Question for Scott and others...

[Smokey Joe]

Right now I am in the middle of picking which college to go to next year, and am currently getting heavily recruited by D-III and NAIA schools. I was just wondering what some of you guys thought of the level of play between NAIA, D-III, and D-II. Obviosuly D-I and D-1AA are the top levels, but I have heard conflicting reports from people. Some say that D-II = NAIA > D-III. Others say all of the are equal. Some say that D-II > NAIA >= D-III.

I was wondering what some of your guys thoughts were, and especially Scott (yeah, he's a little busy now) because he has been scouting prospects for a long time.

[JeffSamardzijaIRISH]

You don't wanna listen to the NAIA guys, ever. They make up a bunch of crap about how they're just as good as D-2 schools and even some D-1 schools(WTF?). The NAIA campuses are a joke, high school level campus. If want to play football, then if you could choose a good D-2 school, I would. I won't want to have anything to do with NAIA, which is a joke.

There's a big difference between D-2>D-3>NAIA. These people are NAIA for a reason.

[Brent]

JUCO, JUCO, JUCO. JUCOs are scouted to be recruited to D-I schools, DIII and DII arent.

[Jvig43]

You don't wanna listen to the NAIA guys, ever. They make up a bunch of crap about how they're just as good as D-2 schools and even some D-1 schools(WTF?). The NAIA campuses are a joke, high school level campus. If want to play football, then if you could choose a good D-2 school, I would. I won't want to have anything to do with NAIA, which is a joke.

There's a big difference between D-2>D-3>NAIA. These people are NAIA for a reason.

If your gonna play for a D2 school, I would just go for D1, you work just as hard, although you might not get as much time on the field.

[locseti]

JUCO, JUCO, JUCO. JUCOs are scouted to be recruited to D-I schools, DIII and DII arent.

Is his goal to make it to a DI school? If so, this is probably the route to take. If not, go be the big man on a dII campus.

[Brent]

Is his goal to make it to a DI school?
I have no idea but if that is his goal, JUCO is the way to go.

[BRAVEHEART]

JUCO, JUCO, JUCO. JUCOs are scouted to be recruited to D-I schools, DIII and DII arent.

I second this, Juco is the best way in any situation.

[Brent]

I second this, Juco is the best way in any situation.
Yeah and even if he just wants to play D-II, you can still go the JUCO route and be recruited for D-II.

[Smokey Joe]

I have been thinking about JuCo for a while, and it is a legit possibility I could go D-I after those 2 years, but it'll be tough to turn down practically a full scholarship to an NAIA school which is consistently ranked in the top 25.

D-II would be nice if there was actually some D-II schools in Illinois and actually actively recruited in my area.

[Brent]

I have been thinking about JuCo for a while, and it is a legit possibility I could go D-I after those 2 years, but it'll be tough to turn down practically a full scholarship to an NAIA school which is consistently ranked in the top 25.

D-II would be nice if there was actually some D-II schools in Illinois and actually actively recruited in my area.
Is JUCO all that expensive? I was under the impression they were relatively low cost? If you want to go to a nice JUCO program you could contact Blinn College here in Texas about a scholarship: http://www.blinn.edu/Buccaneer/athletics/Sholarships/index.htm they give out a lot of them.

[Smokey Joe]

There are really cheap and give scholarships, but the out of state ones can only give out up to 30 or something like that, and some of these JuCo's are extremely tough to play on.

[locseti]

JUCO is dirt cheap, 21 bucks a unit in Cali. C'mon Smokey Joe, even Rudy walked on at Notre Dame, you can make it at Northern Illinois!

[Brent]

There are really cheap and give scholarships, but the out of state ones can only give out up to 30 or something like that, and some of these JuCo's are extremely tough to play on.
I know Blinn is one of the best year in and year out. I guess it all depends on your goals. If you want to play at D-II or something I would go JUCO. If you are just trying to get a free education, I think NAIA is the way to go.

[iowatreat54]

Go to William Rainey Harper College in Palatine Smokey, they are legit.

[Brent]

What position do you play, Joe?

[Smokey Joe]

Go to William Rainey Harper College in Palatine Smokey, they are legit.
I have a cousin on the team (gonna be a sophomore), and I have really considered them. They aren't like Blinn where they are just loaded with talent, but they have a good number of players that get scholarships to play at some of the lesser D-I schools, as well as D-IAA, and D-II.

How do you know so much about Harper? You go there, live near there???

