Be in the black not in the red.