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BY BEN RAPHEL

In print | September 22, 2005

Amidst much fanfare last June, Greg Oden, a high-school basketball standout from Indiana, committed to Ohio State University, ending a recruiting battle between the country’s top basketball programs. Like other NCAA Division I programs, Ohio State can provide almost all recruits with athletic scholarships and offers only the most highly touted athletes in the country spots on their roster.

At Swarthmore, an NCAA Division III program, there are no athletic scholarships, and those who want to play sports must also meet the school’s high academic qualifications. But. much like Ohio State and other top D-I programs, the coaches of Swarthmore’s 21 varsity teams spend the entire year looking for new recruits, even though very few of the students they pursue (and sometimes none) will end up attending Swarthmore.

Head softball coach Renee Clarke, who used to coach D-I, noted the difference in the programs. “With D-III, you try quantity for quality,” Clarke said. “Here I contact roughly 150 students. From this I’ve got six freshmen. In a D-I program, I contacted maybe 20 athletes. Because of the scholarship opportunities, I knew they would be willing to come. Also, SAT requirements weren’t as stringent.”

However, despite the lure of D-I programs, D-III sports are becoming more and more popular. According to information from the NCAA Web site (www.ncaa.org), the number of D-I teams have only increased by 422 over the past 15 years, while the number of D-III teams have increased by 1074. Because of this, more and more students are being recruited by D-III programs.

The recruitment process starts very early, in the spring of a potential Swarthmore student-athlete’s junior year. At this time, coaches are just trying to get names of athletes whom they think will fit well on their teams. Each sport uses different methods to seek out potential athletes.

“I send out information to 2500 U.S. Swim Clubs every spring, and from these, coaches or kids will respond,” head swim coach Sue Davis said.

Karen Borbee, the head women’s lacrosse coach, also mails coaches and attends local tournaments, while head track and cross country coach Pete Carroll goes to meets to scout out talent.

“If I’m lucky, I can see 7-8 possible recruits at these meets,” Carroll said.

For each sport, the number of initial contacts varies greatly. Baseball coach Frank Agovino estimates that he starts out with a pool of 800-1000 contacts, while Borbee says that her initial pool is about 100-150.

During the summer, the process continues. Coaches continue contacting athletes, trying to gauge their interest in Swarthmore. They also make sure that athletes will maintain the college’s high academic standards.

“Before I talk to a coach, I usually talk to the athlete’s guidance counselor to make sure he or she is qualified to attend Swarthmore,” Carroll said.

Davis agrees. “It’s not worth our time to go after kids without the academic credentials,” she said.

What coaches seem to like best, though, is when student-athletes approach them with a genuine interest in Swarthmore. The coaches feel that these recruits, if accepted by the college, will be very likely to matriculate.

Soccer recruit Evan Nersterak ‘09 is proof that coaches’ recruiting trips can pay off. Nesterak said he first got in touch with Swarthmore after meeting soccer coach Eric Wagner at a camp at Brown University the summer before his senior year.

“I got a good vibe here and really liked the team,” Nesterak said. “My decision came down to Cornell and Swarthmore, and once I didn’t get into Cornell, I knew I would be coming here.”

As autumn begins and current Swarthmore student-athletes return to school, coaches continue to keep in contact with recruits and occasionally arrange for them to visit the campus.

“When our recruits visit Swarthmore, we have them stay with current team members,” Davis said. “We want them to get a taste not only of what the team is like, but also show them the academic and social life on campus.”

According to Borbee, a few student-athletes are admitted Early Decision each year, but the majority of recruits apply Regular Decision and find out if they are admitted in late March or early April.

Around December, coaches begin to communicate with Swarthmore’s admissions department about which recruited students will be admitted. For the most part, the coaches seem to have a congenial relationship with admissions.

“For every team, there is a liaison from admissions who talks directly to the coach about their recruits,” Carroll said. Agovino praised these liaisons, calling them “dedicated personnel.”

Coaches stress how admissions varies from year to year, and that they never know how many recruits will actually apply and which will get accepted. For some teams, about 20 to 25 student-athletes will apply each year, and for others, about 40 to 45. The number of recruits eventually admitted varies as well.

“Of the 20 to 25 recruited lacrosse players who apply, some years eight to 10 will get in but other years only one or two will,” Borbee said.

Swarthmore Athletic Director Adam Hertz said that every year, Swarthmore coaches list the players that they think have a good shot of getting in and who will help their team the most. However, Hertz pointed out that unlike at some other schools, at Swarthmore “the coaches don’t have the luxury of deciding who’s coming.”

According to Dean of Admissions Jim Bock ’91, coaches put down roughly 250 names of recruits in total on these lists last year. Of these, Swarthmore admitted about 100, and ultimately, a little over 60 decided to come.

“We look for student athletes who can contribute in the classroom as well as on the field,” Bock said. “There is no set formula, but their athletic talent has an impact and can work as a determining factor. If we have two students who are equal in all respects, we’ll take the one who can contribute more to a varsity sport.”

Bock also noted how student-athletes might receive more or less consideration depending on what sport or position they play. “The coaches and the athletic director determine the need.”

Once students have been admitted in late March, coaches must convince their admitted recruits to come to Swarthmore. “As the coach, I see my main job as to sell Swarthmore to the recruit,” Agovino said.

Jon Tundel ’09 was one athlete to pass up a scholarship opportunity to play for the Garnet. A basketball recruit, Tundel chose Swarthmore over three D-I schools. Two of these schools offered him scholarships, and the other was the Naval Academy, where all students attend tuition-free. He and his high school coach initially contacted Swat basketball coach Lee Wimberley last January.

“I chose Swarthmore for many reasons,” Tundel said. “I liked its academic reputation, the fact that it was close to home, and after three foot injuries, I was unsure if I could handle playing in D-I.”

As for those admitted who do not choose Swarthmore, Carroll believes it is due to personal fit and says that these recruits will usually choose to attend an Ivy League school (all of which are D-I but offer no athletic scholarships) or another top D-III college.

Occasionally, he gets recruits who will end up choosing a D-I or D-II school that decides to give them an athletic scholarship.

All Swarthmore coaches insist that they are not only looking for good athletes but also ones who will make a positive impact on Swarthmore and can handle the academics here.

Coaches were in agreement that the average SAT score of their recruits was very similar to the average score of the entire admitted class.

Agovino also noted that he gets more prospective recruits every year and credits his players and admissions in helping him do that. “I now have two assistants who help me recruit during the year,” he added.

By the time the recruits have made up their minds in late April about where to attend college, the process starts over again, and coaches begin to introduce themselves to a new batch of student-athletes, hoping that a few of these recruits will soon end up on their rosters and make positive contributions on and off the field.

Additional reporting by Conor Casey.

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