The REAL Difference BETWEEN D1, D2 & D3 LACROSSE

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Hi everyone! It's Jake from Lax Weekly and today we're watching a lacrosse highlights from Chris Gray from UNC lacrosse making an amazing lacrosse assist.

[@darthbass4877]

Glad he mentioned tufts, my sister was an all Conference field hockey player there and I can confirm that the talent and education there is top tier even though it’s a D3 school

[@RCRitterFPV]

I went D3 because my off hand sucked... and I was out of shape... Played some D1 teams... those guys work out.... haha

[@matthefalcon]

Decades have gone by without anybody breaking the system down like You have. A very generous thing to do for the Young players. Keep up the Fantastic work. It's outstanding.

[@sal26]

I played at Salisbury in mid 90s. Back then, the top 5-10 D3 schools could beat many mid major D1 schools. Most D3 schools had talent but not depth of D1 rosters. We scrimmage Duke a couple of times and played them very well. D2 was generally awful back in the day but with many more quality coaches and players around, many more D2 and D3 schools are getting very good players. A lot of the top D1 schools have rosters full of physically athletic freaks that just sit the bench for 3-4 years.

[@jeffferoce2633]

"...athletic freaks..." LOL!

[@BassManCrenshaw]

It’s basically still the same -RIT grad

[@wacogliderman9396]

We would have played each other then and you're right back in 1990-1997 any top 5 Div III team like Salisbury, Nazareth, Hobart, OWU, Gettysburg, WAC could and did smoke lots of Div1 schools.

[@ericcole8235]

​@@jeffferoce2633😂😂

[@Justaguywatchingvideos1]

I think you should definitely talk about NAIA lacrosse. I’m currently playing NAIA. They offer scholarships and in my recruiting offered more then some of the D2 programs I talked with. NAIA offers alot of opportunity and new teams are being added every year. I’m from Texas so MCLA is the only option there. MCLA has no scholarship but there are still school funded programs. Which I think makes it comparable to D3 based on the school. UT has Kyle Hartzell as their head coach now, their own field and weight room which is more then a lot of D3 or even D2 programs have. MCLA coaches do recruit, help player find scholarships and are a great option especially if your dream school doesn’t have a program.

[@logansweeney7186]

Thank you very much for this video, it was very helpful. I am 13 years old in 7th grade and playing college lacrosse is my dream. I have been missing my lacrosse videos lately and this cured my urge.

[@droliver]

The size and speed at D1 on defense and midfield is the biggest difference to me vs what you see at D3. There are a lot of skilled kids that simply lack the size at some of those positions to play at that level. You also don't see some of the 6'3"-6'6" 240 lb skilled attack players at D3 like Perkovic (Notre Dame), Tre Leclair (OSU), Chris Cloutier (UNC), Myles Jones (Duke) There's plenty of D3/D2 players that could play for even the best D1 programs if they wanted to, but it's a totally different lifestyle at that level.

[@clouds6445]

I want to play at Colby. They are a Nescac school d3. But d1 unc would be the life haha

[@Solna15]

good choice!

[@dailymaincraftandBo2]

Get on the wall

[@jakecamejo4506]

I have a friend who’s one of the fogos for Colby and he loves it

[@jumboman1885]

Hey I am going to Colby!

[@RK-ub9gf]

Quite a few of the top MCLA teams have D1-D3 transfers on their rosters. Go watch some games, its quality lacrosse. Just lack of depth and schemes

[@nateduffy2872]

ALWAYS a good day when he uploads and my fries scrimmage is today if my sophomore season is in 2 hours lmao

[@nateduffy2872]

Lmao got 2 goals 😂🔥

[@Scorpion_Master]

@@nateduffy2872 congrats

[@nithdom7810]

I had a stroke reading that

[@smittywerbenjagermanjensen2738]

Nice vid 🔥 keep up the great work

[@matthewjobe2834]

Can you do a video on the MCLA at some point? I think the MCLA deserves more recognition.

[@brendandonnelly3546]

I played D2 at Merrimack right before they went D1 it was an incredible experience and always actively doing stuff with team (workouts / practice and more)

[@Marmar-xy5kd]

Bro this content is so good I dropped a sub thx

[@brianhollenbaugh6791]

Would love to see you do a video breaking down NAIA schools with Lacrosse teams, like you did with the D1, D2, and D3 schools.

