If you read “coverage” of Division III sports this time of year, you probably see this phrase, or one like it, pretty frequently.

So-and-so “signed a letter of intent to play football at Division III” Such-and-such College.

This is a lie. Or if it’s true, then it’s an NCAA violation. There is no such thing as a letter of intent in Division III.

From the Division III manual, bylaw 13.10.1:

An institution shall not utilize any form of a letter of intent or similar form of commitment in the recruitment of a prospect. However, it shall be permissible for the institution to utilize in the recruitment of a prospect its pre-enrollment forms executed by prospective students in general at that institution. Violations of this bylaw shall be considered institutional violations per Constitution 2.8.1; however, such violations shall not affect the prospective student-athlete’s eligibility.

I’m not going to name names here — shoot, you can do some Google searches and see the references for yourself. We just don’t know if the schools are misleading the papers or the papers just don’t know what they’re writing about.

Fact is, nothing binds a student-athlete to attend a particular school in Division III, or to play football once there. He can abandon his application fee and enrollment deposit and re-enroll anywhere.

This is why ranking recruiting classes in Division III is a fruitless exercise.

Hey, I can see where the schools are coming from. It’s hard to get people unfamiliar with Division III to truly understand how things work here. But we need to educate the rest of the media, educate the public, that Division III is different, and better. Student-athletes aren’t treated any differently, aren’t given any special treatment, and they enter the school the same way everyone else does.

Ignorance is no excuse. Intentionally misleading people is worse.