Recruiting Guidelines

Choosing Between NCAA Division I, IAA, II, III, NAIA or Community (Junior) College

Prior to your senior year in high school, College GAMEplan recommends that you keep as many college options open as possible.  That said, targeting so many schools that you can’t keep up with them causes unnecessary, time consuming work for everyone.  So as you begin your college search, we recommend that you take into consideration the advice of your high school and club/select coaches to determine the athletic level that they believe you are most suited to play.  Then include other important considerations such as geographic location, drive time from home, size of school, etc. to develop a target list of schools you wish to target.  Use the links below to review typical guidelines for participation in Division I sports. 

But don’t despair if either your coach or the guidelines below suggest you should play at a level other than Division I.  All other division levels also contain hundreds of nationally ranked high school players.  Different division schools attract different students and you should be very careful not to listen to, or fall into the common trap of limiting yourself only to play at the very highest level.  For example, many gifted student athletes often choose to play at Division III or NAIA schools knowing that they may contribute early in their college career rather than potentially "sit on the bench" for the first several years.   

High school students often get caught up in the expectation that they must play Division I.  However, consideration should be given to the fact that many colleges recruit lots of students for the same position.  Of these, only one or two may realistically get a chance to play varsity ball during their freshman year.  The following year, the college may recruit another eight or nine players who will also be competing with you for a varsity roster spot.  Then during your junior year, after you’ve already made two years of sacrifices and lived up to your team commitments, the next recruiting class may include three or four junior college transfers who are slated to play immediately.  Under these circumstances, many athletes often get frustrated sitting on the bench and decide to transfer schools or drop the sport.  So be realistic about your chances of playing, regardless of what level you play at.  Remember that most students would prefer to play at a slightly lower level than not to play at all. 

Choosing a college sport is a much more important decision than simply “impressing your peer group of high school friends”.  Remember many of those friends will go to different schools and may not play sports.  Two years after your college enrollment, you may have lost touch with your old friends but you might still be struggling to find playing time in college. 

For most, college is “the greatest four years of your lives”.  Sports is certainly a big part of those four years for some, but it needs to be kept in perspective with all the other activities and responsibilities you’ll also enjoy during college.  Understand too, that in many cases, the higher the division level you wish to play, the tougher and more often practices might be.  Perhaps they’ll take priority over academic classes?  Perhaps they’ll begin at 5:45 in the morning and therefore severely interfere with your college social activities?  These are all key considerations that you should think about before limiting yourself only to Division I schools. 

Also consider too that no matter whether you are a “blue chip” athlete or not, most college athletes will not play sports after graduation.  Fewer than 1% of all college basketball players will play pro basketball, and fewer than 1% of all college football players will ever play in the NFL. 

So again, especially early in your college search, keep your options open.  Consider every division level of school and consider more than just sports in your final college decision.  And when it’s time to make your final selection, use the College GAMEplan selection tools listed under the Guidance Counselor link to help you make the very best decision for YOU, whether that be Division I, IAA, II, III, NAIA or Junior College.   

Recruiting Guidelines by Division Level: