The Nuances of DIII Recruiting with Lauren Egna and Leslie Schleimer

Summary

Lauren Egna and Leslie Schleimer — co-founders of College Athlete Consultants (CAC), both mothers of multi-sport twins who went through the D3 recruiting process — join Lisa Stone to demystify Division III college athletics. The episode targets a structural knowledge gap: families default to D1 ambitions because that is the only model they know, and junior coaches rarely educate families about the D3 pathway. Lauren (twin boys in tennis) and Leslie (twins in soccer and tennis, law background) built CAC after living through a process they found opaque and unsupported. Key themes: D3 coaches do not recruit — athletes must find them; no athletic scholarships exist but significant institutional aid does; balance across athletics, academics, and social life is achievable at D3 in ways D1 typically prevents; academic excellence is the primary credential; essay quality is the differentiator; and the process should begin in ninth or tenth grade, not junior year.

Guest Background

Lauren Egna is the mother of twin boys who played competitive tennis and pursued D3 college programs. She co-founded College Athlete Consultants with Leslie Schleimer after navigating the D3 recruiting process without adequate guidance. She speaks from combined experience as a tennis sports parent and a consultant who has worked with athletes across multiple sports through the college application cycle. She is based in the Northeast.

Leslie Schleimer has a law background and is the mother of twins who played both soccer and tennis at competitive levels. Her co-founder role at CAC focuses particularly on the application expertise dimension — college essays, academic packaging, and the admissions relationship-building process. She brings a process-oriented, legally rigorous approach to the college consultant role.

Key Findings

1. D3 Coaches Do Not Find Athletes — Athletes Must Find Coaches

The most operationally critical difference between D1 and D3 recruiting is visibility: D1 coaches attend high-profile tournaments and select; D3 coaches typically do not attend those events and wait to be contacted. Lauren is direct: “The D3 coaches typically do not find you — you need to find them.” This means that families operating under D1 assumptions — attend the big tournaments, get seen, wait for coaches to reach out — will be invisible to D3 programs. Athletes must proactively identify programs, send profiles and video, establish communication cadences, and initiate the relationship. CAC’s core service is making those matches and managing that outreach process.

2. No Athletic Scholarships — But Significant Institutional Aid Exists

D3 schools cannot offer athletic scholarships by NCAA rule, but this does not mean zero financial assistance. Academic merit awards (often called presidential scholarships) of $10,000 or more are common at D3 liberal arts schools. Need-based aid at selective private institutions can be substantial. The framing Lauren and Leslie use: D3 admission means a coach becomes an advocate for the athlete through the admissions office, which can influence how institutional aid is packaged. Athletes who understand this architecture approach the process very differently than those who assume “no athletic scholarship = no financial support.”

3. The Balance Advantage: D3 Allows All Three — Sport, Academics, Social Life

Lauren articulates the D3 value proposition as the three-way balance that D1 makes structurally impossible: “When you are a D1 athlete, you’re not really balancing much — it’s really all about the sport.” She references the adage she encountered: at D1, you can have at most two of the three (athletics, academics, social) — all three simultaneously is nearly impossible. D3 athletes typically train four to five days per week with defined seasons; when not in season, academic and social bandwidth returns. The corollary: D3 athletes are more likely to complete all four years, more likely to avoid injury from cumulative wear, and more likely to graduate with meaningful non-athletic experience.

4. Academic Packaging Is the Primary D3 Credential

At D3, the athlete’s academic profile is the primary admission credential — athletic talent is a contextual factor that gets the coach’s attention and advocacy, not the admission itself. Course selection, GPA, standardized test scores (where applicable; many schools have moved test-optional), and essay quality determine admission at selective D3 programs. Leslie’s essay principle: “A college essay really is a small moment that tells about yourself” — not an achievements catalog but a specific, enjoyable read that reveals something authentic. Over-stuffed accomplishment essays are common and weak; the small, specific, well-observed moment is stronger.

5. The Process Must Start in Ninth or Tenth Grade

Both Lauren and Leslie are explicit that junior year is too late to begin D3 recruiting in earnest. Ninth grade is ideal; sophomore year is the practical average for their clients. The rationale: D3 coaches do track athletes they’ve identified early, sometimes for years; course selection impacts academic profiles from the first semester of high school; and the communication relationship with programs takes time to build. Lauren notes that junior tennis coaches “need to do a better job of educating themselves and the families they work with about alternatives other than division one” — the information deficit starts in the training environment, not the family.

