D3baseball.com Daily Dose

Our friends at the Double-A Zone have asked the question, Who chooses Division III? It’s the NCAA’s official blog, so you have to take that into consideration, but unlike many ways in which the NCAA deals with Division III (can’t get its own playoff brackets right, doesn’t know how many Pool C bids there should be), the blog has a healthy knowledge of Division III, run by former Brandeis baseball player Josh Centor.

In light of the fact that Division II has spent a fair amount of time over the past few years trying to find its identity, there’s now apparently some sort of buzz. For me, I’m not sure what “I Chose Division II” actually means, while Division I’s identity is fairly clear and Division III has staked out the student-athlete high ground as the only purely amateur division (non-scholarship) in college athletics.

However, there seems to be some discussion from commenters, not much of it well-informed, as to what Division III’s identity is. Those people need a good dose of D3sports.com readers to fill them in. (I myself have a comment that is awaiting moderator approval.)

Meanwhile, the core question: Should Division III do more to brand itself? Speaking as someone who has done most of the branding of Division III over the past decade, absolutely. I look at what Division II has done in this area over the past few years, in terms of fancy promotional spots, games on CBS College Sports and football playoffs on ESPN, a full package of streaming video broadcasts of football and basketball, and I am definitely jealous. All Division III fans should be.

Division III should be branding itself. It should not be left to people like us here at D3sports.com or Steve Clay and D3Cast or Robb Modica and D3Scoreboard.

We just wasted a bunch of time and money figuring out Division IV was not the place we really wanted to be. So let’s spruce up our house a little bit while we’re here. Let’s show the rest of college fandom that this is not just glorified intramurals. Let’s get our games out there for people to see.

Why did you choose Division III? Go tell them.

And tell us below.

The MLB amateur draft is nearly upon us. Day one will bring the first rounds (last year in the new format that was rounds 1-5) and based on the last ten years, there is a 60% chance of a D-III player being drafted in the first five rounds. Nobody knows who the first player will be and it is likely that it will be latter than next year. No player has the same buzz that UW-Stevens Point Jordan Zimmermann had last year.

Last year there were 19 players drafted - spot on the average for the last ten years. What we can guess about the first player drafted is that it would be a pitcher as 60% of all D-III players drafted are pitchers. By position pitchers are followed by outfielders (12%), and catchers (8%), leaving 20% divided among the four infield positions.

Six schools have had five or more players drafted in the last ten years. The list starts with UW-Oshkosh with nine; Montclair State, Chapman, and Cal Lutheran with seven; and Cortland State and Carthage with five each. Looking at the list of schools with drafted players, it is interesting to find that Marietta has the same number of drafted players as Mass. College (2) but possessing a National Championship trophy. Talking about schools with a Walnut and Bronze in their hardware case - only Ithaca has not had a player drafted since 1998.

I hope to post updates through the day on Thursday and Friday as players names are called and at the end of each day post a summary of the day’s activity on the front page of D3baseball.com. Look for my preview article tomorrow as D3baseball kicks off its 2008 amateur draft coverage.

The Prospective Student-Athlete: Maintaining a Professional Image

By Tom Kovic

“First impressions are remembered best” and I think this holds true for prospective student-athletes and how they present themselves to coaches as they navigate the contact phase of the college recruiting process. Below are some simple tips to consider that will help prospects as they begin cultivating relationships with college coaches.

Dress for the Occasion

Projecting a positive personal image in the eyes of the college coaches is very important and your outward appearance is a great starting point. The first thing a coach sees before he shakes your hand is you and your outward appearance. I am not saying you need to “dress for the prom,” but you should make every effort to dress in a casual, but clean and professional manner. Torn jeans and a dirty t-shirt with sneakers just won’t cut it in the competitive world of college recruiting and you are only decreasing your chances of remaining high in the active recruiting file by exhibiting a poor appearance. In preparation for the initial meeting with the coach, wear a nice pair of Khakis or shorts, polo shirt and a pair of casual shoes. You will remain comfortable and the coach will be impressed with your outward style.