[Smokey Joe]

JUCO is dirt cheap, 21 bucks a unit in Cali. C'mon Smokey Joe, even Rudy walked on at Notre Dame, you can make it at Northern Illinois!
One of my real good friends actually got a full ride to Northern, and I would love to play with him at the college level. We had some fun times in High School

[Smokey Joe]

What position do you play, Joe?
OLine. Right now I'm about 6'4'', 255. I figure with two years at JuCo, I could get up to 6'5", 305. My max in bench is about 265 right now, and squat is at about 425 (I had to cut down on that because my doctor told me I was borderline hernia and that I shouldn't overdue with Squat). I was a late bloomer though and still have a lot of room of growth. I'm hoping by the end of this school year to get my bench up to 300 and Squat at at least 450, as long as I don't have anything bulging out of my stomach.

[dabears10]

I have a cousin on the team (gonna be a sophomore), and I have really considered them. They aren't like Blinn where they are just loaded with talent, but they have a good number of players that get scholarships to play at some of the lesser D-I schools, as well as D-IAA, and D-II.

How do you know so much about Harper? You go there, live near there???

I live the town over. A bunch of the football players from the surrounding high schools go and play there. After my freshman year of college I worked with a kid at motorola who played linebacker there and then went to play at Iowa State. I also know that my current school Illinois State recruits there. They usually field a very competitive team and go to a JuCo bowl much of the time.

[Smokey Joe]

I live the town over. A bunch of the football players from the surrounding high schools go and play there. After my freshman year of college I worked with a kid at motorola who played linebacker there and then went to play at Iowa State. I also know that my current school Illinois State recruits there. They usually field a very competitive team and go to a JuCo bowl much of the time.
You would probably know more then me... do a lot of their players get offers from D-IA and D-IAA schools?

[themaninblack]

Avoid NAIA at all costs. Even if you just play D3, it is A LOT better to play in the NCAA.

[iowatreat54]

You would probably know more then me... do a lot of their players get offers from D-IA and D-IAA schools?

Their current QB might be coming to Iowa. Iowa has recruited at least a handful of players out of there in the last couple years. Harper is usually a really good team every couple years and is a very respected JUCO program, especially their coach if he is the one that's been there for the last 5-10 years. If you don't get interest from 1A schools, I'm sure Illinois schools in 1AA will definitely give you looks.

And yes, I live near Harper and have taken classes there during the summer.

[Smokey Joe]

Avoid NAIA at all costs. Even if you just play D3, it is A LOT better to play in the NCAA.
Can you elaborate some more?

[Smokey Joe]

Their current QB might be coming to Iowa. Iowa has recruited at least a handful of players out of there in the last couple years. Harper is usually a really good team every couple years and is a very respected JUCO program, especially their coach if he is the one that's been there for the last 5-10 years.
Do you know much about Iowa Central, because that's one I've been looking at as well.

[PACKmanN]

Right now I am in the middle of picking which college to go to next year, and am currently getting heavily recruited by D-III and NAIA schools. I was just wondering what some of you guys thought of the level of play between NAIA, D-III, and D-II. Obviosuly D-I and D-1AA are the top levels, but I have heard conflicting reports from people. Some say that D-II = NAIA > D-III. Others say all of the are equal. Some say that D-II > NAIA >= D-III.

I was wondering what some of your guys thoughts were, and especially Scott (yeah, he's a little busy now) because he has been scouting prospects for a long time.

Hampton???

[Thunder&Lightning]

At that level of football I would go with the better academic school. If your playing at that level you arent going to play in the NFL. You might as well get a better education and play football too.

If that doesnt matter to you the divisions arent that different go with the team that you have the best chance of playing early on or have a better chance of winning a ring.

[iowatreat54]

Do you know much about Iowa Central, because that's one I've been looking at as well.

Not really. I am just familiar with Harper because I've lived like 10 mins away from them all my life and I know that Iowa recruits there. A kid from my HS, who was an OL and was recruited out of HS to some small 1A, 1AA, and D2 ended up going to Harper and was recruited by Iowa after 2 years. He didn't end up going here, but I know Iowa has at least looked at players from Harper each of the last 4 years.

[themaninblack]

Can you elaborate some more?

I've had a lot of friends go play at various NAIA schools and they all hated it and ended up transferring to a D3 school. Yeah they can give you money but it really only goes to the top players that they like. I was in a pretty similar situation as you are being a late bloomer n ended up going to a d3 school. Could have prolly walked on D1 or D2 but really didn't want to get that involved n wanted to play right away.

