Again none of this is held in secret. They all know how much aid they are getting and how much the remaining tuition costs and they all know how many kids are in the program.

 

Some of these kids just decide it isn't worth the time invested after a year or two. Some realize they were not as good they thought they were. Some just find out college is harder than they anticipated and it has nothing to do with sports.

 

There's that, too, but at the end of the day parents put ridiculous pressure on their kids to land a scholarship — any scholarship — because of their time and monetary investments in youth sports. If I were guessing, I would say a good 75 percent of kids who land a partial scholarship at an NAIA or D2/D3 school wash out in the first year.

Add to the fact that there are no athletic scholarships at DIII. Sounds like they are using the lure of playing college sports to boost their tuition intake.

 

Also to answer sportsfan41, I would almost garuntee when these freshmen signed in they didn't know how many other freshmen players were coming in as well.

 

Of course they are using football (and other sports) to boost enrollment at the schools. That is the whole idea. Just like adding a Choir or adding a Day Care or including text books in tuition costs. If you offer something people want and are willing to pay for then who loses? So kids getting an education is a bad thing?

Now to answer some questions before they are brought up, let me say this first and foremost.

 

I have absolutly nothing against football in college at any level. Shoot my son is still playing at a DIII school. He is fortunate to play for a school that isn't in it for a money grab and the coach tells every recruit that he will not go over a certain number of players on the roster etc. just for that point so the players who are recruited understand going in they are being recruited to play not to just fill the pockets of the intstitution.

 

With that said, it is clear not all colleges treat it the same. I have seen first hand how some DIII colleges handle their recruiting. Unfortunately you can tell

Right away if you go through the process yourself or with your son, who the schools are recruiting to play ball or who they are welcoming just to get another tuition payment etc. First off their are clear signs and I will give a perfect example that happened to my son and we saw first hand. I won't give the college names but if you are truly curious, PM me and I will let you know who these colleges were, and they are both DIII and NAIA that seemed to have similar recruiting techniques. What we would find was several recruiting visits would take place along with a large group of recruits but my son would receive a call from the coach a day or two before the visit to see if we were able to show up an hour and a half early so the coach could meet with him as well both of us parents before the rest of the recruits were scheduled to show up for the visit. We would arrive early like requested and that was when the sales

pitch would take place. The position coach would meet first with us for about 15 mins and then the OC would meet with the 3 of us for about 15 mins and then we would be off to meet with the HC for a good 45 mins answering all the questions we had ranging from the academics to the financial packages being offered to our son (which were all academic type scholarships and grants etc.) and then about the team and what he expected out of our son and any questions he had to the coach etc. it was just a pure recruiting push which was why they wanted only a few players and families to show up early so they could spend one in one time with the player and families before the rest of the recruits showed up. The first place this occurred at was a visit to a nearby college within 60 mins from NKY in another state, I will leave it at that, but the coaches met with 3 players that way on this visit and when all 3 players and us parents finished the one on one time with the coaches we all together were escorted together to a large auditorium where it was filled with about 40 recruits and families

ready to start their recruiting visit. It was then I first realized that you knew right away if they wanted you to play or like the majority of recruits there that day, wanted to sell the dream of college football just to get that tuition money. Similar things occurred at a few other schools so it was known right away if they truly wanted you to play for them or if it was a sales pitch to add students and their tuition etc.

 

The sad thing is, this was just DIII and NAIA and not even close to DI so I couldn't even imagine how much stuff they use to try and convince a player. It was good and bad at the same time. It made my son feel great knowing he was really being pursued to play, but I kind of felt for the other kids and their families who you could see in their eyes and the excitement they and their families had to have the opportunity to play at the next level while all a lot of

them would be is a money grab for the college. There is no mystery why a lot of walk ons for DI stay with it all 4 years as well as a lot of the freshman at DIII etc don't last all 4 years on the team. It's a tough life even for those that are fortunate to play on Saturdays, couldn't imagine how tough it is for those that never get to see that dream come true who dedicate themselves to the student athlete life during college.

Of course they are using football (and other sports) to boost enrollment at the schools. That is the whole idea. Just like adding a Choir or adding a Day Care or including text books in tuition costs. If you offer something people want and are willing to pay for then who loses? So kids getting an education is a bad thing?

Never once said getting an education is a bad thing. Has nothing to do with that at all.

If a kid is going to TMC and thinks they can play there they better be a good football player. Luke Zaja was a stud at Dixie and he barely got playng time as a Freshman same with WR Logan Winkler their first year at TMC. They are both getting some playing time as Sophomores this year.

If a kid can't figure out by the numbers that their playing time may be limited, then perhaps college isn't for them......

 

I think I'd first ask during my recruitment and perhaps even google the previous team photo to see what the squad looked like.

Thomas More has football players from Georgia, Tennessee, Illinois, Florida, Texas, Michigan, South Carolina, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky.

They have 140 players on the roster?

Mid-Continent College outside Mayfield had around 90 players signed on their -baseball- team. ........smh.....

It closed a year ago due to all sorts of financial problems

Add to the fact that there are no athletic scholarships at DIII. Sounds like they are using the lure of playing college sports to boost their tuition intake.

 

Also to answer sportsfan41, I would almost garuntee when these freshmen signed in they didn't know how many other freshmen players were coming in as well.

 

Ignorance of information is a self inflicted issue. Not the fault of anyone but those not asking questions that may be impacted by those answers. Again those kids aren't victims.

Edited September 19, 20169 yr by sportsfan41

The real victims are their parents' bank accounts

There's that, too, but at the end of the day parents put ridiculous pressure on their kids to land a scholarship — any scholarship — because of their time and monetary investments in youth sports. If I were guessing, I would say a good 75 percent of kids who land a partial scholarship at an NAIA or D2/D3 school wash out in the first year.

 

 

The same can be said about those that go to college period. A large number of kids dropout. Also a good comparison would be kids that choose to go away for college. A large number of them return home within a year or two. Perhaps we should blame the universities for that too, not the poor uninformed kids that couldn't hack it or made a poor decision in choosing where to go to school and why.

Having 70 freshman players on the team

is embarrassing. They will be lucky if 20 of them stick around and play when they are seniors.

 

Sad there are teams that actually only care about the tuition they can bring in and don't care about the kids that get suckered into believing they have a chance to play collegiate football.

 

 

 

I heard TMC is planning to go D2.

They have 140 players on the roster?

 

They at least started with that many according to one of thier coaches who is in my golf league. He thinks it is too many. No suprise.

They at least started with that many according to one of thier coaches who is in my golf league. He thinks it is too many. No suprise.

 

I wonder how many actually dressed for games or went to road games?