Franklin, received a terrific education, and enjoyed competing
and contributing to its football program. Division III sports
are tough, intense, and the athletes compete as fiercely as any
Division I athlete.
Sports Success Matters at Small Colleges, Too
When I started my own recruiting service, Midwest Scouting
Reports, I received many surprises, even though I’d persuaded
myself that I knew everything; I didn’t then and I don’t know
everything now. A few of my Division III prospects’ parents
returned visit reports that stated that Division III and NAIA
coaches told them that it wasn’t important to the school if
their teams were successful on the fields of competition. “Our
president doesn’t care if we win or lose,” was one of the com-
ments I heard.
It didn’t take long to recognize the duplicity of that state-
ment. Consider being a non-athletic, prospective student
being interviewed by an admissions counselor at a small Divi-
sion III college. Remember the “souk-like haggling” after let-
ters of acceptance go out? Those students that were rejected at
Stanford, Texas, Maryland, and MIT are now prospects of the
smaller colleges. Often, these schools have too many vacan-
cies to generate the income necessary to remain solvent and
deliver the educational services that they promise. The fact is
that there aren’t enough academically-qualified students to
go around (note the increasing size and frequency of so-called
“Bridge Programs”; i.e., summer school for at-risk freshmen)
for many of the smaller Division II and III colleges; they are
anxious to persuade qualified students that attending their
college would be a great choice. So there you and your parents
sit as an admissions counselor encourages you to recognize
142 The Sports Scholarships Insider’s Guide