[TitleTown088]

Go to the best school you can for free.

[Smokey Joe]

After a lot of research this weekend, I am leaning heavily to JuCo. It just makes a lot of sense for me financially and athletically. I'll post updates as they happen. I'm hoping to have my final decision made by mid February.

[Shane P. Hallam]

Remember all of us little people when you are famous!

[Smokey Joe]

If for some reason a drunken GM drafts me after college, I am inviting everyone here, with all expenses paid, to the biggest and best party ever. You can hold me to this :)

[Shane P. Hallam]

Haha, 2nd to last pick of the draft, the party will cost your whole paycheck :D I'm in!

[tjsunstein]

Can anyone else say Mr. Irrelevant?

[Smokey Joe]

Iowatreat will be happy... I committed to Harper!

Next step, kick ass in camp and earn a starting spot!

[iowatreat54]

Iowatreat will be happy... I committed to Harper!

Next step, kick ass in camp and earn a starting spot!

Haha congrats man. I'm graduating, so I'll prolly be home this fall. I'll try and come out to some games. Do you know what the team's looking like for the upcoming year?

[Smokey Joe]

Haha congrats man. I'm graduating, so I'll prolly be home this fall. I'll try and come out to some games. Do you know what the team's looking like for the upcoming year?
Well the new head coach seems pretty cool and committed to building a really solid and good team. What I like is that he wants to build the team around Chicago-land players out of high school. None of the 24 year old guys out of prison from Florida.

Even though it's a 2 year school, he wants to make it more of a team and family atmosphere. Other than that, I don't know much. Basically it's gonna be open competition at every spot, I guess.

I'm gonna have to contact my cousin who goes there. Apparently he is going to try and stay on as a student-coach (was gonna play last year but got a bad injury), and I might be able to live with him. That'd be pretty cool. Can't wait. I might start during the Summer as well, as they have these lifting programs that count as classes. Can't wait, I'm gonna work my balls off to be one of the 5 on the OLine on Saturdays when the season starts.

[Brent]

Congrats, Joe. Best of luck and hopefully you'll be on this site in the future!

[CJSchneider]

Congrats man, make us proud.

[Smokey Joe]

Congrats, Joe. Best of luck and hopefully you'll be on this site in the future!
Long road ahead of me. My offseason program didn't get really started until later because of a minor injury that had to be nursed along. But I'm 100% right now and ready to push it to the limit.

Best case scenario, I start this year and get a scholarship to a Big 10 or MAC team. I could have walked on at a MAC school, but that wasn't a situation that I wanted to put myself in. For every Rashad Johnson, there are hundreds of guys that eventually transfer down to D-III. This way, I'm at least giving myself a shot to improve and earn a scholarship to the next level.

[Brent]

Long road ahead of me. My offseason program didn't get really started until later because of a minor injury that had to be nursed along. But I'm 100% right now and ready to push it to the limit.

Best case scenario, I start this year and get a scholarship to a Big 10 or MAC team. I could have walked on at a MAC school, but that wasn't a situation that I wanted to put myself in. For every Rashad Johnson, there are hundreds of guys that eventually transfer down to D-III. This way, I'm at least giving myself a shot to improve and earn a scholarship to the next level.
If I were in your situation, I wouldn't bother with a social life, I would dedicate myself 100% to football and training the entire time you are there.

[Bills2083]

If I were in your situation, I wouldn't bother with a social life, I would dedicate myself 100% to football and training the entire time you are there.


It's a good thing that SWDC is in the 100% football category!

btw, nice job Smokey. Best of luck to you.

[bhaarat316]

you can do it

[tjsunstein]

Best of luck man!

[the decider13]

Dude...you gotta hurry up and get drafted. Someone has to protect Cutler's blindside after Pace. Keep him on his feet!!

[Smokey Joe]

Thank you all for your support.... Hopefully it all works out.

[villagewarrior]

Having played at NCAA Division II Central Missouri State University (now the University of Central Missouri) and at NAIA Avila University, I can say that the competition at the NAIA level is not that much lower than Div II. The stadiums and campuses aren't that good (for the most part, and compared to DII schools), but the football is not that far apart. In the NAIA, you generally deal with guys who are either a little too small or a little too slow to play DII, but most of them are just as good as DII players. I have witnessed this with my own eyes.