My son would love to play basketball in college, and has been on the varsity team all four years of high school, but has not played on AAU teams. I’d love to hear people’s thoughts on what it be like to play club vs. D3 basketball (if he could make it on to a D3 team). And if he ends up at a D1 school (some are the best academic match), will they have better club teams than a D2 or D3 school? In what setting is he able to actually just get to play a lot? Thanks for any advice.
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Is he being recruited by any D3 coaches? Attended any camps or tournaments where college coaches attend?
Does the high school coach have suggestions about what level of D2 or D3 may be a good fit?
The biggest public universities may have more participants in intramurals - that is my impression of where the most playing time is available.
Club teams seem to be growing in some regions, according to https://ncbbabasketball.org/
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You should do a little research on the difference in time commitment. For my son’s sport, not basketball, the difference would be about 15-20 hours a week on avg. does he want to have a highly physical part-time job essentially (that he may enjoy very very much and have social structure benefits)? I think that is the critical question.
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Thanks for your response. He’s not being recruited, and it may be that club basketball is a better fit. My understanding is that it’s still coached and you’d get to play a lot, and it’s a step up from intramurals, right? The site you sent about club teams is actually pretty helpful. Is that the best way to gauge where they have solid club teams? Do you have to try out for club teams? Thanks for your help!
My son would love that many hours a week playing basketball (he plays that much now even in off season). It sounds like club sports might be best, as it’s coached and gives you a lot of playing time, I think?
Club is a different level from both varsity and intramural. Club teams do have try outs in many sports. They also cost quite a bit at some schools.
My daughter is playing club hockey at her school. This year they switched from playing what I call ed ‘bar league’ (women’s teams in the area that weren’t necessarily made up of college kids) to the D1 club level. More games, more travel, more cost. The school picks up some of the costs but not all schools do that, and some club teams fly to tournaments or games (my D’s drives) and the players have to pay those costs. Some have fund raising, which also takes up time for the athletes. I had a daughter who was a D1 athlete and her fund raising was selling calendars or water bottles, not a big deal, so make sure you know what the commitment in time and money is.
For my daughter’s hockey team, no try outs. For the men’s team, very competitive try outs and not everyone makes the team. Same school, different skill levels on the teams.
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That’s the main organization for their playoffs and championship, with divisions, regional and national competition.
Not necessarily. Student clubs may elect their officers and decide whether to have a player/ coach/ student, or a volunteer, or a paid coach.
Each college may handle diffetently.
Agree with @twoinanddone , depends on skill level, budget support from the college.
Clubs I’ve heard of are student led, may get training from the national organization, or the college’s office that funds clubs, etc…
My son went through the same decision process for soccer. He’s playing club level in college now. A few things he found:
If interested at all in D3, really important to reach out to schools to get a sense as to whether they allow walk ons at all. It will depend entirely on the league the school is in. Some D3 leagues are actually quite competitive. Basketball will be even harder as the rosters are smaller.
If interested in Club, he is more likely to find club level sports at D1 and some D2 schools. Essentially the larger the student body and the higher the division the school competes at, the more likely they will have Club in addition to Intramurals. Which means doing some digging into the Clubs and Activities sections of most schools to see what’s there. My son found a D3 school with Club soccer which was the perfect fit for him but it’s really unusual. As example, the teams his Club group plays against are all D1 universities.
The time commitment is really different. With varsity level sports you have practices and weight room time every day all year with games and travel in season. Club will generally have a few practices a week and a game schedule in the typical season for the sport. Coaching approach varies by school as does cost.
I know for my son, he’s found it’s the right level. Competitive–which was important to him (so no to intramural), travel opportunities, but not all consuming. And yes, student led, which provides some interesting and unexpected leadership opportunities as well.
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Thank you so much for this advice. This is exactly what I was trying to figure out. Any and all advice or experiences are appreciated!