Early NCAA Division III Recruiting Report

Early NCAA Division III Recruiting Report

It’s still a little early to have the all the final returns in when it comes to NCAA Division III hockey recruiting, but most of the information is available, and it’s always fun to take a look at where this year’s crop of freshmen is coming from. It’s also interesting to see which teams are bringing in the most players and to compare that with their rosters from last year to see which programs might be over recruiting. You can also compare those numbers to the previous year to see if bringing in large numbers is a normal practice for a particular program and also to determine how many players they might be looking for next year if you are currently playing juniors and aging out or might be looking to move on to college after the upcoming season.

This is the type of homework you should be doing if you are hoping to play NCAA hockey in the near future, but it’s also important to look at similar information at the junior level if you are an 18U player hoping to make the move to juniors next season. You can use the college information when doing homework on junior programs to find out which teams and leagues are sending players on to which NCAA schools on a regular basis. When researching junior teams, it’s also a good idea to find out how many age-outs they have at your preferred position and also to see if any of their younger players have decided to move on to college or been drafted by leagues at higher levels.

Remember that the key to this process is to maximize your odds of playing at the level to which you aspire, so the more information you can arm yourself with the more likely you will be to make the most-informed decision that you possibly can.

Keep in mind that this is still preliminary information and that nothing is final until bills are paid, a roster is posted on a team’s website and team is on the ice ready to play. The number of players produced by each junior league, as well as the prep and high schools, is likely to go up somewhat thanks to last-minute commitments that have not been reported and players who change their minds or simply decide not to attend a school. This year, given the COVID situation, it seems likely that some players will decide to wait a year or a semester before matriculating as well.

Overall numbers for incoming freshmen appear to be a little bit lower than usual, which might be because of the uncertainty we all are currently living with. How many European players will be coming to the United States this year also is very much up in the air.

All recruiting information was taken from NeutralZone.net.

NCAA Division III Programs with the Most Commitments

SUNY Oswego – 13

19-20 Roster Size: 26
19-20 Seniors: 13
19-20 Freshmen: 1

Elmira – 12

19-20 Roster Size: 26
19-20 Seniors: 10
19-20 Freshmen: 7

Aurora – 11

19-20 Roster Size: 29
19-20 Seniors: 2
19-20 Freshmen: 7

Tufts – 11

19-20 Roster Size: 27
19-20 Seniors: 7
19-20 Freshmen: 2

SUNY Morrisville – 10

19-20 Roster Size: 26
19-20 Seniors: 6
19-20 Freshmen: 9

SUNY Fredonia – 10

19-20 Roster Size: 22
19-20 Seniors: 5
19-20 Freshmen: 6

Endicott – 9

19-20 Roster Size: 27
19-20 Seniors: 4
19-20 Freshmen: 16

SUNY Plattsburg – 9

19-20 Roster Size: 25
19-20 Seniors: 3
19-20 Freshmen: 11

Williams – 9

19-20 Roster Size: 26
19-20 Seniors: 4
19-20 Freshmen: 5

Bowdoin – 9

19-20 Roster Size: 30
19-20 Seniors: 8
19-20 Freshmen: 7

Stevenson – 9

19-20 Roster Size: 26
19-20 Seniors: 13
19-20 Freshmen: 3

Western New England – 9

19-20 Roster Size: 28
19-20 Seniors: 8
19-20 Freshmen: 7

Lebanon Valley – 9

19-20 Roster Size: 28
19-20 Seniors: 4
19-20 Freshmen: 9

League Commitments

EHL – 92

NAHL – 75

NCDC – 64

USPHL Premier – 42

New England Prep – 39

NA3HL – 34

OJHL – 29

CCHL – 27

MJHL – 13

SJHL – 6

AJHL – 6

BCHL – 5

USHL – 3

SMHL – 2

NOJHL – 2

Mass. H.S. – 2

N.J. H.S. – 1

Mich. H.S. – 1

GOJHL – 1

NSMMHL – 1