<p>Saw a very interesting article about how geography can determine college athletes: <a href=“https://lateralsports.com/posts/3[/url]”>https://lateralsports.com/posts/3</a> - I hadn’t seen any data like this before and it made me wonder what some of you had previously experienced or had thought about regarding biases in the recruiting process?</p>
<p>Another article about the obvious. Texas, Fl, etc are high school football powerhouses. The top high school football teams in Texas would probably slaughter any DIII team in the nation, of course they are going to have the most recruits into college football.</p>
<p>I have lived in both the Northeast and Florida. My child played his sport in both places. The level of intensity toward sports in Florida was far and away above the level of intensity we found in the Northeast. There was no comparison. I would say that the typical competitive athletic programs in larger public for football and baseball in Florida would be on par with and could easily compete with DIII teams as well as the Ivy League and Patriot League type D1 programs.</p>
<p>One of the things that you see in Florida student athletes is that they tend to choose one sport and play it year round vs playing two or three sports during the school year. Football and Baseball, in Florida, have been made into year round sports. I do not think there is a bias in the recruiting process. I think that student athletes in a place such as Florida pick one sport, dedicate themselves to training AND they have a system that supports this dedication via year round opportunties to play, great weather, other highly competitive programs to compete against etc…</p>
<p>I do not want to knock any student athlete or program as I believe there is talent where ever you go. Talent is groomed differently in a place such as Florida - I saw it first hand. The other thing to consider is that college coaches have limited time ( and for some limited financial resources) when recruiting. They know what the competition is like in these power house sports “hot beds” so it helps them to quickly assess a player when they know what competition he/she has been playing against - they have a better frame of reference for any stats they may see etc… Coaches need to use their time wisely but I do not think they biased</p>
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<p>I agree with this, especially at the schools below the D1A (BCS) level. FBS, Division 2/3 coaches do not have the same network of national scouts and large recruiting budgets that the big boys have. When a coach at a D3 school comes in contact with a highlight video of a player from a big football state (like FL) he has a better idea of what the level of football sophistication is compared to a player from a non hotbed state. That doesn’t mean there aren’t good players from non hotbed states because there are good players everywhere. It’s just that if a coach sees a video of a kid from FL he just KNOWS they have:</p>
<ol>
<li>Probably played against other good players.</li>
<li>Probably been coached by good coaches.</li>
<li>Probably had extensive fitness/conditioning in HS.</li>
<li>Probably have a high football IQ.</li>
</ol>
<p>Kids in FL are exposed to athletic recruiting by high school coaches. Since there are so many D1 prospects in the state there is an emphasis on athletic recruiting in high school. Most D2/3 players are very very good football players, but are lacking something necessary for D1 play. For my son it is size. For others it might be speed. As you note, coaches with small recruiting budgets need to use their time/money wisely. If they can recruit a kid from a known football hotbed with very little effort they will do that.</p>
<p>One of the myths regarding football recruiting is that you are better off playing D2 and getting an athletic scholarship than playing D3 where there are no athletic scholarships. Frequently academic scholarships that are available at D3 schools are larger than the partial scholarships offered by many D2 schools. Plus-you are not obligated to play football to keep your academic scholarship.</p>
<p>D1 schools offer full scholarships.</p>
<p>Many students do not realize that the available numbers and dollar amounts of many athletic scholarships are limited. There is a maximum number of scholarships that can be offered for a DI or D2 team under NCAA rules (which may average one to three per freshman class for some sports), and many colleges don’t offer the maximum number.</p>
<p>Students also need to decide whether playing time is more important to them than the level of competition. If a student wants to start as a freshman or sophomore, they may be better off at a D3 school.</p>
<p>There also are a few hundred less competitive colleges that do offer athletic scholarships. They are not in the NCAA, and many are religious colleges. They are in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.</p>
<p>Starting as a freshman at the D3 level is rare.</p>