Know Your Stuff

You will be meeting the man or woman who may very well have a direct impact on your life over a 4 year period and I strongly suggest you make every effort to enter the first meeting as an educated and knowledgeable consumer. The college search is a comparative analysis of several institutions and the more you know about your “product” the better prepared you will be to communicate effectively with the coaches. I suggest a balanced approach, whereby the information you gather is an equal mix of the academic and athletic data, combined with information about the general social environment of the institution. Accumulating a basic, but confident appreciation about what your schools of choice potentially offer will not only grow your knowledge about different programs, it will help differentiate you from the rest of the pack. College coaches will immediately pick up on this and appreciate the effort you have made in learning about their program. In addition, by taking time to research different programs, you will begin to develop a solid “information foundation” to build your short list of personal questions for the coaches.

Ask Pertinent Questions

Equate the time you spend with a particular college coach with preparation for a championship game. You do not have a lot of time and every minute counts! Based on the information you have gathered and your preparation for the meeting with the coach, I think it makes sense to limit your questions to specific areas of recruiting and narrow them down to half a dozen or so. This may not seem like a lot, but trust me… The coach will be probing you and your family and additional questions will naturally surface during the course of the conversation.

Begin by creating general question areas that are important to you (academic requirements, athletic opportunities, on campus support, safety, financial aid etc.) and build your specific questions within these general areas. This is a great exercise and you will soon find yourself with a bunch of questions that will need to be narrowed down to a manageable list that covers important areas of the college search.

Listen Intently

Obviously, the family wants to probe the coach, but remember that communication is a two way street and “hearing” what the coach has to say is very important. Coaches tend to communicate in a “non committal” language, especially during the early phases of recruiting, and for good reason. They do not want to raise the hopes of the family and prospect too high, too soon, especially when it comes to the possible offer of athletics scholarships, admissions assistance and the availability of squad spots. Recruiting for the college coach is an art, and the best recruiters will provide prospects and families with a solid foundation of information about their program, but without making any early promises. They will work with the family slowly, patiently and with care, but with an “eagles eye” for hints and comments that will provide them with the information they need to determine the level of sincere interest the prospect has in their program.

Show Confidence

There is a fine line between confidence and cockiness and knowing the difference between the two will serve the prospect well. As a college coach, I saw many different personalities in prospects, but nothing frustrated me more than an athlete who came into my office with an “attitude.” Coaches are looking beyond the level of athletic and academic talent prospects bring to the table and in many cases, look strongly at personalities and attitudes when evaluating future members of the team. College coaches are looking to add “strong links” to the team chain they have built over the years and prospects that project a sincere and winning personality that displays a high level of confidence, will separate themselves from the rest of the pack, impress the coach, and create a possible “tie breaking” criteria that will assist the coach in formulating his recruiting rankings.

Maintain Eye Contact

As insignificant as it may sound, maintaining eye contact with the college coach during a face to face meeting is very important and it projects an indirect level of self confidence in the prospect. Some athletes have a natural tendency to maintain eye contact with people they interact with, while others tend to look away. This may require some practice and if the prospect is a little weak in this area, I suggest using “mock interviews” as a tool to add some “polish” to this area of communication. Coaches have an uncanny skill of “reading” prospects and typically “go with their gut” when making initial evaluations. The eyes are the “gateway to the soul” and can be a very effective tool of communication for the prospect.

Cultivating a “shining” personality takes skill. Not only does it need to be developed, it can become a tool that the prospect can use strategically to leap frog over a portion of the recruiting pool… But it takes practice. That being said, developing strong communication skills and projecting a positive and professional self image will serve the prospect well and help him or her gain greater respect in the eyes of the college coaches.

Tom Kovic is a former Division I college coach and the current director of Victory Collegiate Consulting, where he provides individual advisement for prospects and families as they navigate the college recruiting process. Tom is the author of “Reaching for Excellence, an educational guide for college athletics recruiting. For further information visit: www.victoryrecruiting.com

A little cool this morning but the skies are blue and although there is ample sunshine, it is mostly cloudy. It is Cape Cod weather. The field is getting a touch up now so the field logos will look good on the video. The white will be very white, the blue, very blue.

Today we crown a champion. Will it be Trinity or Johns Hopkins. Yesterday the UW-Whitewater Head Coach said he was already working on the movie script but he had his team coming in against all odds and winning the Walnut and Bronze trophy everyone has started out this season competing for.

Will Trinity meet the fate of the 1954 Cleveland Indians who won 111 game but fell 0-4 to the New York Giants or will Johns Hopkins be like the Red Sox in 2004, 3 games down too the Yankees.

