For The Love of Sport

D3Playbook FEBRUARY 25, 2020 | written by STEVE ULRICH your must-read briefing on what's driving the day in NCAA Division III Our goal is to keep you - the influencers in DIII athletics - 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. >> Good Tuesday Morning. Congrats to Rowan (men) and TCNJ (women) on their NJAC indoor track and field titles. >> Today's Word Count: 856. Lots of pictures too. Brief, concise, smart. >> Thanks for reading D3Playbook. Please recommend us to a friend or co-worker. Subscribe to d3Playbook 1.  For The Love of Sport by Dennis Kelly, Wilmington College "For many, the concept of intercollegiate athletics exclusively conjures images of NCAA D-I March Madness and big-time universities like Ohio State, Clemson and Notre Dame playing football in massive stadiums before 100,000 on fall Saturday afternoons — and tens of millions more on TV and online. These most elite athletes are enrolled in higher education on full-ride scholarships based upon their athletic prowess. Behind the glamorous facade of these Division I programs are thousands of student-athletes playing the sports they love in relative obscurity at 443 colleges and universities affiliated with NCAA Division III. But, they’re able to continue playing the sports they love! The philosophy at Division III schools expressly states the goal of “placing the highest priority on the overall quality of the educational experience and on the successful completion of all students’ academic programs.” Indeed, D-III schools endeavor to present an environment in which the pursuit of athletics is part of the student-athlete’s total educational experience — not the singular experience." >> The Big Picture: "D-III student athletes are encouraged to become integrated throughout the campus as members of clubs and organizations, study abroad participants and in taking advantage of opportunities — outside of athletics — for personal and leadership development." >> The Key Stat: Nationwide, about seven percent of high school athletes go on to play intercollegiate sports in college — at any level. The vast majority of them do not receive full-ride athletic scholarships with hopes of ultimately turning professional. >> Be Smart: The combination of merit-based scholarships and need-based financial aid can be an appealing option for the high school athlete who desires to continue playing the sport he or she loves, while also attaining an academics-focused education. >> Read More 2.  Commissioner Life Think it's easy to be a Division III conference commissioner. We present three situations that no, I repeat, no commissioner wants to find themself in. 1) How do you break a tie when all tie-breaking criteria has been exhausted? You flip a coin. Dan McKane, Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference With an unbreakable tie for the No. 1 seed in the #MIAC Men's Basketball Playoffs, home-court advantage will be determined by a coin flip. #d3hoops pic.twitter.com/AR6ZHcyeum — MIAC (@MIACathletics) February 22, 2020 2) What do you do when a scoring error affects the outcome of a championship? The Wells College women's swimming team was announced as the NEAC team champion at the conclusion of the meet. Due to an error in the final results, Cedar Crest actually finished in first place. According to commissioner Stephanie Dutton, the NEAC Executive Committee reviewed the events and declared the teams as co-champions. 3) Imagine being told during your interview that two conference members would be leaving. That happened to Marcella Zalot with the North Atlantic Conference. She took the position in the summer of 2016, relocated the conference office to Maine, and began work to stabilize the group. 3.  Wave Runners 2.0 We inadvertantly omitted the swimming champions of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference in yesterday's Playbook. Congrats to Alfred State (women) and Penn State Behrend (men). SPONSORED MESSAGE Would you like to sponsor this newsletter? Would you like to advertise an open position in your department for a head coach or administrator? Contact d3playbook@gmail.com to get your job opening in front of decision-makers in small-college athletics. 4.   Men's Poll On The Move: UW-La Crosse (+4). Hello: Rensselaer. Ripken Award: Three players share the national lead in career games played among active players: Swarthmore's Zac O'Dell, UW-Oshkosh's Jack Flynn, and North Central's Aiden Chang have each played in 118 games in their career. >> What We're Watching: Follow all the playoff action with the D3hoops.com Tournament Tracker. 5.   Women's Poll On The Move: six teams moved two spots. Hello: No additions to the top 25 this week. On Both Ends: Three players have scored over 1,500 points and collected over 1,000 rebounds in their careers: Randolph-Macon's Kelly Williams (1852-1326), Nazareth's Rachel Benedict (1624-1026)and Puget Sound's Jamie Lange (1562-1097). >> What We're Watching: Follow all the playoff action with the D3hoops.com Tournament Tracker. 6.   Hockey Poll On the Move (M): U. of New England (+2), UW-Stevens Point (+2), St. Norbert (+2). Greetings: Endicott. Biscuit in the Basket: Geneseo's Conlan Keenan leads all active college men with 84 goals. UNE's Ryan Bloom is second (75).  On the Move (W): UW-Eau Claire (+1) Last Line of Defense: Lebanon Valley's Jillian Moffat leads all active college women goalkeepers with 4,444 career saves. Finlandia's Annah Smiddy is fifth (2,489). 7.  Comings and Goings Kerry Prather has acting label removed, named president at Franklin. Dave Stromme announced his retirement as head women's basketball coach at St. Olaf. Grant Hemmingsen resigned as head men's basketball coach at Concordia-Moorhead. Jenni Releford promoted to associate head field hockey coach at Lynchburg. 8. "Person 1" Thing It's a question spouses, domestic partners and roommates are going to be forced to confront in the next few weeks as they fill out their 2020 Census forms, AP's Mike Schneider writes: Who gets to be the primary person in the household? Everyone else who lives in the home has to be identified on the form by how they are related to so-called "Person 1." Until 40 years ago, Person 1 was called "head of household" or "head of family." Subscribe to d3Playbook

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