[@mattdzambo1127]

NCAA says: D1 school’s and player’s priority is their sport. D2 school’s and player’s priority is 50% their sport 50% their education. D3 school’s and player’s priority is player’s education. Scholarships in athletics correspond with the priority a school expects a player to give their sport because the school wants a return (profit from ticket sales, TV contracts, endorsements etc.) on their investment (the scholarship for the athlete). The higher the priority given to the sport by the school, the more “accommodating” a school will be to the athletes educational requirements/expectations. The less priority a school puts on a sport the more the athlete becomes responsible for their education. Due to the emphasis on education, a larger percentage of D3 athletes receive accolades for outstanding academic achievement than D1 and D2 athletes.

[@Tarponcane]

I'd like to hear more on NAIA and MCLA options as well.

[@Natalia-09]

I’m a freshman at a DI school and I will definitely say the time commitment was correct. It is lax all the time which honestly I absolutely love. I also love all the resources we have such as our own athletic trainer who focuses on our team and academic support. I will say the level of play is much higher (at least on the women’s side) in DI. In fall we played many of the top DII programs and we easily were able to beat them even though my school isn’t ranked very high.

[@a1onso427]

U play Queens tho?

[@Natalia-09]

@@a1onso427 yes we did and we beat them

[@mtriay]

But top D3 beats top D2 in women's for sure

[@LAX.highlights70]

I had offers in d1 and d2 and d3 but since I’m from Canada it’s a lot more expensive even with a scholarship and so d1 wasn’t an option so I had to turn the schools away sadly and for d2 I was able to play but I wanted a small private school so I can better my education so I chose d3 since I got into a small private school so it was just a better fit and yeah I could’ve been d1 or d2 but I chose it for the better focus on education and I’m excited to start this fall and bring the school up in rankings and better the program knowing I can help then a lot being a great goalie 👍🏼

[@LNKY_Hoops]

wondering if you could upload more like you used to thank you!!!!

[@bmart13586]

I can't speak for d1 but if you're looking to go d3 it's still a time commitment. A good coach is going to expect the best no matter what level you're at.

[@StephenMilano12]

It’s all about depth… The best teams have numbers all day long. Running multiple lines of middies will wear down any team. When Salisbury recruits 90-120 guys every year and 80 show up for tryouts then maybe it’s time for them to go the Hopkins route and go D1.

[@s_all1648]

NCAA does not want any more teams to have just one team that’s D1 and have the rest be D3, and also with Salisburys history at the D3 level it just wouldn’t make sense and it’s not like they don’t have competition. RIT beat them in 2OT last year. Generally, having schools that have a very high skill bar but are at the D3 level is a positive for students who love and are committed to the game, and are also very focused on academics. For example their best attackman, Cross Ferrara, who I’ve talked to and seen play since I live in Delaware near Appo, is dedicated to his academics as well as lacrosse and wouldn’t have the time he does at a D1 level. I also imagine it’s better to be one of the best in his division than a really good attackmen at a top 10-15 D1 college.

[@StephenMilano12]

Hobart - look it up.

[@gerardbattersby3847]

All D1, Top 30 D3, and Top 10 D2 are all top tier lacrosse. Would love to see more games/more ESPN coverage of games between top tier D3 and D2 teams and D1 teams. Games like Tufts-Dartmouth, Lynchburg-Virginia, and Michigan-Denison are all competitive and awesome to watch. It would be great to do the same thing college football does, and start the season with 2-3 cross divisional games. Top Tier D3 can definitely hang with mid-tier D1, and sometimes crazy things can happen (Lynchburg beating Virginia this preseason).

[@jerallen47]

I am fairly new to lacrosse. How many players can a PLL team have on it's roster, dress for each game, etc?

[@cartertorok1648]

Could you give more information on d2 schools gear they receive, scholarships, practice just more in depth

[@logansweeney7186]

Could your do a video about club lacrosse. My dream college has a club lacrosse team and I would greatly appreciate it.

[@wittigrxn]

What about tuition costs? Do those differ significantly?

[@powaylacrossefoundation]

Love this. Could you give some incite on NAIA, MCLA and CUFLA schools. I have been told that there are active NLL players playing in the CUFLA and no limits on scholarships for NAIA. Is this true? How do these leagues compare to NCAA?

[@404graphics]

Can you make one with NAIA

[@rydergoodwin7849]

Could you talk about the best ways get your name out to colleges and get recruited?

[@itsstank14]

can you cover Junior lacrosse colleges?

[@mastyer0fReality]

I played for Limestone. D2. It was a rebuild year I was a freshman. We had like 30 freshman most of them sucked. 6 or 8 of us were pretty good. Our upper classmen were good. We practiced nearly everyday lift every other day and run every other day. 1 day off a week. Imo too much activity. Considering you gotta party and lastly do school work.

[@andrewjiang3761]

Can you do a video on MCLA?

