Boys DIII recruiting advice for 2026?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"While there is a lot of debate, the top ten D3 Schools would be very competitive with bottom half of D1 schools. Often an Amherst or W&L will have more 3 star recruits that half of D1 schools"
There is not a lot of debate and this is just not true. Not one D3 school would make the tournament and the top 5 D3 are better than the bottom 10D1 but let's not push it. RIT and W&L are not beating a team like Ohio State, UMBC, or Marquette on a regular basis and those teams are in the bottom half. And please spare the 3 star player that is just a joke. Inside lacrosse sells a three star ranking for $299. I also love the kid had multiple D1 offers. That is not true an offer is only made after player makes a verbal commitment. Getting invited to camp is not an offer. Finally really does not matter how much HS time the player has played as a freshman or sophmore. They can ball out and get noticed this summer at the events but also do the prospect days as well.

You are so off. It is true at-large bids for the D1 tournament are incredibly hard to get. There are a lot of top 20 teams that don’t get in the tournament every year. The D3 teams would likely need to win a bad conference. But there are 76 teams in D1 and 30-40 teams are terrible. You honestly don’t think RIT, Salisbury or Tufts could beat Sacred Heart who made the tournament this year? Look at who Sacred Heart played. The top D3 teams scrimmage good D1 teams each year and win or keep it close. Tufts, Amherst, Williams, W&L etc. all have a ton of kids that had several lower half D1 school offers but chose much better academics, and even many that chose them over schools like UMBC who you mentioned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"While there is a lot of debate, the top ten D3 Schools would be very competitive with bottom half of D1 schools. Often an Amherst or W&L will have more 3 star recruits that half of D1 schools"
There is not a lot of debate and this is just not true. Not one D3 school would make the tournament and the top 5 D3 are better than the bottom 10D1 but let's not push it. RIT and W&L are not beating a team like Ohio State, UMBC, or Marquette on a regular basis and those teams are in the bottom half. And please spare the 3 star player that is just a joke. Inside lacrosse sells a three star ranking for $299. I also love the kid had multiple D1 offers. That is not true an offer is only made after player makes a verbal commitment. Getting invited to camp is not an offer. Finally really does not matter how much HS time the player has played as a freshman or sophmore. They can ball out and get noticed this summer at the events but also do the prospect days as well.

You are so off. It is true at-large bids for the D1 tournament are incredibly hard to get. There are a lot of top 20 teams that don’t get in the tournament every year. The D3 teams would likely need to win a bad conference. But there are 76 teams in D1 and 30-40 teams are terrible. You honestly don’t think RIT, Salisbury or Tufts could beat Sacred Heart who made the tournament this year? Look at who Sacred Heart played. The top D3 teams scrimmage good D1 teams each year and win or keep it close. Tufts, Amherst, Williams, W&L etc. all have a ton of kids that had several lower half D1 school offers but chose much better academics, and even many that chose them over schools like UMBC who you mentioned.

Sorry not sorry Tufts not beating UMBC or Towson

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone on this board who has had a son go the D3 route? If possible my guy would like to get looks from high academic type schools, think NESCAC schools but not necessarily limited to that particular conference. Son was JV 9th/10th at a high-end WCAC/IAC type program, if all goes well should make varsity next season (junior year) and get some PT in games where the team has a nice lead. Not a starter/superstar (hence D3) but certainly a nice little player who's still growing and can use both hands. Currently on a top club's second team. 3.7 GPA and will be working to maintain that or improve it if possible.

I've heard/read people recommend Lacrosse Masters this summer, are there any other events to look at in summer (and this fall and winter)? Is summer after junior year most important for these types of players?

For NESCAC you really have to be able to get in to the school academically. I don’t think a 3.7 would be adequate. Recruiting will not really start for NESCAC until July 1.

