An Unseen Admissions Scandal Victim

D3Playbook OCTOBER 10, 2019 | written by Steve Ulrich your must-read briefing on what's driving the day in NCAA Division III Welcome to d3Playbook >> Good Morning! The National League championship series is now set between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Washington Nationals. Both teams won Game 5 on the road. October baseball ... gotta love it. Congratulations to the 34 athletic direct reports (ADRs) who were selected to attend the fifth annual ADR Institute in January in conjunction with the 2020 NCAA Convention. We've included you as recipients of the d3Playbook because of your role as an influencer in Division III athletics. d3Playbook is available as a subscription email and can also be viewed online at d3Playbook.com. Our goal is to keep you apprised of what's happening around Division III - the games, polls, news, happenings, awards, calendar of events, and much more. We hope you enjoy d3Playbook and that you'll share this with your friends, colleagues and co-workers. Thanks for reading. Steve >> Today's Word Count: 1,164 words (just under 5 minutes of your time. Enjoy your coffee) >> If this email was forwarded to you, we invite you to sign up for your own in-box delivery below. Subscribe to d3Playbook 1.  An Unseen Victim of the College Admissions Scandal One teammate made tennis his whole life. The other had a grandfather whose company invented Hot Pockets. Guess which one went to Georgetown as a Division I recruit. by Daniel Golden and Doris Burke, ProPublica In April 2017, students at the Sage Hill (Calif.) School gathered to celebrate seniors who were headed to college as recruited athletes. Three had committed to play Division I sports, while most were headed to Division III. The captains of the girls' volleyball and girls' soccer programs were bound for Columbia and Denver, respectively. The other headed to DI - Grant Janavs - would attend Georgetown as a tennis recruit. Adam Langevin looked on in amazement. He had been Sage Hill's top tennis player for four years, trained long hours with renowned coaches, hit with college stars and budding pros, and acquitted himself well in regional and national tournaments. One of his coaches described his forehand as “pro potential, tour level.” Between tennis and classes, he’d had little time left for other extracurricular activities or a social life. In four years, he’d attended only two school dances, and had no romantic relationships, or even casual lunches with friends. He’d sacrificed it all for his goal of playing for the best Division I college tennis team he could. Earlier that month, he was told by California Polytechnic State University from the Big West Conference that there was no spot left on its team for him. Now he looked on as Grant was being celebrated as a future Division I tennis player at Georgetown, knowing that Grant wasn't even on the Sage Hill team as a senior. When Adam told his parents, his father speculated that Grant's billionaire family had endowed a building at the university.  Grant’s mother, Michelle Janavs, is the daughter of Paul Merage, who, with his brother, co-founded Chef America Inc., which created the Hot Pockets microwavable snack. Universities frequently reward donors by giving their children or grandchildren an edge in admissions. Nearly two years later, in March, 2019, the actual explanation emerged. >> Situational Awareness: The Georgetown tennis coach, Gordon Ernst, received more than $2.7 million in "consulting" fees to designate at least a dozen applicants as tennis recruits. >> Between The Lines: Elite colleges created the conditions for the scheme, from the lower admissions standards for athletes to the ever-increasing selectivity that ratchets up parents’ desperation. They’ve tacitly sold admissions slots for decades to major donors, yet professed shock that their coaches would as well. >> Reality Check: Once, Sage Hill’s hopes of defeating another school rested on a tiebreaker in Grant’s match. In the key rally, Grant made a correct line call in favor of his opponent on a close shot, depriving Sage Hill of victory. “Ninety percent of kids” would have called it the other way. He was very ethical and a great competitor. - A.G. Longoria, former Sage Hill coach >> Keep Reading courtesy of ProPublica 2.  