What we learned from meeting with 30+ D3 Coaches & AD's this week
Here are our major takeaways for recruits…
We just wrapped up a Mini-Northwest Conference (NWC) Tour around five standout D3 schools in the greater Portland, OR area.
Huge thanks to the Coaches, Athletes, and AD's at Pacific University, Linfield University, Willamette University, George Fox University, and Lewis & Clark College who took the time to meet with us and share their experiences.
We learned a ton over the past few days, and will be using all of it to empower the journeys of prospective college athletes across the country.
Here are our major takeaways for recruits…
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5/3 (8pm ET) LIVE D3 Coach Convo w/ CWRU Men’s Basketball (Substack)
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5/13 (4pm - 6pm ET) - 1:1 Recruiting Office Hours (For Playbook Members)
Mini NWC Tour Takeaways
What impresses D3 Coaches?
We asked D3 Coaches what impressed them from their committed class of 2026 recruits and one thing that stood out consistently was being proactive.
They all mentioned that they get tons of emails every day, including from:
Recruiting services that are generic and irrelevant (often deleted)
Parents who are trying to drive recruiting interest for their kids (ignored)
Neither strategy moves the needle for D3 Coaches, because at the end of the day they want to hear from the recruit to understand their specific interest in the school.
Hearing this feedback from coaches was a great reminder that recruiting can’t be outsourced or short cut. You have to take the time, research and contact potential schools, be ready for a bit of rejection, and then stick at it if you don’t get results right away.
In combination, this is what leads to offers at the D3 level, good financial aid packages, and the ability to choose where you want to go to school.
If you want to learn how to get the attention of coaches, check out the D3 Recruiting Playbook (Use code D3Direct25 for 25% off)
Financial aid varies A LOT by school
D3 schools might all play at the same level, but it is important to remember that they are very different institutions with different priorities.
Some have big endowments and others are trying to drive enrollment to keep the doors open.
This shows up most notably in the financial aid packages that each school offers to recruits. Here are a few examples:
Willamette University - located in Salem, OR - offers a flat rate $48,000 discount to all international students. This means you will still have some room to make up to get to the full cost of attending, but it is a big commitment that we have not seen from a majority of D3's for international students.
It seems to be working as well, as the basketball team has members from Mexico, Serbia, and Hungary.
Linfield University - located in McMinnville, OR - has standard merit awards for students with over 3.0 GPA’s that range from $26 - $30,000.
We took a campus tour with a member of the Softball team who also told us about smaller awards that are based on short tests that students can take when they visit campus. Recruits get $1k just for attending, and can win up to an additional $5k annually if they place first in their chosen exam.
Tuition will be cheaper for a recruit that demonstrates interest
Similar to the Linfield award above, most of the schools we visited this week have incentives for recruits that take a campus visit. Some will knock a few thousand dollars off tuition, others put a positive mark in your admissions file making it more likely that you will eventually get in.
Lewis & Clark’s Summer academic programs for High Schoolers is a step beyond this and can net applicants $20k in annual scholarships.
Programs like this one show the value of being organized early in your process so you can map out and apply to things that will help you reduce the cost of tuition.
If you’re a 2027, ask coaches about what their school offers so you can get the lowest possible price for your four years on campus.
See if Alumni are in the department
Many of those leading the way at these five institutions are former D3 athletes and their dedication to the level and their athletes shows up clearly in everything they do.
This is not a must-have for every recruit, but it is an interesting factor to consider when choosing at school.
At Linfield University in particular it was something that stood out as the AD was a previous Linfield baseball player and baseball Coach and numerous other coaches were either Linfield grads or played D3 elsewhere.
Thanks for reading!
We’ll see you on Sunday for more scholarships!
-D3Direct
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