This statement is untrue. Top prospects are identified beginning in the fall/winter of junior year. Pre-reads start in mid-June. Offers for the NESCAC are back to beginning on July 1 (last year offer date was pushed back to August 1 due to the at-the-time pending affirmative action SCOTUS ruling and the admissions offices wanting time to figure out how to deal with it). To be sure, some prospects are recruited into July and August, but coaches' boards are well-established long before July 1.

This statement is in fact at least half true. NESCAC has a conference-wide written agreement that controls the number of recruits that coaches for each team can support each season. Recruits are placed into 3 "bands" based on grades, with the highest band comprising recruits whose academic profiles meet the standard for students typically accepted by the college, and the next two bands each being a step lower. The terms of the agreement permit each school to support up to "x" number of recruits in each band (e.g., up to 3 in Band 1, up to 2 in bands 2 and 3), with discretion to be more restrictive. Schools like Williams are known to support only 1 student *in total* per sport, per season, while others pursue the maximum permitted. So while it is correct that pre-reads start in June - as offers are made to the top recruits on the July 1 start date - the OP is not wrong that a 3.7 GPA may well not be adequate for admission to the NESCAC's most competitive schools, regardless of how good the recruit is.

[Anonymous]

If you didn’t make varsity as a sophomore even at somewhere like Landon, SJC, or Prep (on varsity but not starting would be a different story) and are not on the top team from NL, Madlax, DCE, or VLC (for some years) the odds a very much against you and that GPA will stack odds further. If your kid is really big or really outlier fast, you might beat the odds, but those kids are rare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"While there is a lot of debate, the top ten D3 Schools would be very competitive with bottom half of D1 schools. Often an Amherst or W&L will have more 3 star recruits that half of D1 schools"
There is not a lot of debate and this is just not true. Not one D3 school would make the tournament and the top 5 D3 are better than the bottom 10D1 but let's not push it. RIT and W&L are not beating a team like Ohio State, UMBC, or Marquette on a regular basis and those teams are in the bottom half. And please spare the 3 star player that is just a joke. Inside lacrosse sells a three star ranking for $299. I also love the kid had multiple D1 offers. That is not true an offer is only made after player makes a verbal commitment. Getting invited to camp is not an offer. Finally really does not matter how much HS time the player has played as a freshman or sophmore. They can ball out and get noticed this summer at the events but also do the prospect days as well.

You are so off. It is true at-large bids for the D1 tournament are incredibly hard to get. There are a lot of top 20 teams that don’t get in the tournament every year. The D3 teams would likely need to win a bad conference. But there are 76 teams in D1 and 30-40 teams are terrible. You honestly don’t think RIT, Salisbury or Tufts could beat Sacred Heart who made the tournament this year? Look at who Sacred Heart played. The top D3 teams scrimmage good D1 teams each year and win or keep it close. Tufts, Amherst, Williams, W&L etc. all have a ton of kids that had several lower half D1 school offers but chose much better academics, and even many that chose them over schools like UMBC who you mentioned.

Sorry not sorry Tufts not beating UMBC or Towson

You don't have to be sorry, just wrong. UMBC is not full of unbeatable talents. There's even a good chance Tufts would rake them.

[Anonymous]

To make a NESCAc team you have to be a viable D1 type skilled player. Your grades have to be very solid - above 3.7 with rigor. NEsCAc coaches have limited slots to pull in lower academic kids like maybe 1 or 2 a season. Making NESCAc IMO is harder than the lower half of D1. You can find out fall of your junior year after talking with the NESCAC coaches if you could be considered. It helps to have club coach or HS coach with connections.