Everybody Made Money Off My NCAA Career, Except Me An exuberant top-scoring floor routine by U.C.L.A.’s Katelyn Ohashi went viral this year, making her one of the most famous college gymnasts ever. But N.C.A.A rules prevented Ohashi from making any money from the performance. In this Video Op-Ed from the New York Times, Ohashi argues that college students should be given the ability to earn income from their athletic achievement. SPONSORED MESSAGE Searching for talent for your athletic department? Need assistance with a departmental review or a strategic plan? Time to refresh your conference's policies and procedures? ASC is dedicated to small colleges and is committed to providing solutions for your concerns. Contact steveulrich.asc@gmail.com to see how ASC can help your organization. 3.   Calendar  Oct. 16-18 - NCAA Division III FAR Fellows Institute, Indianapolis Oct. 21-22 - Management Council, Indianapolis Oct. 29-30 - Presidents Council, Atlanta Nov. 1 - Deadline for amendments-to-amendments and all resolutions for NCAA Convention Nov. 3 - Daylight Savings Time Ends Nov. 8-10 - Conference championship weekend (Field Hockey, Soccer, Volleyball) Nov. 10-11 - Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Indianapolis Nov. 11-12 - Financial Aid Committee, Indianapolis Nov. 14 - Strategic Planning and Finance Committee teleconference Nov. 19-20 - Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement, Indianapolis Nov. 21-23 - Women's Volleyball championship, Cedar Rapids, Iowa Nov. 23 - Men's and Women's Cross Country championship, Lousivlle Nov. 23-24 - Field Hockey championship, Manheim, Pa. Dec. 6-7 - Men's and Women's Soccer championship, Greensboro, N.C. Dec. 20 - Football championship, Shenandoah, Texas 4. Polls Cross Country (M) - USTFCCCA North Central (tie) Williams (tie) Wartburg Geneseo Washington-St. Louis Claremont-M-S Carnegie Mellon Johns Hopkins Pomona-Pitzer Otterbein 11. Chicago, 12. MIT, 13. Calvin, 14. Rensselaer, 15. John Carroll, 16. UW-La Crosse, 17. Bates, 18. St. Olaf, 19. Amherst, T20. Berea, T20. Middlebury 22. Dickinson, 23. UW-Stevens Point, 24. Emory, T25. Carleton, T25. Haverford, 27. Ithaca, 28. UW-Eau Claire, 29. Case Western, 30. UC Santa Cruz, 31. UW-Oshkosh, 32. NYU, 33. Trine, T34. Ramapo, T34. UW-Stout. >> Moving Up: St. Olaf (+11), Geneseo (+9), Berea (+8), John Carroll (+8) >> Moving Down: Case Western (-11), UW-La Crosse (-11), Carleton (-10) >> Hello: UW-Oshkosh, NYU, Trine, Ramapo >> Bye-Bye: WPI, Brockport, St. Thomas, Connecticut College Cross Country (W) - USTFCCCA Johns Hopkins Chicago Washington-St. Louis Tufts Williams Dickinson (tie) MIT (tie) Pomona-Pitzer Geneseo Claremont-M-S 11. Oberlin, 12. Wartburg, 13. Carleton, 14. Rensselaer, 15. UW-Eau Claire, 16. St. Thomas, 17. Hope, 18. Middlebury, 19. Baldwin Wallace, 20. John Carroll. 21. RIT, 22. St.Olaf, 23. Case Western, 24. Centre, 25. Rochester, 26. Allegheny, 27. Elmhurst, 28. UC Santa Cruz, 29. Emory, 30. Wesleyan, Conn., 31. Coast Guard, 32. Washington and Lee, 33. UW-Stevens Point, 34. Otterbein, T35. Swarthmore, T35. Vassar. >> Moving Up: John Carroll (+11), St. Olaf (+11), Baldwin Wallace (+8) >> Moving Down: Washington and Lee (-10), Carleton (-5), Wesleyan (-4) >> Hello: Allegheny, UW-Stevens Point, Otterbein, Swarthmore, Vassar >> Bye-Bye: UW-La Crosse, Carnegie Mellon, Messiah, Occidental 5.  Comings and Goings  Sarah Dehring named athletic director at Alma. Matthew Lovell named sports information director at Pitt-Bradford. Rob Charlton named interim head fencing coach at Wellesley. Kelsey Fee named assistant women's lacrosse coach at Amherst. Thomas Muldoon named assistant men's lacrosse coach at Amherst. 6.  Play of the Day 😲!! You have to see it to believe it! #AldahirCazun #NJCUMSoccer #d3socpic.twitter.com/iCTuwBTQxQ — NCAA Division III (@NCAADIII) October 9, 2019 7.  1 Sports Thing   Extremely sad photo of Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers, but it immediately brings to mind what the great Theodore Roosevelt once said... "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. ... The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena ... who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming." - courtesy of Axios Sports Subscribe to d3Playbook