D3football Daily Dose

If you’ve looked at our ongoing list of announced recruits, you may wonder why so few East region players are mentioned.

No team has more than two recruits listed and most teams aren’t represented at all. One North region school (Augustana) has nearly as many recruits listed as the Empire 8, Liberty League, NEFC and NESCAC combined.

While this paucity (SAT word!) is generally due to a lack of information, we’ve finally got some East region stories to share.

NJAC Backs

Kean football fans haven’t had much to cheer about recently, finishing no better than fifth since we started keeping track in 1999.

But an upset win over Montclair State and a close game with Rowan in 2004 might have lit a spark of optimism in Union, New Jersey. That spark was fanned a little by a North-South High School All-Star Football game featuring a handful of Cougars-to-be.

The Asbury Park (N.J.) Press reports that Linden High defensive end Jimmy Moreno was instrumental in the North team’s two-point victory. The North sealed the game by thwarting a late drive led by Asbury Park HS quarterback Keith Gladden. Both Moreno and Gladden will attend Kean this fall.

The game also featured Butler (N.J.) HS running back Jared Greenburg, a 5-foot-10, 185-pound dynamo who gained more than 1,900 yards and 29 touchdowns last year. You can read more about Greenburg, another Cougar newcomer, in this NorthJersey.com article.

Cortland State will receive some young backfield talent according to the (Oneonta, N.Y.) Daily Star. Cooperstown (N.Y.) HS back Brendan Hill will play for the Red Dragons this fall and, while coaches normally say nice things about incoming players, Cortland Coach Dan MacNeill seemed particularly high on Hill. “”Immediately after reviewing his tape, Brendan was a top prospect for us,” MacNeill told the paper. “We know one thing, Brendan is a pretty terrific running back.”

Incidentally Hill’s high school wrestling foe, Matt Mazgaj, is headed to Washington & Jefferson.

MAC Daddies

Last time we mentioned that Delaware Valley sent us a report on their recruits. Now we can add Lycoming to the short list of schools that have shared their 2005 recruiting class with us. You can read the Warriors’ official release here.

A trio of Red Rovers will come over to the MAC as Easton (Pa.) HS graduates John Navone, Jarrid Myers and Todd Kresge will attend King’s, Susquehanna and Wilkes respectively.

FDU-Florham will be the college home for Sam Trotta of Delran (N.J.) HS while Tyler Williams of Whitehall (Pa.) HS joins MAC-mate Moravian.

Good Deal for the Cards

The Gloucester (N.J.) County Times reports that the Wesleyan (Conn.) Cardinals will feather their football nest with Gateway Regional (N.J.) HS graduate Kevin Leamy. Reminiscent of versatile D3football.com All-American and Williams grad Scott Farley, Leamy played running back, quarterback, place kicker, linebacker and defensive back in high school.

NOTE: Thanks to our East region ATR columnist Tom Wilson who fed us most of these stories. You can check out his NJAC blog here.

In non-East region recruiting news…

- National Trail (Ohio) HS quarterback Randy Kerns will play football and baseball at Earlham

- Tolar (Texas) HS teammates J.W. Pendleton and Dustin Waldrep will attend Hardin-Simmons and Sul Ross State respectively

- Bethel Park (Pa.) HS quarterback L.J. Michalski will enroll at Johns Hopkins

- Burlington Township (N.J.) HS quarterback Jim Jeffers is headed to Muhlenberg

- Norwin (Pa.) HS graduate Rick Stevey will play football and run track at Thiel

- Jefferson-Morgan (Pa.) HS alum Eric Cox will attend Waynesburg

As always, if you have recruiting news, feel free to share using the comments feature. Please provide the URL so we can verify the story or we’ll erase the post, even if you’re reporting your own college decision.

NOTE: Thanks to NJAC Poster JPS93 who spotted this (East Brunswick, N.J.) Hometown News Tribune article citing two more incoming East region quarterbacks.

Piscataway (N.J.) HS Quarterback Robert Rose, meet East Brunswick (N.J.) HS Quarterback Matt Mariano. They could be the future leaders of the 2004 East Region finalists as Rose heads to Rowan and Mariano to Delaware Valley. Both will have to wait, though, as the Profs and Aggies have talented incumbents already under center in Mike Orihel and Adam Knoblauch respectively.

I wonder if Rose will mention the final score of the Rowan-Del Val playoff game to Mariano when they see each other on Thursday…

Stefan Cooper of the Maryville (Tenn.) Daily Times reports that the hometown Scots are hoping for continued improvement – both on the field and in the Athletic Center – after a 5-4 season in 2004.

