Two former Duluth East players commit to DIII programs

JerseyDave · Post by **JerseyDave** » Fri Jul 27, 2018 6:59 am

Forward Nick Altmann has committed to play NCAA Division III hockey for Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts.
http://nahl.com/news/story.cfm?id=24301

"Wilderness Forward Altmann Commits to Williams College"
https://www.fox21online.com/2018/07/25/ ... s-college/

"Minnesota Wilderness F, Ex-Duluth East Standout Nick Altmann to Play for Williams College"
https://www.wdio.com/sports/nahl-nick-a ... e/5002190/
----------------------

Defenseman Alex Spencer has committed to play NCAA Division III hockey at the University of Wisconsin-Superior.
http://nahl.com/news/story.cfm?id=24300

"Duluth Native Alex Spencer Commits to Yellowjackets"
https://www.fox21online.com/2018/07/23/ ... owjackets/

"Wilderness D-Man, Ex-Duluth East Greyhound Alex Spencer Commits to UW-Superior Hockey"
https://www.wdio.com/sports/nahl-wilder ... r/5000826/

O-townClown · Post by **O-townClown** » Fri Jul 27, 2018 10:27 am

That's awesome! NESCAC schools are incredible! Good for him.

northwoods oldtimer · Fri Jul 27, 2018 12:08 pm

O-townClown wrote:That's awesome! NESCAC schools are incredible! Good for him.

On top of that east coast really supports the D3 hockey from a fan base and business community level. Would highly recommend any Minnesota kid to go out east for the hockey experience

MNHockeyFan · Post by **MNHockeyFan** » Fri Jul 27, 2018 12:36 pm

northwoods oldtimer wrote:
O-townClown wrote:That's awesome! NESCAC schools are incredible! Good for him.
On top of that east coast really supports the D3 hockey from a fan base and business community level. Would highly recommend any Minnesota kid to go out east for the hockey experience

And in most cases the education ain't too bad either.

kniven · Post by **kniven** » Fri Jul 27, 2018 2:15 pm

O-townClown wrote:That's awesome! NESCAC schools are incredible! Good for him.

Indeed

. Good things for these two former 218 high school hockey players!!!

Stang5280 · Post by **Stang5280** » Fri Jul 27, 2018 4:19 pm

MNHockeyFan wrote:
northwoods oldtimer wrote:
O-townClown wrote:That's awesome! NESCAC schools are incredible! Good for him.
On top of that east coast really supports the D3 hockey from a fan base and business community level. Would highly recommend any Minnesota kid to go out east for the hockey experience
And in most cases the education ain't too bad either.

Assuming you can afford the $70,000 per year price tag! (Though they do offer excellent financial aid.) Williams offers one of the best combinations of academics and athletics in the nation, and the campus is gorgeous. Altman must be a very bright young man, and has a great future ahead of him.

Post by **karl(east)** » Fri Jul 27, 2018 4:40 pm

Great news for Nick, and I'm not surprised to see him follow in a long tradition of East kids heading East, if only for a little while. I don't think I've ever heard Randolph praise a player's leadership as much as he did with Nick and his co-captain Brian Bunten from that run they went on in the 2015 playoffs. Should be a great fit. Good to see Spencer continue his hockey career as well.

zamboniexhaustinhaler · Sun Jul 29, 2018 9:15 pm

Congrats to them.

But the "commit" statement here and elsewhere for D3 hockey is interesting.

northwoods oldtimer · Post by **northwoods oldtimer** » Mon Jul 30, 2018 7:27 am

Stang5280 wrote:
MNHockeyFan wrote:
northwoods oldtimer wrote: On top of that east coast really supports the D3 hockey from a fan base and business community level. Would highly recommend any Minnesota kid to go out east for the hockey experience
And in most cases the education ain't too bad either.
Assuming you can afford the $70,000 per year price tag! (Though they do offer excellent financial aid.) Williams offers one of the best combinations of academics and athletics in the nation, and the campus is gorgeous. Altman must be a very bright young man, and has a great future ahead of him.

Those MIAC schools are not cheap either and large percent of Minnesota kids fill rosters in the MIAC.

Stang5280 · Post by **Stang5280** » Mon Jul 30, 2018 2:57 pm

zamboniexhaustinhaler wrote:Congrats to them.

But the "commit" statement here and elsewhere for D3 hockey is interesting.

Yeah, that term is thrown around liberally when it comes to D3 athletics, even though there is no NLI or scholarship involved. Even the junior leagues seem to have a lack of understanding as to how the recruiting process works for that level of college hockey. I guess you could say that Altman is committing to the admissions process at Williams (which is how the NESCAC frames recruiting), but that isn’t really how the announcement reads.

zamboniexhaustinhaler · Mon Jul 30, 2018 3:12 pm

Stang5280 wrote:
zamboniexhaustinhaler wrote:Congrats to them.