Trinity will have to get their bats going unless they can shut down a Johns Hopkins offense that found their stoke yesterday. Trinity has trailed in only 12 games this year and none in this tournament as the Bantams put their runs up early and made the lead stand. This is what they have done in the regional and here in Appleton.

Never give up on the Blue Jays, they know what it takes to win and believe that they have the team that can end the dream of a perfect season.

Hey its a great day for baseball and why not - lets play two.

Elimination day. Two game, two more teams headed home. Adrian is still wearing that glass slipper and has yet to spend their bullpen. They will need all they have since they have to win four more to capture the Walnut and Bronze.

UW-Whitewater has the fan support and I have not seen the same crowds for them since their loss on Friday. The Warhawks seem content of feasting on the back end of the pitching staffs and are going to let their offense lead them into the playoffs.

Johns Hopkins still is looking for their best game of the tournament. They played well against Trinity

Trinity (Conn.) and Johns Hopkins had the first rain delay of the championships this evening, and although it was a brief one, the players on each side still found ways to entertain themselves.

One of them was by tossing a ball back and forth between dugouts, playing a long distance game of tic-tac-toe.

Photos below are by Larry Radloff, D3sports.com.

The game gets started, reportedly by Trinity first baseman Kent Graham

Trinity is impressing folks here. They play late again and Trinity is the one team who has escaped without the obligatory press conference due to the late hour. Johns Hopkins has yet to play their best game and still in the winners bracket. They will need those bats when they face the Bantams tonight.

With three errors each, the Liinfield/Trinity game was not the best played defensively. Linfield did played well offensively. They had a lot of runners on base but could not get the big hit. They threatened to pull off the upset and almost did, coming up just a run short.

The game is on and Kevin Zalnis just ties a WS record with assists in an inning (3)

Got to love this. Less than 8 hours ago I left the ballpark and here I am again. The sun is out and the music is great. Adrian is getting ready and Kean is here I am sure.

It was a great baseball yesterday. The most lobsided score was 5-1 and that was close until the end. I ecpected this. The best teams in the nation with their best pitching staffs and this is usually what you see.

I have less faith that one of the teams starting today in the losers bracket can make it out winners. Kean and Cortland State have the pitching. Adrian is new to the show and they have a big hurdle today with Kean. UW-Whitewater was just flat against Linfield and it gets tougher with a draw against Cortland State. Chpman and Trinity have to be the favorites but Johns Hopkins will find their hitting stroke and Linfield is disciplined with an experienced team that could just be the team to end Trinity’s winning streak.

With less than an hour to go to first pitch - Play Ball.

On a cloudy and cool day with a touch of wind it is 0-0 in the second inning of the Chapman-Kean game. Just settling in to what will be a long day here at Fox Cities Stadium. A good early crowd cheering on both teams. The support looks pretty equally between the Cougar and Panther supporters.

Wait that almost was a 1-6-4-6-3 putout at first of dh Mattonelli.

Time to get out and visit with the crowd. I’ll be posting notes throughout the day so check back. If your here at the games - look for me in my yellow hat and traditional hawaiian shirt and say hello.

My plane leaves in about two hours and I am still thinking who wins this whole thing this coming week. The answer is difficult since I can see most every team having the chance to make it to the end. If there is a cinderella team, it is Adrian. They started the season with big wins down south as they defeated Emory and Piedmont back-to-back. The did not back down in a evenly matched regional in Terre Haute. They might have showed a crack when Heidelberg forced a winner take all game, but are now all square in Appleton.

Chapman, Cortland State, Trinity, Kean all breezed through their regionals without a loss….and in a few days two will have a loss as they have to play each other. The good news is that two teams can make it to the winners bracket final before one of these four emerges with out a loss. Throw in UW-Whitewater, and we have five favorites.

Linfield and Johns Hopkins had to battle to make the final round. Linfield needed extra innings while the Blue Jays were able to let their offense take over. Both team came back from first game losses to capture the regional.

The contest is wide open and nobody in the field will surprise me if they end up coming out of the winners bracket. I hope all will be following the games and enjoying the live video on the last two days. I myself am looking forward to five days of good baseball and let the teams decide the action on the field.

Hope to see many of you at Fox Cities Stadium.