The Scots join the USA South Athletic Conference for football this season after playing a slew of close games as an independent in 2004. Maryville had three overtime games and four more decided by a field goal or less last season.

This is a nice turnaround for a program that, not too long ago, was celebrating its first home win in a couple years.

Ah, to be a high school starting quarterback.

To receive admiring glances from your school mates as you roam the hallways of a peer pressure cooker. To take the helm of your team and lead them to glory in weekend battles with cross town rivals. To bask in the longing gazes of cheerleaders and precocious underclasswomen whose heart you can send a flutter with a single smile.

At least that’s what I always imagined it was like.

You know, when I was daydreaming in Spanish class instead of paying rapt attention to yet another round of the “Como-te-llamas-me-llamo-Gordon” drill.

Despite these glory days – real or imagined — the transition to college can be particularly difficult for incoming quarterbacks. Along with getting acclimated to new offensive sets, unfamiliar teammates and a higher level of play, many first year QBs face the reality that, previous honors notwithstanding, they’re unlikely to see significant playing time this fall.

But an unknown arm in 2005 may be “the man” in 2006 and beyond. So we’re letting the incoming quarterback hopefuls take a few snaps for this edition of the Recruiting Recap.

Herron Elects to Join the Presidents

A good feature in The (Charleston, W. VA) State Journal tells the story of Bobby Herron who will attend Washington & Jefferson next fall. The Wheeling Central Catholic High School quarterback joins an offense with lots of weapons returning, including quarterback Chris Edwards who tossed 38 touchdowns last year.

Herron enters college with realistic expectations, telling the Journal, “[W]ith a guy like Chris Edwards coming back, I know that the No. 2 slot is what I’m shooting for this year. Then next year, we’ll see.”

Herron’s story is also a great example of why many talented players decide to play football at the Division III level.

W&J is a smaller school relatively close to home offering Herron a quality education and a chance to play the game he loves. Herron emphasizes that his studies will come first. “I already know that I’m not going to play pro ball for a living, and I know that I’m going to have to turn pro in something. College is where I’ll get the education for the future.”

Well said, Mr. President.

Wartburg Bound

The (Waterloo, Iowa) Courier reports that another talented high school quarterback is headed to a perennial playoff contender. Denver (Iowa) HS quarterback Jake Kuennen will bring his strong arm to Waverly where Wartburg comes off yet another IIAC title.

Like W&J, Wartburg has an incumbent starter returning at quarterback in senior-to-be Reed Hoskins. Despite a relatively weak ratio of 14 touchdowns to 15 interceptions, Hoskins took a large majority of the snaps last year with back-up QB Greg Koenen only throwing three passes.

MIT be a good Fit

Valley Central (N.Y.) HS alum Stephen Toth apparently likes a challenge. So the valedictorian/quarterback plans to play baseball and football at MIT…after he starts classes in pursuit of his chemical engineering degree…after he joins the college’s ROTC program.

Toth told the Middletown (N.Y.) Times-Herald that he was particularly struck by a Mark Twain quote on an MIT brochure – “Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did.”

Class work at MIT plus football plus ROTC plus the rest of college life? Sounds like a challenge.

In other recruiting news that crossed our virtual desk:

- Pontiac (Ill.) HS grad Christopher Green will play at Augustana

- Charleston (Ill.) HS WR/DB Jason Murphy heads to Illinois College

- Lyndhurst (N.J.) HS quarterback Brian Kapp will attend Montclair State

- Carmi-White County (Ind.) HS product Eric Trout will enroll at North Central

- Wyoming Valley West (Pa.) HS rusher Ryan Kraynack will suit up for Union

- Green Bay East (Wis.) HS lineman Matt Klug heads to UW-Platteville

- Bexley (Ohio) HS teammates Matt Ellinger and David Gitlitz will attend W&J

Remember that there are plenty more recruits listed here, including new links to full recruiting classes for Delaware Valley, Franklin & Marshall and Minnesota-Morris.

And you can share recruiting news using the comments feature below, but please provide a URL to verify the story.

Here at the Recruiting Recap we like the easy ones.

Easy like Sunday morning. Easy like dehydrated macaroni n’ cheese. Easy like, well, you get the idea.

So we want to thank some schools who’ve made our job easier by providing lists of their recruits.

We’ve seen releases from Centre and Hampden-Sydney in the South region.

