What athletic directors, coaches, athletic administrators are reading daily.
As well as college presidents and deans
Send tips to [email protected] and/or via DM.

» 🎶 “I Don’t Like Monday.” Remember the Boomtown Rats? Maybe I’m dating myself a little.

» Want To Receive D3Playbook Every Day? Read what the decision-makers in DIII athletics are reading. Go to D3Playbook.com/subscribe for more.

» What’s Happening. Board of Governors Finance and Audit Committee meets at 3 p.m. ET

A MESSAGE FROM D3PLAYBOOK

A reminder that you will need a premium subscription to be able to continue reading D3Playbook every Tuesday-Friday. Our annual subscription rate is just $79/year - less than 35 cents per edition - while you can try us out for a month at $8. Upgrade today.

» Worth Noting: For those who have asked about multiple subscriptions for an institution or conference, we have a solution. Email us.

TOP STORY
1. How Rich Donors and Loose Rules Are Transforming College Sports

by David Farenthold and Billy Witz, New York Times

“The key to recruiting top college football players these days is not just a lavish training facility or a storied coach. It is ensuring the chance for them to hook up with a new type of operation that can pay them eye-popping sums, collected from wealthy boosters who can often write off the donations, for taking on a bit of outside work.

The rapid rise of big-dollar payments to student-athletes from so-called donor collectives has emerged as one of the biggest issues in college sports, transforming how players are recruited and encouraging a form of free agency for those looking to transfer. And because many of the groups are set up as charities or with charitable arms that make donations tax-deductible, they are drawing scrutiny from the Internal Revenue Service.

While in theory they operate independently of athletic programs, collectives have become deeply embedded in the economics of college sports, offering vast supplements to the scholarships that schools provide.”

» Field Awareness. “The upheaval has its roots in a Supreme Court decision and a handful of state laws that made it illegal in 2021 for the N.C.A.A. to continue its longstanding prohibition on athletes making money from endorsements. In dropping the ban, the N.C.A.A. assumed the result would be a way for star athletes to get endorsement deals, a cut of jersey sales or money for acting as social media influencers — also known as “name, image, likeness” arrangements, or N.I.L.”

» The Bottom Line. “The New York Times identified more than 120 collectives, including at least one for every school in each of the five major college football conferences. The average starter at a big-time football program now takes in about $103,000 a year, according to Opendorse, a company that processes payments to the players for the collectives.”

» Quotable. “We’ve got to be able to offer a package similar to those other places so that money does not become a factor.” - Penn State football coach James Franklin.

» Be Smart. “Because they are not operated by the schools, collectives ignore Title IX, a federal law that requires colleges to provide equal treatment to male and female athletes. At top schools, the average men’s basketball player with a collective contract is paid $37,000, and the average women’s player $9,000, according to Opendorse.”

» Continue Reading

FOOTBALL
2. Jackets Move Up

Randolph-Macon was the main benefactor of No. 7 Saint John’s loss to Gustavus Adolphus as the Yellow Jackets ascended to the top-10 in this week’s D3football.com rankings.

1. North Central, Ill. (25), 7-0

2. Mount Union, 7-0

3. Wartburg, 8-0

4. Wisconsin-La Crosse, 6-1

5. Wisconsin-Whitewater, 6-1

6. Trinity, Texas, 6-1

7. Wisconsin-River Falls, 6-1

8. Johns Hopkins, 7-0

9. Linfield, 6-0

10. Randolph-Macon, 7-0

» Notable. Ripon bounced Lake Forest from the ranks of the unbeaten with a 12-0 shutout of the Foresters. Illinois College QB Destin Chance threw for 465 yards and eight TDs in a 72-0 rout of Lawrence. He has thrown for 1,258 yards and 17 scores in the last three games. Merchant Marine’s Talsen Smith caught 14 passes for 324 yards and three TDs in the Mariners’ 40-28 win vs. WPI.

Benedictine DL Brian Pritt recorded 5.5 sacks in a 31-6 victory against Lakeland. Three more place-kickers joined the 50-yard club on Saturday, as Buffalo State’s Nick Sciandra, N.C. Wesleyan’s Braxtyn Green and Albright’s Dean Severin all connected from 51 yards out. Westminster (Mo.) DB Konnor Vaughn returned a pick 99 yards vs. Minnesota Morris.

