2008 Woodie Awards
How to become a Gorlok
By: Patrick Devine
Issue date: 10/26/06 Section: Sports
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The recruiting process for a Division I school is simple - find the best prospects and offer them athletic scholarships and whatever else it takes to get them on a team.
The perks that come with the scholarship are usually the kind offered on the side or under the table. Most Division I schools' resources are limitless. Wealthy alumni, television exposure, and the chance to be drafted after school can make it an easy decision for college recruits.
That's the Division I level. At the Division III level, Webster's level, the recruiting process is much harder. The athletic departments at the Division III levels are staffed and funded like any university department. Division III student athletes receive no financial aid related to their athletic skills. Instead, they are awarded academic scholarships based on their academic record.
"That's the thing I love about Division III," said Athletic Director Tom Hart said. "There is no confusion about why a person is here. You're here to get a degree. In addition to that, you get to compete in a sport that you love at a pretty high level."
Money is one of the biggest concerns the NCAA has with schools and their programs. In the past, the NCAA handed out stiff punishments to schools that offer players money, and they punish the school if the alumni try to give them gifts. They have strict rules for student athletes when money is involved at any level.
Hart, who has no interest in personally moving above the Division III level, said, "There's an economic driver to the levels of importance or seriousness that are placed upon each division or level."
MacMurray College's, which is part of the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, tennis team was banned from competition in 2005. The program was banned for the next two years for providing financial assistance to players. MacMurray's former tennis coach, Neil Hart, provided 10 tennis players $120,922.70 in impermissible grants and with $41,105.16 in impermissible financial aid between the 2000 and 2004 academic years.
The perks that come with the scholarship are usually the kind offered on the side or under the table. Most Division I schools' resources are limitless. Wealthy alumni, television exposure, and the chance to be drafted after school can make it an easy decision for college recruits.
That's the Division I level. At the Division III level, Webster's level, the recruiting process is much harder. The athletic departments at the Division III levels are staffed and funded like any university department. Division III student athletes receive no financial aid related to their athletic skills. Instead, they are awarded academic scholarships based on their academic record.
"That's the thing I love about Division III," said Athletic Director Tom Hart said. "There is no confusion about why a person is here. You're here to get a degree. In addition to that, you get to compete in a sport that you love at a pretty high level."
Money is one of the biggest concerns the NCAA has with schools and their programs. In the past, the NCAA handed out stiff punishments to schools that offer players money, and they punish the school if the alumni try to give them gifts. They have strict rules for student athletes when money is involved at any level.
Hart, who has no interest in personally moving above the Division III level, said, "There's an economic driver to the levels of importance or seriousness that are placed upon each division or level."
MacMurray College's, which is part of the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, tennis team was banned from competition in 2005. The program was banned for the next two years for providing financial assistance to players. MacMurray's former tennis coach, Neil Hart, provided 10 tennis players $120,922.70 in impermissible grants and with $41,105.16 in impermissible financial aid between the 2000 and 2004 academic years.
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