Plus we noticed the recruiting class for the Tigers’ ODAC rival Bridgewater (VA) is posted on Eagles fan site Bridgewaterfootball.com. In fact, you could add that release to this tentative roster for a complete glimpse (if there is such a thing) of their potential lineup.

The Pittsburgh Tribute Review listed a handful of recruits who will join new head coach Jeff Hand at Westminster (Pa.). OregonLive.com is tracking local kids’ college plans, including a healthy dose headed to Linfield.

That’s not to say that everyone on these lists will play the position mentioned or even play at all since Division III schools can’t tie financial aid to athletic participation. And there will probably be other first year players who are not on these lists but will play at these schools next season. But the lists give fans get a better flavor for an incoming class.

So if you’re an SID or coach who is in the know about your school’s recruiting class and you want to share, please feel free to do so by emailing us at news@d3football.com. Or you can follow the lead of Concordia (Wis.) which posted its recruiting class as a comment on the last recap.

Isn’t that Special?

What do you get when you cross Reggie Roby with Reggie White?

The answer is Steve Jones, a 6-5, 300-pound Annapolis (Md.) HS grad headed to Wesley. Jones received regional punting honors in his first season at the position while also playing on both sides of the line.

The Manteca (Calif.) Bulletin highlighted another special teams recruit, Brandon Gresham who will take his kicking talents to Menlo. The Ceres High School punter and kicker heads to Atherton where he wants to study law enforcement. “I want to become a cop like my dad,” Gresham told the Bulletin.

Though Gresham likely doesn’t know it, he has a kindred spirit in Illinois.

The Morris (Ill.) Daily Herald reports that Harvey VanCleave III plans to attend Aurora as his grandfather and father did before him. Harvey the Third and his father played the same position (defensive tackle) wearing the same number (72) for the same coach (Dan Darlington) at Morris High School.

The father-son comparisons don’t stop there as the youngest VanCleave hopes to follow his dad’s professional footsteps by entering law enforcement. “I want to model my life after my dad. I’d like to be exactly like him,” he told the Herald.

With Father’s Day in less than 10 days, that testimony is a very nice gift from one VanCleave to another.

In other recruiting news:

–Augustana has landed Eric Smith from Flanagan (Ill.) HS, Dan Rosenkrans from Pecatonica (Ill.) HS and Matt Todd from Lena-Winslow (Ill.) HS.

–Notre Dame (N.Y.) HS has three soon-to-be alums headed to Division III schools: Chris Harrison to Hartwick, Luke Burris to St. Lawrence and Jesse Scott to Wheaton.

– Lawrence (N.J.) HS does Notre Dame one better by sending four guys to D3 colleges: Neal Amato to Gettysburg, Cameron Barker to Montclair State, Adam Oliszewski to New Jersey and Mark Lenarski to Rowan.

– Mark Kapraun goes from Harvard (Ill.) HS to Loras while teammate Raul Meza goes to Rockford.

– Perry Welch of Eastland-Pearl City (Ill.) HS will attend North Central while his high school teammate Travis Calzavara will become a college rival at Illinois Wesleyan.

Special thanks to NJAC guru and D3football.com columnist Tom Wilson for sharing the NJAC news with us. We don’t often hear much recruiting news from that conference so we value the input. You can get more NJAC tidbits from Tom’s blog here.

If you’ve got recruiting news, feel free to share but please include the newspaper URL so we can verify the story.

“This game will be won in the trenches” goes the old cliché extolling the value of a powerful offensive and defensive line.

And while some clichés are more useful than others (See: “He really came to play today”), this one has some heft to it in more ways than one.

Just ask the Mary Hardin-Baylor Crusaders whose offense mashed its way to last year’s Stagg Bowl behind three D3football.com All-American linemen. Or, for that matter, ask the Linfield Wildcats whose front five only allowed 13 sacks last year.

And so this week we turn our eyes to recruits who could specialize in pancake blocks and pass protection next season.

Washington University announced that Danny Luce – a 6-foot-2, 235-pound senior at Stanwood (Wash.) High School – will come to St. Louis next fall. Bears coach Larry Kindbom offered a promising review of Luce to The Daily Herald of Everett, Wash., calling him “an outstanding athlete and a very good football player.”

Of course, size isn’t everything. That’s why the Recruiting Recap smiles happily on Augustana recruit Travis Morgan who did a little bit of everything for Pecatonica (Ill.) High School. According to the Rockford Register Star, Morgan played fullback, defensive end, outside linebacker and center while weighing in at 5-10, 185 pounds.

