Why do you run this Web site?
How long has this site been around?
Do you run this site alone?
How is this site funded?
Is there a site like this for... ? (pick your sport)
Why are you biased against my school?
Why are your All-Americans different from those done by the coaches' associations?
Where can I find recruiting info?
Where can I find something that used to be on the front page?
What is a provisional member of Division III?
Can you change our enrollment to (your figure here)?
How is a tie broken in conference standings?
Is redshirting legal in Division III?
How do news releases get selected and posted?
We run D3hoops.com to serve as a national news source for Division III men's and women's basketball. First as students, then later as SIDs and members of the media covering Division III, we were frustrated that the larger news organizations ignored everything other than Division I. We publish D3hoops.com (and the rest of the D3sports.com network) to give much-deserved publicity to the fine student-athletes who compete at the highest level of pure amateur basketball.
How long has this site been around?
The site was originally conceived and maintained by Steve Ulrich of the Centennial Conference in the winter of 1994-95 before we took it over and relaunched it on Nov. 25, 1997. We were called Division III Basketball Online for the first five seasons. We chose our new name, D3hoops.com, on July 10, 1999, to match our new partner site, D3football.com, launched the same month. We've been committed to Division III basketball for a mighty long time.
Patrick Coleman used to run this site essentially alone, with contributions from other people but not much maintenance. Now, since we've added the database format, it allows us to have several people inputting scores on a nightly basis, to expedite the flow of information.
The key maintenance personnel are Pat Coleman, Gordon Mann, Dave McHugh and Ryan Scott. Gordon leads our women's basketball coverage and manages all of our daily coverage of men's and women's basketball between Nov. 1 and Jan. 1. Ryan is our lead columnist, who writes Around the Nation during the basketball season. Dave McHugh, the host of Hoopsville, handles our broadcast production needs. Patrick Coleman, who ran the site from 1997-2016, took a hiatus for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 season, and is also the lead editor on D3football.com.
No list of contributors would be complete without mentioning Jim Stout, whose Northeast Notebook was a staple for several years while we were first starting out and who single-handedly helped our site become known throughout New England.
Updated: March 19, 2021
We are funded primarily through ad banner sales. In the past we have gotten donations from grateful users of the site, and during the pandemic, we began actively soliciting those again.
Occasionally schools donate as well, finding that keeping this site running is more valuable to them than subscribing to print magazines and newsletters. We certainly give more bang for the buck.
Is there a site like this for... ? (pick your sport)
D3hoops.com, D3football.com, D3baseball.com and D3sports.com are the only sites we run. There are sites for other sports, but nothing in this style and with this detail. We'd run other sites, but then we would get no sleep whatsoever.
Why are you biased against my school?
We're not biased against your school. Odds are you're so biased for your school (as you should be) that it clouds your judgment when you read legitimate analysis from unbiased people. Occasionally fans of certain schools give us reason to dislike that school's fans, but we don't maintain a dislike for any Division III program. Besides, if we were to list the number of D-III programs we were allegedly biased for and against, you'd find many of the same names on each list. It's a matter of perspective. You may be so far to one direction that we, standing in the middle, look to you like we're on the opposite side.
Why are your All-Americans different from those done by the coaches' associations?
Each coaches' association does its All-Americans in a different way, and we do ours a different way altogether.
We've always thought a team should be a team -- with five players, two in the backcourt and three in the frontcourt. Those organizations do not agree. Although it would be illegal to put 10 players on the floor at once, they do so.
That's fine -- that's their way. We are glad that they are spotlight worthy student-athletes. We have never seen the coaches name a player that was completely unworthy of honors. However, it is not our way.
The men's coaches also name just one All-American from each region. Therefore, if you are judged to be the second-best player in a region, even if you are better than the first-team player in every other region, you cannot be a first-team All-American. This doesn't make sense, and leads to situations where an NBA first-round draft pick wasn't named first-team All-American. Why should a region with 37 teams be guaranteed equal representation as one with 68 teams?
Also, the nominating for each set of awards is done by different people, so it's possible that someone nominated for one team was not nominated for the other.
Where can I find recruiting info?
Division III recruiting info is a mixed bag. There's no national signing day, no true letter of intent and nothing binding a kid to actually attend the school, or even to play basketball once they're there. You don't truly know what recruits you have until they show up in August for classes. And even then there's always a shot they don't come out for the basketball team. That, in combination with the fact that many key D-III players are not on the radar of the people who rank college prospects, is why there isn't any national recruiting news at this level.
Where can I find something that used to be on the front page?
We almost never get rid of a story completely. During the season we keep the seven stories on the front page of the site, and once a story is older, it gets moved back to our Notables page. There's a link to the Notables page on the top of every news page.
To find a story from a particular date, click on Notables, then find the appropriate dates in the right-hand column. We've had Notables on the site since 1997, so there are a lot of old news items if you're interested in two-plus decades of D-III history.
If the story was a link to Around the Nation, click on Around the Nation under the Columns menu.
What is a provisional member of Division III?
New schools entering Division III must go through a provisional period, during which the NCAA ensures the school is in compliance with Division III rules. Typically the process is three years for schools entering from Division II or from another organization, such as the NAIA. In the fourth year, a school is eligible for the NCAA Tournament.
Can you change our enrollment to (your figure here)?
We get our enrollment figures from the U.S. Department of Education, and the figure represents full-time undergraduate students. We've done this for consistency's sake, since some schools send us full-time numbers, some all undergraduates, and nearly all round the number up. When updated numbers are available from the DOE, we'll update.
How is a tie broken in conference standings?
Conference tiebreakers are not standard throughout Division III. Each conference makes its own list. Please contact the conference itself with your question.
If there is a tie for first place in a conference that does not have a tournament, the conference chooses who will get the automatic bid, not the NCAA.
Is redshirting legal in Division III?
You are not permitted to redshirt in Division III. Redshirting is the practice of having a player attend and participate in practices but not play in any games, preserving a year of eligibility.
Medical redshirting is still permitted at the Division III level. The general guideline is that you must have played one-third of the scheduled games or less in order to be eligible. If you suffer a season-ending injury in that time-frame and can document it, your conference (or athletic director, if an independent) can file paperwork with the NCAA on your behalf to restore a season of eligibility.
So-called "routine" redshirting is still permitted at other levels and to our understanding those redshirts are recognized by Division III. (You will want to confirm with your school's compliance officer if you are transferring in.) That is, if you redshirted outside of Division III and then transferred to a D-III school, you would not be forced to give up that year of eligibility. (To redshirt in this manner you may not appear in any games whatsoever.) Conferences are free to not recognize these redshirts, and in fact, the MIAC has not as long as we've been covering D-III.
And anyone who had a routine redshirt year at a Division III school before Aug. 1, 2004, had that redshirt grandfathered in.
How do news releases get selected and posted?
All Division III basketball schools have a username and password given to the Sports Information office. They may use this to post news releases (and scores and game stories) directly on our site.