[Anonymous]

Based on what I have seen from private school programs and top local clubs:
1. Good students (3.6ish, under 1400 SAT) go to schools like Denison, F&M, Trinity, Conn College if they are really solid players--starters, team captains.
2. Great students who are really solid players but not getting looks from strong academic D1 programs go to W&L, Middlebury, Williams, Bowdoin type schools. Middlebury specifically told one player he had to hit above 1400.
3. More non-academic players who are also very solid on the field and play for top clubs go to CNU, Salisbury, St Lawrence type schools that are very strong in D3 lacrosse
Most of these guys have spent a year (starting sophomore summer) trying to get noticed by the better D1 programs and when that does not pan out they pivot to D3 usually by the spring of junior year.
At that point having high school and club coaches reach out on your behalf and attending prospect days so that you can experience the program and the school and show demonstrated interest are important.
If you are a true 3.7 GPA or above and can get a 1350 range test score you can also get some good merit aid from schools like Denison and F&M separate from lacrosse. At these programs you need to get in on your own but if the coach wants you he will have the admissions dept do a reread of your academics and give you a good idea of what will likely happen from an admissions standpoint.

[Anonymous]

Preread I meant, sorry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To make a NESCAc team you have to be a viable D1 type skilled player. Your grades have to be very solid - above 3.7 with rigor. NEsCAc coaches have limited slots to pull in lower academic kids like maybe 1 or 2 a season. Making NESCAc IMO is harder than the lower half of D1. You can find out fall of your junior year after talking with the NESCAC coaches if you could be considered. It helps to have club coach or HS coach with connections.

Half of D1? Put down the bottle. Stats and stars don't agree with your comment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To make a NESCAc team you have to be a viable D1 type skilled player. Your grades have to be very solid - above 3.7 with rigor. NEsCAc coaches have limited slots to pull in lower academic kids like maybe 1 or 2 a season. Making NESCAc IMO is harder than the lower half of D1. You can find out fall of your junior year after talking with the NESCAC coaches if you could be considered. It helps to have club coach or HS coach with connections.

Half of D1? Put down the bottle. Stats and stars don't agree with your comment.

Agree!
D1 has generally bigger, more athletic players. My son was looking at top 20 D3s and bottom 20 D1's, and the messaging from coaches was consistent - he was projected to get time as a freshman at the D3s, but would need a year or two in the weight room before getting much time on the field at D1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To make a NESCAc team you have to be a viable D1 type skilled player. Your grades have to be very solid - above 3.7 with rigor. NEsCAc coaches have limited slots to pull in lower academic kids like maybe 1 or 2 a season. Making NESCAc IMO is harder than the lower half of D1. You can find out fall of your junior year after talking with the NESCAC coaches if you could be considered. It helps to have club coach or HS coach with connections.

Half of D1? Put down the bottle. Stats and stars don't agree with your comment.

Agree!
D1 has generally bigger, more athletic players. My son was looking at top 20 D3s and bottom 20 D1's, and the messaging from coaches was consistent - he was projected to get time as a freshman at the D3s, but would need a year or two in the weight room before getting much time on the field at D1.

A good example.of this is W&L.and VMI. They typically play a real competitive game each year and is very close. W&L would be a top 5 NESCAC team and VMI is typically near the lower 10 of D1 but not half of D1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kenyon, F&M, Dickinson

I don’t know much about Kenyon but Dickinson and F&M you need to have over a 3.7 and well above average ACT/SAT score to even be considered, especially if you’re not a 4 year varsity player and top contributor junior and senior year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your son is halfway through HS and not yet played in a varsity game, and is projected only to be a backup as a junior, it’s not realistic to expect to play D3 varsity. He should be choosing a college based on academic and social fit, and play club lacrosse if he wants to continue playing the game beyond high school.

100% agree. If DS isn’t strong academically then going to NESCAC and playing lacrosse is going to be a struggle. Playing a sport at any level isn’t for the weary.

[Anonymous]

It’s important to also consider that maybe half of the kids recruited to any D1-D3 will ever see the field. Highly recruited WACA player is now a college junior at a top ACC school and hasn’t seen the field yet. There are now two highly recruited kids on the roster at his position- who knows where he is on the depth chart now. Tell your kid to pick a college they love for learning not lacrosse.

[Anonymous]

D1 commits have been in the weight room since 8th grade.