Morgan probably won’t play all those positions for the Vikings when he arrives in Rock Island this fall.

One recruit expecting such a change is Frankie Herrera who will reportedly play safety for Texas Lutheran after suiting up as a full back and linebacker at Port Isabel (Texas) High School. Herrera told the Brownsville Herald that he’s not worried about the move since “The coach told me I (get to) hit a lot and that’s what I like doing.”

Meanwhile South Fork (Fla.) High School is dishing out recruits across Division III’s landscape. Easton Gunnoe and John LeMaster head to John Carroll in Ohio, Adam Pawlak goes to Concordia (Wis.), and Zack Brumfield is bound for Ferrum in Virginia.

Other recruiting announcements from the previous week include the following:

- Paracelete HS (Lancaster, Calif.) product Zach Anderson to Augustana

- Mike Whitmore of Rockford (Ill.) East HS to Beloit

- Joel Sienicki of Northridge (Ind.) to Bluffton

- Jeremy Winter of Madison (Wis.) East HS to Carroll

- Paul Skidmore of Arundel (Md.) HS to Franklin & Marshall

- Joseph Sinyard of Pace (Texas) HS to Hardin-Simmons

- Joel Hawkins of Fairfield (Ind.) to Manchester

- Belvidere (Ill.) HS graduate Anthony Goranson to Monmouth

- Jager (Ill.) HS graduate Kevin Conway to North Central

- NorthWood (Ind.) HS teammates Jason Hochstetler and Andrew Huber to Tri-State

- Bay Port (Wis.) HS tight end Dan Bassindale to UW-Stevens Point

Before we close, the voices of college professors past remind me to cite my sources, so thanks to Cat11 for the story on Herrera. And thanks to another Recap reader who emailed us about Iroquois (N.Y.) HS running back Steve Mamak who will lace up cleats for Muskingum next year.

If you want to join the fun by posting recruiting news, you can use the comments feature below. But you must include a newspaper URL to verify the story like these two contributors did. Otherwise it’ll disappear faster than free cake in a football press box.

For more passive forms of entertainment, here is the list of all the recruits we’ve heard about so far.

‘Tis the season that we read about Division III football players enjoying athletic success in other sports. Like IWU’s punter-pitcher Drew Himes and place kicker-outfielder Mike Berry whose Titans are competing in the NCAA Division III Baseball tournament this weekend.

So this week’s Recruiting Recap goes out to those incoming freshmen who’ve excelled athletically on and off the football field.

Concordia-Moorhead will receive a three-sport star when Moorhead High School senior Cory Johnson enrolls at the school. Along with playing high school football for the MHS Spuds, Johnson was all-state in track and a junior hockey league prospect.

After not being selected in the recent United States Hockey League draft, Johnson decided he’ll trade in his Spuds duds for Cobbers’ maroon and gold.

“I get to play for a great program and get a great education. That made the decision a lot easier,” Johnson told The (Fargo, ND) Forum
.
On a side note, Johnson’s high school mascot was a Spud? His college mascot will be an angry ear of corn? I’m bursting with bad, side order-related puns right now. We need to move on.

Another multi-sport star will suit up for the Washington & Jefferson Presidents this fall. Southwestern (NY) HS senior Matt Mazgaj, who was recently honored for his wrestling prowess, will travel south to join the defending PAC champions. According to the Buffalo News, Mazgaj was a two-time state wrestling champion in the 215-lbs weight class.

Dinwiddie (VA) HS product Khalee Prothro will attend Widener University after completing a three-sport career in high school. Prothro, who also played basketball and ran track at Dinwiddie, saw action on offense and special teams on the football field.

“I like football the most,” Prothro told The (Petersburg, VA) Progress-Index. “It gives me a chance to let out some steam.”

Meanwhile a couple programs who are never short on good recruits were named as high school players’ college of choice.

Dan Georgatos of Foothill (CA) HS will enroll at Mount Union.

Redwood Valley (MN) HS quarterback-wide receiver tandem Luke Radel and Bryan Busack enjoyed playing together so much, they hope to do it again at St. John’s University. The Redwood (MN) Gazette points out that Radel’s brother Jeff also played college ball in Collegeville.

Other recruits who’ve found a home include:

- Shorecrest (FL) HS graduate Bill Wood at Amherst.

- Cave Spring (VA) HS teammates Wade Hammes and Chaffin Scott at Bridgewater (VA).

- Johnsburg (IL) HS senior Nick Biederer at Concordia (Wis).

- Mahnomen (MN) HS graduate Levi DeVries at Concordia-Moorhead.

