Walking on in D3 Basketball

twoinanddone
Sun, 01 Aug 2021 21:27:21 +0000

CTDad-classof2022:

My question is really specific to basketball and walking on at a D3 school. The part I don’t get is how the rosters at D3 schools are constructed. I assume that kids that are playing D3 are primarily doing it for the love of the game. They are not getting a scholarship and many of them have demanding majors. Do they typically stick with it for 4 years? I would think walk-ons are almost necessary for these schools, but I do not know so I am asking.

The rosters at D3 schools are made up of recruited athletes and MAYBE one or two walk ons. The coaches recruit high school players who want to go to that school and who want to play. The coach may be able to offer admissions help. They may also have transfer athletes. Most coaches hope to have a full roster on the first day of practice and don’t want to rely on walk-ons to build a team. Some sports start before school even starts, so they can’t rely on freshmen walk-ons.

Ivy schools don’t have scholarships but still recruit. Your son can try being recruited and not wait for walk on opportunities.

You can look at the rosters and see how many years a player stayed on the team, or if they transferred from another school. I think many who ride the bench don’t stay 4 years but that’s true in all divisions, on all level of play. Those who are playing are having more fun than those who are sitting.

Almost all athletes are doing it for the love of the game, not for the scholarships or because they are planning a pro career. How many college basketball players were drafted last week? Not many. (One 4 year player from CU -go McKinley Wright!)

Most athletic teams have gpa’s that are higher than the general population of the school. Colorado School of Mines men’s basketball has 18 players- 15 in engineering, 2 economics, 1 computer science. Not a single slacker.