Post Classifieds
Recruiting efforts key in maintaining successful D-III program
By Tom Gallagher
On March 8, 2012
Buffalo State volleyball player Kelsey Bashore thought she had made up her mind.
The sophomore fashion major was planning on transferring from Division I University of Louisiana at
Lafayatte to Division II Philadelphia University. She was only slightly considering Buffalo State.
Division III colleges like Buffalo State don't have the luxury of offering athletic scholarships like Division
I and Division II schools do. So what changed Bashore's mind? For that matter, how can any student-
athlete be convinced to join a Division III program?
"On the surface, (recruits) are looking at the type of program that we offer," said Buffalo State head
football coach and athletic director Jerry Boyes. "They're looking to see if it's successful and they're
looking to see what kind of experience other athletes have had or are having in the program."
For Boyes, the Buffalo State recruiting pitch goes far beyond athletics. Academics are a priority, and he
values the academic experience a recruit will have just as much as the athletic experience.
"Student-athletes come to Buffalo State College for all the right reasons," he said. "In a nutshell, we
have to be the right fit. If we aren't offering them what they're looking for academically, I'm going to tell
them to go someplace else."
When a recruit establishes a school as the proper fit academically, they begin to weigh in other factors
in helping them make a decision. Bashore was considering Buffalo State because of the school's fashion
textile technology program. Academically, she found that it fit, so those factors came into play.
One of the largest of those factors is the on-campus facilities the school has to offer. According to Boyes,
the recruit's campus visit and their perception of said facilities play a huge role in getting them to join a
program.
"We're very aware of how the campus looks," Boyes said. "We have new math and science buildings, a
new technology building, the Houston Gym renovation. Parents see those things. Kids see those things."
For Bashore, her visit to the school was indeed significant in helping her make her decision. Volleyball
coach Maria DePeters took her on a tour and the facilities the school had to offer sold themselves.
"I was 90 percent sure I was going to Philadelphia just from doing research on the schools," Bashore
said. "The visit is definitely what made me come here because before that I really wasn't going to.
(DePeters) showed me the gym and locker rooms. She showed me the sports arena, and she made sure I
met a few girls on the team."
Although facilities are crucial to recruiting in Division III, women's lacrosse coach Meg Stevens knows
that selling the program may be even more paramount.
"After you sell the university, it's about selling yourself as a head coach, selling your program and what it
believes in," Stevens said. "Facilities don't win games. The way you run your program and your coaching
philosophy will get the type of players that coaches are really looking for.
"Without athletic scholarships it really does rely on the college's reputation, the coach's reputation and
the program's reputation."
Coaches also have the difficult task of selling the City of Buffalo to out-of-town recruits. Coaches
embrace what the city has to offer and use it as part of their recruiting pitch.
"I think that out of all the schools in our conference, Buffalo State has the most to offer because we
are in an urban setting," DePeters said. "I show my recruits the surrounding area. We'll take a walk up
Elmwood where there is so much to do. Kids don't want to go to a school where there isn't much to do."
Stevens also believes the campus' urban setting is an advantage and sells the fact that there are more
internship and job opportunities available.
"It comes back to being the right fit," Stevens said. "We're competing against a lot of rural schools in the
SUNY system. A lot of times I'll tell (a recruit) ‘If you want to go to a school where there are more people
than cows, you've probably found the right fit.'"
Because recruiting in Division III is so competitive, most coaches recruit in large quantities to increase
their chances of luring a certain player.
"If I'm recruiting a quarterback, I better talk to ten quarterbacks with similar abilities in order to get one
of them," Boyes said. "You can't put all your eggs in one basket. You have to be ready for the next guy."
A coach will do what they can to sway them into joining their program, but ultimately, the decision lies
in the hands of the student-athlete. It has to be the right fit for them.
It was the right fit for Bashore. It was the right fit for plenty of student-athletes that have come through
Buffalo State athletics programs.
Tom Gallagher can be reached by email at gallagher.record@live.com.
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