- Jimmy King of Hidden Valley (VA) HS at Ferrum.

- Rosewood (NC) HS quarterback Danny Langston at Guilford.

- Milton Strother of Daphne (Al) HS at Huntingdon.

- Anthony Catucci of Spalding (MD) HS at McDaniel.

- Dustin Stephens of Prairie Central (IL) HS at Millikin.

- Mount Vernon (OH) HS seniors Bobby Peck and Ty Callkins at Ohio Northern.

- Severna Park (MD) teammates Chris Anthony and Tim Hackmann at Salisbury.

Impress your friends and neighbors with your knowledge of recruits’ destinations by checking out a longer list here.

And please remember that any comments posted below with recruiting news must be accompanied by the related newspaper story’s URL. No ifs, ands or Spuds about it.

Some of Division III’s newest programs – including one that won’t play a varsity game until 2006 and another that isn’t playoff eligible until 2008 – lead the list of destinations announced by recent recruits.

Tavares (FL) High School seniors Ryan Leary and Danny McManus will enroll at SUNY-Maritime (Coach Clayton Kendrick-Holmes standing to right in photo). The Throggs Neck, Long Island-based school announced it will compete as a club team in 2005 and play a varsity schedule in 2006. Tavares teammate Matt Habermehl will attend Millikin University.

North Carolina Wesleyan, which enjoyed a 4-4 inaugural season in 2004, will get a pair of New Bern (NC) High School teammates as Joey Belviy and A.J. Glenn announced plans to suit up for the Battling Bishops this season.

Belviy led New Bern in sacks and tackles for loss last season despite standing just 5’6. “It means a lot to me because I really didn’t think I’d get the chance at first because of my height and size,” he recently told the New Bern Sun Journal.

Bradford (FL) High School’s Milton Sumpter will attend Tri-State University, which is entering the second season of a four-year transitional period in its move from NAIA to NCAA.

“I want to thank God for giving me the ability, I want to thank my parents for letting me play and I want to thank my coaches because they taught me a lot, even off the field,” Sumpter told the Bradford County Telegraph.

While Sumpter will pick up some frequent flyer miles traveling from Florida to Indiana, they won’t compare to those racked up by Joe Quinn when he leaves home in Anchorage, Alaska to attend Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.

Quinn is a two-sport athlete at West Anchorage High School where he plays goalie on the soccer team. “Goalie is kind of the closest soccer position you can get to football,” Quinn quoted to the Anchorage Daily News in this interesting feature. “It’s kind of a seamless transition.”

Of course, we’re only assuming Quinn will fly to JHU. He might choose to make the 76 hour, 4,316-mile trip by car instead.

Elsewhere:

- Paraclete (CA) HS senior Domenic Donato will enroll at Chapman.

- Stevenson (CA) HS seniors Ashton Clarke and Philip Trapp will play for Claremont-Mudd-Scripps while attending Claremont McKenna College.

- Montour (PA) HS senior Ernie Ricci goes to Dickinson.

- Highlands (OH) HS senior Chris Owens will go to Earlham while teammates Bert Bathiany and Shaun Matisak head to Ohio Northern and Weston Lawrence enrolls at Wittenberg.

- Pinkerton (NH) Academy senior Nate Gooden will attend Plymouth State.

For a list of other recruits and their college destinations, click here.

If you want to share recruiting news, feel free to do so using the comments feature below. But don’t forget that you need to post the link to the newspaper story so we can verify the information.

Otherwise we’ll make you chauffer Joe Quinn from Baltimore to Anchorage over Christmas break.

With a steady trickle of news stories published each day chronicling high school seniors’ college decisions, we’ll do our best to provide a weekly recap on who is going where.

Before we start, keep in mind a few details about Division III recruiting:

1 – Incoming freshmen don’t sign letters of intent. Even when the newspapers say they do. Of course, as a faithful Daily Dose follower you already knew that.

2 – Tracking Division III recruits is a unique challenge so we’re not trying to be comprehensive here. We’ll list recruits as we see them mentioned in newspaper articles online.

If you want to add someone, feel free to do so using the comments feature below. But please provide the newspaper link as verification. Even if you list the recruit’s position, stats, high school class schedule and favorite brand of cereal to prove your fidelity, we need the newspaper link.

Enough with the disclaimer. On with the show…

East: Springfield Reloading Rushing Attack?

At least two high school running backs have announced their intentions to suit up for the Springfield College Pride.

