The email below is my response to a parent who called asking for help with college recruitment. Her daughter, a junior who just reclassified, already has 3 full D2 offers. Mom is getting contacted regularly by colleges and has no idea how to respond. She was never an athlete herself and by her own admission has no understanding of the college recruiting process (a better place to start than many of you think). The starting point here is zero.

Hi Tamara,

Thanks for calling yesterday to talk about making a list of colleges that we should be looking at for Shanise. Here are some quick thoughts/guidelines to use as we go through Shanise’s recruitment over the next 1-2 years.

Education. This should be the most important factor. We don’t want to sacrifice on education if at all possible. We shouldn’t have to, if we do it right. You’d be stunned and disappointed at how many families say it’s most important but make decisions and choices that prove it’s really not. Let’s get the best education we can for Shanise. We’ll need to use basketball to do that. She can get admitted to a better college by leveraging her basketball than she could based on just her academic profile.

Cost. She’s already been offered some full D2 scholarships, so we know we can get a college education for free. Most families would give anything for that. At the right D3 school it may be worth it to pay a few thousand dollars per year instead of accepting a D2 or D1 full scholarship. That might sound crazy, but we should consider paying a little if the difference in level of education is very large and if we know the payback (lifetime earnings difference) is more than worth it.

D1. This would be great if we can get it. We’re not there yet. She may never get to that level. If she does, ideally she’d end up at a Patriot League school, Ivy League school or schools like Bryant, SUNY Binghamton, Vermont, William & Mary etc. that offer an excellent education.

D2. There are very few D2 schools that offer the high level of education we want and should be able to get. None of the D2 offers she currently has provide that level of education. The short list of the best academic D2 schools includes: (listed by academic rank and then alphabetically)

• Hillsdale College – Highly+ Competitive
• Bentley University – Highly Competitive

• Stonehill College – Very+ Competitive
• Assumption College – Very
• Grand Valley St. University – Very
• Le Moyne College – Very
• Mich. Tech University – Very
• Northern Michigan University – Very
• New York Institute of Technology – Very
• Pace University – Very
• St. Michael’s College – Very
• University of the Sciences – Very

D3. There are many excellent D3 academic schools/leagues. The best are the UAA and NESCAC. If she does well on her SAT/ACT we should focus on those and similar leagues. The UAA and NESCAC are the best D3 educations in the US and they are the best D3 women’s basketball leagues in the US. Outside of those leagues, let’s start by looking at SUNY Geneseo. I think they’ll be all over her, she can get admitted, and it could be a great choice. The education is excellent (Highly +), they play great D3 ball (they go to the NCAA tournament virtually every year), it’s close to home, the price should be right and I think it could fit her personality very well.

We should start the process from the ground up. That means starting with D3 schools. Yes, I know, everybody wants to play at the highest level and get a scholarship. You’ve already got D2 offers, so you might be thinking I’m nuts for saying we should be considering D3 schools. Smart families have the highest level as their goal, but start from the D3 level and work their way up.

I’m sure you’ll have lots of questions. Let me know when you do.

Thanks.

Mike