[@jcdixon01]

Would this be the same for Women's NCAA lacrosse, to you think?

[@ejmjstudios4519]

Is it possible for me to play d3 if I only play on a high school team? Im an attackmen for calvert high school. I’m not able to join a club lacrosse team due to time constraints, but I looked on the NCAA website and it said I should play for a club.

[@JamesThomas-pj2lx]

Expand this to naia, and "high level club", mamazing content here.

[@paulbrown99_]

fourth, (and my uncle went to Duke and Harvard but didn't play lax there(or any other sports) :(

[@baaylax7906]

have you done a video on kyle hartzell

[@maddenbroz1078]

How high ranked do you have to be in Hs to be in d1

[@MelissaColinMurphy]

Some D2 teams, one I know well, are bared from using athletic scholarships as a school policy. It has to get the players based on reputation and other FinAid

[@briancannon2083]

Where does NAIA fall into this mix and what are your thoughts on that division?

[@droliver]

The best NAIA teams wouldn't be in the top 50 of D3 based on what I've seen. In 2019 I watched a below .500 Birmingham Southern (D3) beat defending NAIA champ Reinhardt University in a fall game that Reinhardt was trying to win and BSC was treating as an exo. It was competitive, but it gave a comp for what the class of NAIA was.

[@TLSH12]

Pro: Way more scholarship and life is less focused on just lax. Con: Not the highest competition level(top NAIA teams are similar to top 20 D2 programs, and lower NAIA teams can be as bad as lower level MCLA).

[@austin25go]

D3 gives scholarships for "merit" it's just a way to get around the rules. They can sometimes actually pay more than D2. Just to let yall know

[@callmemastermaster9875]

Played D1 in Cali in the early 90s. Had a friend on the team who came over from the East Coast and became high scorer and MVP. In the east he was top 10% but on the west he was all conference. Huge difference between the skill level of east and west back then.

[@FastWalkToFresno]

No you didn't. There has never been a DI men's lacrosse program in California.

[@JZMartinez]

So is it too early to start recruitment plans for my 2033 son? Would love to see him at F&M's D3 men's LAX. -Hopeful F&M '01 Dad :-)

[@mikeb4595]

As the father of a collegiate lax player and having been through the recruiting process, I mean this with all the respect I can offer: Don't be that dad. Just. Do. Not. Do. It. IF your son, (who is what, 7?!?!) wants to play college lacrosse, that has to be 1000% HIS dream and HIS goal. I don't care what level, college athletics is a HUGE commitment. Just GETTING to that level is a huge commitment. My son played club through most of his childhood. The club programs put pressure on families (they love to extort the Fear Of Missing Out angle) to play year around. I NEVER pushed my son to play. If he wanted to take a season off from club, he did. If he wanted to go 5 months without playing lacrosse, he did. Meanwhile, because he knew he could step away, he kept his fire and love of the game. Meanwhile, we saw family after family and kid after kid not even complete their high school lacrosse careers because they were utterly burned out by 15 years old....or damn near hated their parents because they weren't allowed to quit. We've seen the dads on the sidelines with 1000's of dollars of recording equipment recording little Jimmy's every move from the time he was 10 years old, starting to build their "highlight film". Look it up on KZbin...they're easy to find. Those same dads are the ones who end up berating the coaches when little Jimmy's playing time drops and end up push, push, push, pushing Little Jimmy to play every season, go to every shooting/defense/goalie, fogo clinic...and meanwhile, they completely forget to just love watching their son play. Just enjoy these years. You will never get them back with your son. If he decides he wants to play college lacrosse, you've got almost a decade before you need to even start worrying about it. Help him get better, help him learn how to compete, help him learn how to lose, help him learn how to win. help him learn to work. THEN, if he has the talent and the desire, he can set that goal for himself....and in the meantime you've been a helluva father and you haven't missed these years that you will never get back and miss terribly when they're gone.

[@richardstarratt4985]

Do you think top MCLA schools could beat bottom D3?

