Category Archives: General

Letter of bad intentions

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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 basketball 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 basketball once there. They can abandon their 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.

Basketball Withdrawal

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It’s been a little over a month since the Final 4 and I’ve still got the symptoms of basketball withdrawal. The NBA playoffs are here and that cures some of your blues, but that’s a different kind of game than what we see in Division III

Thankfully, the Daily Dose is here to alleviate some of the blues and blahs, which we’ll do throughout the summer with a little news, a little analysis, and a little bit of humor…For example

The Top 10 Signs You’re Going Through D3 Basketball Withdrawal
From the home offices in Danville, CT

10- You sing “One Shining Moment” and “This Time of Year” in the shower

9- You actually sort of have an interest in the latest recruiting rumors

8- You watch the end of Mavericks-Rockets Game 2 and think “Wow, that guy was almost as clutch as Jason Kalsow”

NEW!7- You click on every entry marked “New” in Posting Up, and then when you’re done, you click on the message boards that haven’t gotten a post in 6 months, just in case…

6- You start taking wild guesses at the identity of the NBA coach referenced in a previous entry by Pat Coleman and shudder at the thought that Isiah Thomas might someday want to coach Division III

5- You look at the high school prospects lists and are tantalized by the possibility that the 276th best player in Texas may end up in the ASC. You then google the names of the recruits that have given “verbal commitments.”

Albion's Mike Thomas4- You start analyzing the needs of your alma mater and think “We’re not that far off…” and then you visualize a Mike Thomas-type shot that wins them an NCAA Tournament game

3- You go to team websites and click on the schedule pages, and are shocked when you still see ’04-’05 games listed

2- You make a hotel reservation for next year’s Final 4, but to protect your identity, you book it as “Lamont Strothers”

and the #1 sign that you’re going thru Division III basketball withdrawal

1- You start wondering “Where in the world is Allen Karon???”

NBA alumni temping in D-III?

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It’s not been a great couple of years for NBA folks dabbling in Division III, at least not in terms of longevity. Former NBA coach Chris Ford, who couldn’t get a D-I job and spent two years at Brandeis, bolted back to the NBA. Former Chicago Bull Rusty LaRue (see front page story) left Greensboro after one season.

We checked, though, Armon Gilliam, at left, is still the coach at Penn State-Altoona.

Now we hear another former NBA coach is looking to settle down and put down some roots as a Division III head coach. Unfortunately, there aren’t many jobs open right now. Some advice — your predecessors from the NBA have damaged your credibility right out of the box. You’ll need to do more than you expect to convince administrations that you’re not just looking for a transitional job to get back to Division I or the pros. But we wish you good luck!

UW-Madison sets exhibition schedule

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The Wisconsin Radio Network is reporting that UW-Madison (non Division III people tend to refer to this school as just plain “Wisconsin”) has set its men’s basketball exhibition schedule for the upcoming season and will host UW-River Falls and Lawrence. The women will host Division III UW-Platteville and a Division II school.

UW-Madison men’s coach Bo Ryan won four Division III national titles at UW-Platteville. Women’s coach Lisa Stone coached 12 seasons at UW-Eau Claire, reaching the NCAA Tournament 11 times. She also coached three seasons at Division III Cornell.