The Pride successfully lobbied for the services of Pennsville (NJ) HS product Andrew Jackson. Then Walkill (NY) HS senior J.J. Maloney, who overcame ACL injuries to rush for 20 touchdowns, announced he would enroll at Springfield according to the Times-Herald Record of Middletown, NY.

Of course there’s no guarantee that either player will stay at the running back position at the college level. But you can’t blame them for being attracted to a triple-option offense that rambled for close to 4,000 yards last season.

Shawn McMann of Lely (FL) HS announced he will make the long trip north to attend Fitchburg State in Massachusetts.

North: Talent Gathers in Ohio

Jupiter (FL) High School tackle Chris DeCamillo will play for Ohio Northern.

“They’re Division III but they’ve had players go to the NFL and I thought I might get a good look,” he told the Jupiter Courier. “They also have a freshman team and I’m pretty sure I can start on that.”

Eaton HS wide receiver Chad Norton will join OAC rival Mount Union.

Andrew O’Connell, a Penn High School senior, will continue his academic, football and baseball careers at Wooster.

Savas Melidis who played offense, defense and special teams for Carthage (IL) HS will attend Millikin University.

South: Gantt Keep a Good Man Down

The Brewton (AL) Standard reports that W.S. Neal Senior Brandon Gantt, who overcame a shoulder injury during his high school career, will attend Huntingdon this fall.

“I had a chance to visit the campus. I felt I had a good workout for them. They have a good staff and a new weight room. They’re doing some work on their field, but it should be ready by next fall,” remarked Gantt on his visit to the Montgomery based school.

Bellaire (OH) high school linemen Dirk Soland and Luke Sulek will play for Washington and Jefferson. Each played both ways in high school.

Dion Moore and Bryan Randall of Henry County (GA) HS will head to Maryville.

West: True Blue Boys

The first year of college always brings some anxiety because of the unknown, so why not keep some familiarity where you can?

Richard Tanner and Zach Reed who played for the Blueboys of Carthage (IL) HS will attend Illinois College, which has the same mascot.
Reed told the Hancock County (IL) Journal Pilot that he looks forward to joining his brother Joe who will be a junior at the Jacksonville, Illinois school: “”He really encouraged me to come over there,” said Zach. “Me and him are pretty close. He had good things to say about them, and I feel comfortable going there.”

Naples (FL) HS product Kai Sanders will attend Lake Forest while teammate Eloy Ozaeta will enroll at Dubuque.

If you’re looking for information on St. John’s recruits, check out this St. Cloud (MN) Times article.

Similarly you can track which high school students are heading to Linfield, Puget Sound and Willamette at this OregonLive.com site.

NOTE: Thanks to Cat11 and Johnnie Esq. for the heads-up on those links.

If you read “coverage” of Division III sports this time of year, you probably see this phrase, or one like it, pretty frequently.

So-and-so “signed a letter of intent to play football at Division III” Such-and-such College.

This is a lie. Or if it’s true, then it’s an NCAA violation. There is no such thing as a letter of intent in Division III.

From the Division III manual, bylaw 13.10.1:

An institution shall not utilize any form of a letter of intent or similar form of commitment in the recruitment of a prospect. However, it shall be permissible for the institution to utilize in the recruitment of a prospect its pre-enrollment forms executed by prospective students in general at that institution. Violations of this bylaw shall be considered institutional violations per Constitution 2.8.1; however, such violations shall not affect the prospective student-athlete’s eligibility.

I’m not going to name names here — shoot, you can do some Google searches and see the references for yourself. We just don’t know if the schools are misleading the papers or the papers just don’t know what they’re writing about.

Fact is, nothing binds a student-athlete to attend a particular school in Division III, or to play football once there. He can abandon his application fee and enrollment deposit and re-enroll anywhere.

This is why ranking recruiting classes in Division III is a fruitless exercise.

Hey, I can see where the schools are coming from. It’s hard to get people unfamiliar with Division III to truly understand how things work here. But we need to educate the rest of the media, educate the public, that Division III is different, and better. Student-athletes aren’t treated any differently, aren’t given any special treatment, and they enter the school the same way everyone else does.

Ignorance is no excuse. Intentionally misleading people is worse.