[@caseyrubin7]

Top mcla teams can beat some top d3

[@caseyrubin7]

Elite high school teams can blow out bottom d3

[@ampyyy7314]

chapman university beat whittier by 5 this year and its a rebuild year for us

[@wacogliderman9396]

Lol lol

[@droliver]

Absolutely. The bottom of D3 and D2 are pretty bad. However the top 1/2 of D3 is better then MCLA and the top 25 significantly better then any MCLA team

[@Jack-yr8mt]

This is an interesting perspective. Obviously the top D1 schools, specifically those that are ranked and those that are receiving votes, are considered to be the best in the country across all divisions. That is almost always true. Your comparison across divisions is where im a little confused. An example, Yale scrimmaged RIT and the final score was within a couple goals of each other. Yale is currently #11 in the country and granted it was a scrimmage but its hard to let that slip by. Additionally top D2 is significantly worse than top D3. The top of D2 is much more comparable to those who are receiving votes and in the 15-20 range. Le Moyne won the national championship last year and is currently #2 in the country and they struggled in scrimmages against mid tier D3 schools. Additionally, you have guys in D3 that want to be there. Salisbury has an attack man that could start anywhere he wanted in D1. However he stays D3 and is considered to he a top 5 player, if not the best player, in the country. Its hard to judge everything because the bottom of D1 is some of the worst lacrosse in all the divisions but they get the funding to get their butts kicked every week. You should choose the school because of the academics more than the division. Lacrosse isnt a career.

[@justinmiller6919]

Keyword scrimmages. Scrimmages allow players who wouldn’t get time in a game to play.

[@walkerevans3740]

would it be easier to play for a military school such as Air force than say, another D1 school?

[@bandit5747]

Not really, theyre still D1 and academically just as demanding as an ivy league college. Lacrosse might not catch they eye as many airman tho but army is pretty dang good.

[@goalmaster85]

It would be cheaper! You get your tuition completely paid for while there, and you even get a monthly stipend. However, you owe them time after college

[@droliver]

Army and Navy are perennial too 20 teams. VERY good.

[@pfcchampion3759]

What about Mcla or Rmlc

[@gerardbattersby3847]

If you are on the fence, I’ll impart some wisdom given to me by one of the great lacrosse minds (Dwayne Hicks, 2x All American at Notre Dame), D1 and top 30-40 D3 aren’t all that different commitment-wise. You are never going to be a millionaire being a pro lacrosse player (at least right now). Instead, use your talent to get yourself an opportunity at some of the most prestigious schools in the world. NCAA lacrosse, no matter the division, has a network unlike any other. Leverage your lacrosse skills to set yourself up for the college or job that will elevate you in life.

[@dwaynemattushik]

Ahhh glad I made the third clip

[@jonn3041]

Please upload way more dude

[@Grey86]

Do Universities and Colleges have more than just one team? Can you have a D1 and D2 or D3 team?

[@HouseOfShanks]

No, the school is usually division specific so you can’t have a D1 lax team and a D3 lax team. But they can have a D1 team and a club team which operates completely independent of each other. The weird ones are John’s Hopkins who’s lax team is D1 but all the other sports teams at the university are D3. Ferris State has D1 Hockey but D3 for everything else.

[@jragl4943]

Mercyhurst is D2 in everything but D1 for hockey

[@jragl4943]

Hopkins is D1 in lax but D3 everything else

[@chrisballas3128]

Roster depth is the main difference in D1 which separates the best from schools that can get beat on a given day by good D2-3 schools. Same applies to HS where there are privates (MIAA comes to mind), that will have 15 committed seniors playing D1. They will play the best public schools but usually wear them down as they will have 3 midfield lines that compete like crazy to stay on the field.

[@daltonchurch529]

Someone name 5 D2 teams please, no way top d2 teams can hang with top d3.

[@georgestallard4881]

Limestone, rockhurst, le moyne, Westminster, queens, etc. D2 is slept on and can definitely hang with top d3 schools

[@josecolon2165]

So narrow minded. LeMoyne, Tampa, UIndi, Limestone, Lindenwood, and a bunch more can definitely hang with the top D3 teams and lower level D1 teams.

[@droliver]

The very top of D2 and D3 are pretty evenly matched, but #'s 10-30 would be decidedly a D3 edge

[@benjaminmorgan2940]

would it kill you to include some highlights from different division levels ? correct me if i’m wrong but i didn’t see one D2/D3 highlight lmfao 😂

[@douglasbrooks3942]

Doesn't miss!

[@dagobruh1]

Don’t forget about club lacrosse. I wanted to go to a D1 school to prioritize my academics, and thought my lacrosse career was done. Then I found out the school has a club team, I tried out and made it. I’d say the time commitment and level of play is at the D3 level since my freshman year we played (and beat) a bunch of D3 teams. Gonna be a senior next year and playing club was the best decision I made in college.

[@ChuggyMcNuggy]

What about d1 club teams?

[@hughnunn4761]

Club teams where there is also D1 Men's Lacrosse are generally less organized than the MCLA (which prohibits member teams from that dual existence). Top MCLA programs have coaching staffs and facilities that rival top Varsity teams. Time commitment varies as well, but the top teams practice daily, pay their coaches' competitive salaries, and have at least some official support from their schools. MCLA writ large is still well organized, and offers a solid option for Lacrosse players whose academic pursuits take them outside of traditional varsity institutions. MANY MCLA starters would also make (if not excel) on any varsity programs. Don't just look at the Connor Martin's.

