Guest commentary by Caroline Simmons
As a former NCAA Division I student-athlete, I have often been asked to talk with high school swimmers about college and recruiting. It goes with the territory of having been through the process, and people wanting to tap into that experience.
Many of the high schoolers I speak with are in the same predicament I had when going through the recruiting process myself. My parents gave me a simple rule when picking out colleges: they would pay for any public colleges in-state; anything else was on me. I wanted to go to a Division 1 school. Fortunately, in Virginia where I currently reside, there are 6 different D1 schools with swimming programs. The high schoolers I have been talking to are from Tennessee. Guess how many public Division I colleges have swim teams in the state of Tennessee? One, there is only one D1 college team in the entire state of Tennessee – the Tennessee Volunteers. Vanderbilt University does offer a women’s swimming program, but is a private institution.
Across the U.S., three states do not even have a public D1 college with a swim team: Montana, Alaska, and Mississippi. Sixteen states have only one public D1 college with a swim team. In the Southeastern Conference, these schools include the University of Tennessee and Louisiana State University (LSU). Twelve states have only two public D1 colleges with a swim team. In the SEC these teams include Auburn, University of Alabama and the University of Missouri.
The other SEC teams have 3 or more D1 colleges in the state (Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Texas A&M) or are private (Vanderbilt).
|
Number of Public College(s) within the State with a D1 Swim Team |
Number of States |
|
1 |
16 |
|
2 |
12 |
|
3 |
9 |
|
4 |
3 |
|
5 |
1 |
|
6 |
3 |
|
7 |
0 |
|
8 |
1 |
|
9 |
0 |
|
10 |
2 |
How many athletes end up going to school in-state at these schools?
I decided to take a look specifically at the SEC.
Auburn has three women and three men from the state of Alabama. University of Alabama has one woman and six men from the state of Alabama. A total of 13 athletes from the state of Alabama went to an in-state D1 college to swim.
At LSU, four women and four men are from the state of Louisiana. Eight total athletes in Louisiana went to an in-state D1 school to swim.
At Tennessee, there are six men from the state of Tennessee. On the women’s team, there are zero; not a single girl from the state of Tennessee is on the Tennessee women’s team. Six total athletes from the state of Tennessee went to an in-state D1 college to swim.
|
Team |
In-State Women |
In-State Men |
Total Women |
Total Men |
|
Auburn |
3 |
3 |
24 |
26 |
|
Alabama |
1 |
6 |
27 |
34 |
|
LSU |
4 |
4 |
27 |
23 |
|
Missouri |
1 |
8 |
26 |
33 |
|
Tennessee |
0 |
6 |
27 |
24 |
The higher number of male student-athletes that stay in state is in line with the number of scholarships available to an NCAA Division I team. The number of scholarships available to men is less than that of women. Women have 14 scholarships to spread out while men only have 9.9.
What about the other teams where there are 3 or more schools with D1 programs?
|
Team |
In-State Women |
In-State Men |
Number of Public College(s) within the State with a D1 Swim Team |
|
Florida |
13 |
19 |
8 |
|
Georgia |
8 |
20 |
3 |
|
Kentucky* |
3 |
2 |
3 |
|
South Carolina |
3 |
5 |
3 |
|
Texas A&M |
15 |
19 |
4 |
*Have not updated their roster for 2014-2015 season
In the end, I did not go to an in-state school. It took some convincing, but my parents understood. What many parents need to realize during the recruiting process is that there is a lot more than money involved in the process.
Recruiting is about finding the place where the athlete is most comfortable to train, compete, and study for the next four years.
If money is something that will make your swimmer more comfortable; that is a factor to include. In my opinion, the most important factors are that the athletes are happy, healthy, and having fun. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity to compete in the NCAA, treat it as such.
Caroline Simmons is a graduate from the University of Tennessee with a degree in Aerospace Engineering. She has also begun a coaching career, having coached UT’s Masters team during her final two years in Knoxville. Last year, she helped the Lady Volunteers win the 200-yard freestyle relay at the NCAA Championships.
Oregon has only one D1 school with a swim team. However it’s only a women’s team, meaning there are 0 D1 schools in the state for men.
Great story. Thanks for sharing. Would be great to see how many foreign athletes there are at D1 schools.