Names that have crossed our desk through the miracle of online newspapers listed by region, then alphabetically by destination:

East

Amherst: Bill Wood, Shorecrest (FL)
Cortland State: Brendan Hill, Cooperstown (NY)
Delaware Valley: Please see full list here
FDU-Florham: Sam Trotta, Delran (NJ)
Fitchburg State: Shawn McMann, Lely (FL)
Hartwick: Chris Harrison, Notre Dame (NY)
Kean: Matt Bouchard, Woodbridge (NJ); Keith Gladden, Asbury Park (NJ); Jared Greenberg, Butler (NJ); Mike Hall, Middlesex (NJ); Jimmy Moreno, Linden (NJ)
King’s: John Navone, Easton (PA)
Lycoming: Please see full list here
MIT: Stephen Toth, Valley Central (NY)
Montclair State: Cameron Barker, Lawrence (NJ); Brian Kapp, Lyndhurst (NJ)
Moravian: Tyler Williams, Whitehall (PA)
New Jersey: Adam Oliszewski, Lawrence (NJ)
Plymouth State: Nate Gooden, Pinkerton Academy
Rowan: Justin Hinds, Woodbridge (NJ); Matt Lenarski, Lawrence (NJ); Robert Rose, Piscataway (NJ); Ken Siano, Woodbridge (NJ)
RPI: Please see release here
Springfield: Andrew Jackson, Pennsville (NJ); J.J. Maloney, Walkill (NY)
St. Lawrence: Luke Burris, Notre Dame (NY)
SUNY-Maritime (Varsity in 2006): Ryan Leary, Tavares (FL); Danny McManus, Tavares (FL)
Susquehanna: Jarrid Myers, Easton (PA)
Union: Ryan Kraynak, Wyoming Valley West (PA)
Wesleyan: Kevin Leamy, Gateway (NJ)
Widener: Khalee Prothro, Dinwiddie (VA)
Wilkes: Todd Kresge, Easton (PA)

North

Aurora: Don Robinson, Vero Beach (FL); Harvey VanCleave III, Morris (IL)
Allegheny: Eric Makel, Liberty (VA)
Augustana: Zach Anderson, Paraclete (CA); Christopher Green, Pontiac (IL); Brad Monier, Bureau Valley (IL); Preston Jones, Bureau Valley (IL); Travis Morgan, Pecatonica (IL); Dan Rosenkrans, Pecatonica (IL); Eric Smith, Flanagan (IL); Matt Todd, Lena-Winslow (IL)
Bluffton: Joel Sienicki, Northridge (IN)
Concordia (Wis): Nick Biederer, Johnsburg (IL); Adam Pawlak, South Fork (FL)
Earlham: Derrick Freshwater, Marion (IN); Randy Kerns, National Trail (OH); Chris Owens, Highlands (OH)
Franklin: Kevin Lynch, Delta (IN); Patrick Sheller, Delta (IN)
Illinois Wesleyan: Travis Calzavara, Eastland-Pearl City (IL)
John Carroll: Easton Gunnoe, South Fork (FL); John LeMaster, South Fork (FL)
Manchester: Joel Hawkins, Fairfield (IN)
Millikin: Brandon Davis, Charleston (IL); Matt Habermehl, Tavares (FL); Savas Melidis, Carthage (IL); Dustin Stephens, Prairie Central (IL)
Mount Union: Andrew Boothe, Harvey (OH); Dan Georgatos, Foothill (CA); Chad Norton, Eaton (OH); Josh Whisnant, Beaver Falls (PA)
Muskingum: Shane Colvin, Parkersburg (WV); Steve Mamak, Iroquois (NY)
North Central: Eric Trout, Carmi-White County (IN); Perry Welch, Eastland-Pearl City (IL)
Ohio Northern: Bert Bathiany, Highlands (OH); Michael Bonomini, Highlands (KY); Ty Callkins, Mount Vernon (OH); Chris DeCamillo, Jupiter (FL); Shaun Matisak, Highlands (OH); Bobby Peck, Mount Vernon (OH)
Rockford: Raul Meza, Harvard (IL)
Tri-State: Jason Hochstetler, NorthWood (IN); Andrew Huber, NorthWood (IN); Milton Sumpter, Bradford (FL)
Wabash: Matt Kraft, Castle (IN)
Wheaton: Jesse Scott, Notre Dame (NY)
Wisconsin Lutheran: Jake Schweder, McHenry (IL)
Wittenberg: Weston Lawrence, Highlands (OH); Please also see this Springfield (Ohio) News-Sunarticle
Wooster: Andrew O’Connnell, Penn (IN)