[@gabebrewer3584]

Don’t forget about the MCLA

[@thelyonking17]

Talk about the MCLA

[@buttoned9360]

Hi

[@w5monkey]

It's all about playing time and this is what sucks about lacrosse. The defense and attack never come off and the midfielders run maybe 2.5 lines. If you're on a team 50 deep good luck. It's like paying for polo lessons and never getting on the horse.

[@Tanganseize]

you play polo and lacrosse? Me and you are like a carbon copy

[@Sk_clips-fi6lt]

A goil work out

[@Gabe_gonzo]

Everyone is sleeping on the MCLA

[@swiftsfather3488]

I’m a 7th grader but for the future how do I get my self out there

[@gradydipeso6442]

Have better stick skills than others, practice a ton. Get film in high school and put it out there for people to see.

[@Justaguywatchingvideos1]

Keep your grades in Highschool up! It will open up almost any school. You’ll find more academic scholarships then you will on the field at any level unless your a top 100 player. Stick skills, game IQ and the weight room will Separate you on the field and make college transition easier.

[@mikedoyle4766]

Ik a lot of schools look to get you to a certain amount of scholarship total between lacrosse and school so if you ha e good grades the coach won’t have to give you as much of his athletic money andwill be more likely to use a spot on u

[@voodoo7008]

Football is king in the south, but I always thought lacrosse was pretty bad ass.

[@ochomigos]

There’s skill across all 3 divisions. Not much difference. The biggest difference I witnessed first hand is size. There’s D2 schools that match up with D1 schools but are just physically overwhelmed. Same for D3 and D2. And even inter division. Having depth matters as well. I went to a d2 school and we would score 13 goals in the first quarter and just run in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th string lol. While the other team would have like 25 players total and exhausted.

[@jeffholt3841]

Top D3 schools are better than any Top D2. D2 are mainly southern universities.

[@harveyevans644]

Ha Ha, I live in Salisbury, and played a couple of months of college lacrosse in the late 70's. No spring break was the killer for me. Back then getting ready for the season was going "Jogging " for a couple of weeks before the season started. I feel sorry for the kids today. It is a huge time commitment. When you graduate from college. It is over, and you might of missed out on some other stuff, like working at the beach in the summer. Way to much parental involvement.

[@treypovanda5060]

D3 > D2 dont @ me

[@ClearGodLacrosse]

The best d2 players and teams are better, just a lot of bad d2 teams with one star player

[@Shiturd45]

D1, d2, d3, just play ball. You don’t get to pick where your opportunities are in life.

[@haydenrhoden2303]

All right let’s just ignore that d1 gamecocks have won the sec championship 2 times in a row but ok

[@vincentmcvay2271]

NAIA is better than D3 and scholarships

[@tommy2times75]

I didn't even know there was lacrosse in college. I live in an urban area, not a single HS has a lacrosse team. No minorities play lacrosse. It is a white sport.. .mostly upper middle class.

[@toddfrancis1890]

Everything you need to know?? Sorry, but this is incredibly misleading. First…scholarships. You state the MAXIMUM allowable scholarships for D1 and D2 schools. But you didn’t mention the most important part, not all schools are fully funded. There are many D1 schools with much less than half that number available. And D2 is even more that are not fully funded. I also believe you are shorting the D3 schools talent wise. The top level D3 schools, historically, are better than the mid level D1 schools. And they are also, historically, quite a bit better than the D2 schools. If you’re going to discuss recruiting, I suggest you do some more research before you mislead people even more. Especially about the amount of money available at each school.

[@goalmaster85]

Well put! So many schools do not fully fund their programs. Also, many D3 schools do very well against D1 schools. For example, Tufts beat up on Dartmouth in a scrimmage before the season.

[@barrysimmons2657]

First

[@ryanjimenezstevens2927]

If u read every comment then pin this

[@jeffholt3841]

D2 lacrosse is the lowest level of lacrosse.

[@jacksoned4773]

Mcla> d1

[@wacogliderman9396]

Div II is a joke and should not be referenced. The top 5 Div III programs could easily hang with Div I

[@s_all1648]

I got Salisbury over some top 20-10 D1 teams. Just seeing Cross Ferrara play while I went on some recruiting trips for their swim team was crazy and he’s definitely an attackman that would hang with some top D1 programs

[@jeffholt3841]

I agree, D2 is a joke...

[@barrysimmons2657]

First