» Undefeated. According to NCAA Statistics, there are 14 undefeated teams remaining in Division III - Alma, Aurora, Belhaven, DePauw, Grove City, Johns Hopkins, Linfield, Mount Union, Muhlenberg, North Central (Ill.), Randolph-Macon, Susquehanna, Wartburg and Whitworth.

» Milestone. Salisbury defeated Rowan, 35-20, giving head coach Sherman Wood the 200th victory of his career. He is the 12th active coach across all levels of the NCAA to reach 200 wins.

» Complete Poll

A LOOK BACK
3. Weekend Review

Soccer (M). No major shakeups over the weekend as the top teams continued their quest for a conference tournament top seed. #1 Messiah (15-0-1) blanked Alvernia, 1-0, while #2 Mary Washington (12-1-2) blanked Salisbury, 5-0. #3 Middlebury (10-0-4) whitewashed Tufts, 3-0, and #4 Carleton (14-1-1) upended Saint Mary’s, 2-0

Soccer (W). #1 Christopher Newport (14-0-1) continued to roll, defeating Roanoke, 5-0. #2 Washington U. (12-0-1) and #3 Carnegie Mellon (11-0-4) battled to a scoreless draw. The Bears downed #6 Case Western Reserve, 2-0, two days later. #4 William Smith (10-0-3) blanked Bard, 3-0.

Field Hockey. #1 Middlebury (14-0) blasted #7 Tufts, 6-0. #2 Babson (16-1) bested MIT, 5-2, while #3 Johns Hopkins (14-1) blanked #24 Swarthmore, 3-0. #5 Salisbury took out #17 TCNJ, 4-0, and #10 Bates (10-4) edged #9 Williams, 2-1.

Volleyball (W). #1 Juniata (21-0) whitewashed Scranton, 3-0, while #2 UW-Oshkosh (28-0) did the same to North Park. #3 Hope (19-1) posted wins over UC Santa Cruz and Susquehanna, and #4 Northwestern (20-3) swept UW-Superior. #5 Emory downed #12 Washington U. in five sets, while #8 Calvin fell to Millikin in four.

NEWS
4. Lightning Round

⚽️ Soccer. Emory became the first school to secure a NCAA men’s soccer tournament berth with a 4-1 triumph vs. NYU on Sunday. It is the Eagles’ first UAA title in 11 years.

🎾 Tennis. Grove City College won their 31st Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) women's tennis championship with a 5-2 victory over Allegheny. Colby-Sawyer won the Great Northeast Athletic Conference women’s crown with a 5-3 victory against Regis.

🗞 News. Carthage College’s full-time faculty members have overwhelmingly censured their president, John R. Swallow, and their provost/executive vice president for operations, David Timmerman, for increasing teaching loads without upping pay.

🗞 News. The University of Mount Union is eliminating at least 23 positions at the Alliance school in order to continue balancing the budget. The Canton Repository says buyouts have been offered to some faculty members.

🗞 News. Warren Wilson (N.C.) College expects to release 26 total lines of staff by the end of the academic year.

💵 Gift. Drew University has announced a seven-figure planned gift from Doug (C'58) and Cris Lonnstrom to Drew Athletics. This gift – the largest endowed gift to athletics in Drew's history – will support the Rangers baseball program and generations of student-athletes in perpetuity.

TRANSACTIONS
5. Comings and Goings

• CATHOLIC - Ashley Zajac named associate head athletic trainer

• ELMHURST - Peyton Wyatt named associate head men’s basketball coach. Melissa Schwab and Reece Taylor named assistant coaches

• GETTYSBURG - Logan Reever named baseball strength and conditioning coach

• HANOVER - Michelangelo Butturi named head men’s lacrosse coach

• ILLINOIS WESLEYAN - S. Georgia Nugent announced plans to retire as president at the end of the academic year

• KALAMAZOO - Bryan Goying no longer serving as head women’s soccer coach

• KING’S - Scott Mueller named assistant women’s ice hockey coach

• OHIO NORTHERN - Margo Vandeveld named head women’s lacrosse coach

• STEVENSON - Madison Nichols named assistant women’s ice hockey coach

• YORK (N.Y.) - Gary Waluns named head swimming coach

VIDEO
6. Plays of the Weekend

📬 Thanks for starting your week with us.
What did you think of today's newsletter?
 Please invite your friends to sign up for D3Playbook

Copyright © 2023, D3Playbook.com All rights reserved