South

Bridgewater (VA): Bridgewaterfootball.com has a list of Eagles’ recruits here
Centre: Release on recruiting class
Dickinson: Ernie Ricci, Montour (PA)
Emory & Henry: Jason Freely, Liberty (VA)
Ferrum: Zack Brumfield, South Fork (FL); Jimmy King, Hidden Valley (VA)
Franklin & Marshall: Please see release here
Gettysburg: Neal Amato, Lawrence (NJ)
Grove City: George Fickley, Allderdice (PA)
Guilford: Danny Langston, Rosewood (NC)
Hampden-Sydney: Please see list here
Hardin-Simmons: J.W. Pendleton, Tolar (TX); Joseph Sinyard, Pace (TX)
Howard Payne: Christian Wright, Granbury (TX)
Huntingdon: Brandon Gantt, W.S. Neal (AL); Jeff Reamer, Wesley Chapel (FL); Milton Strother, Daphne (AL)
Johns Hopkins: L.J. Michalski, Bethel Park (PA); Joe Quinn, West Anchorage (AL)
Louisiana College: Derek Lewis, Van Vleck (TX)
Maryville: Russ Harris, Venice (FL); Gary Hughes, Etowah (GA); Dustin Locke, Gulf Coast (FL); Dion Moore, Henry County (GA); Bryan Randall, Henry County (GA). Please see more in this Maryville (Tenn.) Daily Times article
McDaniel: Anthony Catucci, Spalding (MD)
Mississippi College: Chris Catrett, Satsuma (AL); Ryne Davison, Fairhope (AL)
Muhlenberg: Jim Jeffers, Burlington Township (NJ)
North Carolina Wesleyan: Joey Belviy, New Bern (NC); A.J. Glenn, New Bern (NC)
Rhodes: Garrett Estes, Scottsboro (AL); Charles Hoggard, Arendell Parrott Academy (NC)
Salisbury: Chris Anthony, Saverna Park (MD); Tim Hackmann, Saverna Park (MD); Nick Sowells, Broadneck (MD)
Sul Ross State: Dustin Waldrep, Tolar (TX)
Texas Lutheran: Frankie Herrera, Port Isabel (TX)
Thiel: Steffon Radcliff, Osceola (FL); Rick Stevey, Norwin (PA)
Trinity (TX): Chris Baer, Shiner (TX)
Washingston U: Danny Luce, Stanwood (WA)
Washington & Jefferson: Matt Ellinger, Bexley (OH); Will Flynn, Allderdice (PA); David Gitlitz, Bexley (OH); Bobby Heron, Wheeling Central (WV); Matt Mazgaj, Southwestern (NY); Dirk Soland, Bellaire (Ohio); Luke Sulek, Bellaire (Ohio)
Waynesburg: Eric Cox, Jefferson-Morgan (PA)
Wesley: David Eslin, Broadneck (MD); Steve Jones, Annapolis (MD). Also please see this Delaware State News story.
Westminster (PA): Please see list here

West

Beloit: Jacob Marsh, Richmond-Burton (IL); Mike Whitmore, Rockford East (IL)
California Lutheran: Steve Milanoff, Davis (CA)
Carroll: Alex Pfannensteil, Central Catholic (OR); Jeremy Winter, Madison East (WI)
Chapman: Domenic Donata, Paraclete (CA); Kyle Floyd, Pahrump Valley (NV)
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps: Ashton Clarke, Stevenson (CA); Philip Trapp Stevenson (CA)
Concordia-Moorhead: Levi DeVries, Mahnomen (MN); Cory Johnson, Moorhead (MN)
Dubuque: Eloy Ozaeta, Naples (FL)
Illinois College: Jason Murphy, Charleston (IL); Zach Reed, Carthage (IL); Richard Tanner, Carthage (IL)
Lake Forest: Kai Sanders, Naples (FL)
Linfield: Brent Desmond, Salinas (CA); Please see these comments and this article
Loras: Mark Kapraun, Harvard (IL)
Menlo: Brandon Gresham, Ceres (CA)
Minnesota-Morris: Please see release here
Monmouth: Anthony Goranson, Belvidere (IL)
Puget Sound: Kent Hamar, Sunset (OR) (See link in comment below)
St. John’s: Bryan Busack, Redlands (MN); Luke Radel, Redlands (MN); Also please see article posted here
UW-La Crosse: Andrew Gebel, Oshkosh West (WI)
UW-Plattville: Matt Klug, Green Bay East (WI)
UW-Stevens Point: Dan Bassindale, Bay Port (WI)
Wartburg: Jake Kuennen, Denver (CO)
Whitworth: Sam Weber, Coast Union (CA)
Willamette: Pat Bransfield, Grant Pass (OR)

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