6. The Comprehensive Match Process: Region, Size, Academic Field, Athletic Fit

CAC’s intake process is a structured questionnaire covering: geographic region preference, school size, intended field of study, academic profile, and competitive athletic level. These factors are combined to build a match list of programs — not just schools where the athlete might get in, but schools where the fit across all dimensions is genuine. For tennis specifically, Lauren notes the structural gap at D2: there is a direct jump from D1 to D3, with D2 tennis being relatively sparse. Athletes who can play D1 may also find competitive D3 programs; athletes who cannot clear D1 thresholds often find D3 is the right competitive level without it being a consolation.

7. The “Coach as Application Advocate” Model

A D3 coach who wants an athlete is not passive — they become an internal advocate through the admissions process. The mechanism: a coach recommends the athlete to the admissions office, flags them as a preferred candidate, and can influence how the institutional aid package is assembled. For athletes, this means the relationship with the coach must be established before the application is submitted, not after. Weekly or monthly communication with coaches — sharing videos, academic updates, tournament results — is the relationship maintenance that makes the coach’s advocacy credible and motivated. Leslie describes the required communication cadence: “Email them on a weekly or monthly basis — are you going to be at a camp I should attend, are you looking for a left-handed tennis player?“

8. Junior Coaches Are Leaving Athletes Uninformed

A recurring diagnosis across the episode: the D3 pathway is largely unknown because the people positioned to explain it — junior coaches — typically don’t. Lauren is pointed: “In tennis, kids from a very young age are already setting their minds on a big D1 program because they don’t know any different — and even the junior coaches need to do a better job of educating themselves.” Leslie seconds it: “All coaches should do that once they know a child wants to participate in a sport at the college level.” This is a systemic education gap that begins in training environments and compounds annually as families make planning decisions based on incomplete information.

Actionable Advice for Families

• Start the D3 recruiting process in ninth or tenth grade — not junior year — to allow time for program identification, relationship building, and strategic course selection
• Understand that no athletic scholarship at D3 does not mean no financial support — academic merit awards and need-based aid at private liberal arts schools can be significant
• Athletes must proactively reach out to D3 coaches with a complete profile: video, academic credentials, tournament results, and honest self-assessment of competitive level
• College essays should be specific small moments, not achievements catalogs — the goal is a compelling read that reveals character, not a résumé in paragraph form
• Ask your junior coach explicitly about D3 programs in your sport — and if they cannot answer, that is itself information about whether they are serving your long-term development

INTENNSE Relevance

• The non-D1 player pipeline: The D3 pathway captures athletes who are competitive, disciplined, and academically strong but not D1 recruited — exactly the cohort that INTENNSE’s college-to-pro bridge program targets. Players who completed D3 careers are underrepresented in standard professional pipeline conversations and could be an overlooked INTENNSE recruiting source
• Balance as competitive differentiator: Lauren’s D3 value proposition — balance across sport, academics, and social — is the same value INTENNSE should offer professional players: a salaried structure that doesn’t require a player to sacrifice life stability for competitive opportunity. The messaging maps directly
• Coach-advocate model as INTENNSE recruiting tool: The D3 model of coach becoming an institutional advocate for a player is the relationship model INTENNSE coaches should build with college programs. INTENNSE coaches who are known to program coaches at D3 and D1 schools create pipeline relationships — not just for individual players, but for the league
• Academic-athlete identity as community asset: D3 athletes are described as more likely to graduate, maintain life balance, and finish their four years. These are the characteristics of players who will represent INTENNSE credibly in community and broadcast contexts — not just on the court but as professional adults in the league ecosystem
• Junior coach education gap as content opportunity: Lauren’s observation that junior coaches don’t educate families about D3 is a content gap INTENNSE could address through its media and community platforms. A “pathways” content series — covering D1, D3, professional alternatives, and the INTENNSE model — positions the league as an honest broker for player development information

Notable Quotes

“The D3 coaches typically do not find you — you need to find them. Which is where Leslie and I come in.” — Lauren Egna

“When you are a D1 athlete, you’re not really balancing much — it’s really all about the sport. And for some kids, that’s great. But for other kids, D3 is still extremely competitive while you also have the balance of a social life and an academic life.” — Lauren Egna

“A college essay really is a small moment that tells about yourself — not to try to make yourself sound like something that you’re not, but an enjoyable read that can express something very specific about you.” — Leslie Schleimer

“Kids in tennis from a very young age are already setting their minds on a big D1 program because they don’t know any different — and even the junior coaches need to do a better job of educating themselves and the families they work with about alternatives.” — Lauren Egna