@gointhruaphase You are confirming what I have heard. So many sports have only a few “slots” and in some cases no slots. The original purpose of a slot as I understand at D3 schools was to diversify recruiting a bit and give kids a chance who may not shine as bright as others in a regular admission pool.
However, I wish schools/coaches would be clear without a conversation which sports took walk-ons vs. which sports did not. For instance, you cannot “walk-on” or “tryout” following admission to be on the Kenyon swim team if you were not part of their recruiting pool - per the coach. However, you can walk-on/tryout for the Denison swim team - according to coach. This is very very important for applicants to know up front.