But the "commit" statement here and elsewhere for D3 hockey is interesting.
Yeah, that term is thrown around liberally when it comes to D3 athletics, even though there is no NLI or scholarship involved. Even the junior leagues seem to have a lack of understanding as to how the recruiting process works for that level of college hockey. I guess you could say that Altman is committing to the admissions process at Williams (which is how the NESCAC frames recruiting), but that isn’t really how the announcement reads.

Yep. The junior leagues use them to pad their players advancing to college hockey stats/marketing.

I think they understand *exactly* what they're doing

yesiplayedhockey · Post by **yesiplayedhockey** » Tue Jul 31, 2018 8:00 am

Whenever I hear (or see) the words "Division III" and "commitment" in the same sentence I laugh my @ss off.

Just let it go dad...let it go

BP · Post by BP » Tue Jul 31, 2018 9:32 am

yesiplayedhockey wrote:Whenever I hear (or see) the words "Division III" and "commitment" in the same sentence I laugh my @ss off.

Just let it go dad...let it go

What's even better is there are schools that have kids part of their National Signing Day that are D3 players in various sports. Schools were getting so much pressure from parents that their kids be included - they gave in. So, AD's put together a similar thing for them to sign like the D1 and D2 athletes. This is all sports - not hockey. What are they signing - their financial aid forms or dorm room assignments?

Stang5280 · Post by **Stang5280** » Tue Jul 31, 2018 11:22 am

BP wrote:
yesiplayedhockey wrote:Whenever I hear (or see) the words "Division III" and "commitment" in the same sentence I laugh my @ss off.

Just let it go dad...let it go
What's even better is there are schools that have kids part of their National Signing Day that are D3 players in various sports. Schools were getting so much pressure from parents that their kids be included - they gave in. So, AD's put together a similar thing for them to sign like the D1 and D2 athletes. This is all sports - not hockey. What are they signing - their financial aid forms or dorm room assignments?

Apparently there was enough complaining from parents, athletes, and the schools that the NCAA instituted a Division III Celebratory Signing Form For these types of ceremonies. It is obviously a non-binding document, and the school cannot publicize anything until a tuition deposit is received. And I saw some article stating that prospective D3 athletes use to go so far as to say blank sheet of paper at the signing ceremonies! [Shaking my fist and yelling at millennials to get off my lawn]

That guy for that thing · Wed Aug 01, 2018 8:26 am

Stang5280 wrote:
BP wrote:
yesiplayedhockey wrote:Whenever I hear (or see) the words "Division III" and "commitment" in the same sentence I laugh my @ss off.

Just let it go dad...let it go
What's even better is there are schools that have kids part of their National Signing Day that are D3 players in various sports. Schools were getting so much pressure from parents that their kids be included - they gave in. So, AD's put together a similar thing for them to sign like the D1 and D2 athletes. This is all sports - not hockey. What are they signing - their financial aid forms or dorm room assignments?
Apparently there was enough complaining from parents, athletes, and the schools that the NCAA instituted a Division III Celebratory Signing Form For these types of ceremonies. It is obviously a non-binding document, and the school cannot publicize anything until a tuition deposit is received. And I saw some article stating that prospective D3 athletes use to go so far as to say blank sheet of paper at the signing ceremonies! [Shaking my fist and yelling at millennials to get off my lawn]

I will put a lot of this on the parents, but I will also put a bit of it on the kids. Making a verbal/written commitment to a school is part of the high school/junior dream for a lot of these kids. Maybe they had initially looked the U or the Sioux as the big commitments but when it comes down to it, keeping their dream alive and fulfilling whatever parts of it they can is still something they strive for.

SCBlueLiner · Post by **SCBlueLiner** » Wed Aug 01, 2018 9:52 am

D3 athletics, some of you may laugh at it. Here is how D3 schools that have money really work. I graduated HS and was recruited for football by several D3 schools. The financial package they all put together were chock full of every type of scholarship name you could think of other than an "athletic" scholarship. I went to school for free on an "honor" scholarship and played D3 football.

Now, the other part of this story was that I hated being at such a small school. Transferred out and actually went up to D2, sat out a year, walked on and earned a scholarship at a state school. A larger state school was a much better fit for me and everything worked out fine.

Point is, there is all sorts of "scholarship" money available to D3 athletes, they just aren't called "athletic" scholarships but the financial package ends up being free or cheap school, which is all that really matters.

green4 · Post by **green4** » Wed Aug 01, 2018 10:16 am

SCBlueLiner wrote:D3 athletics, some of you may laugh at it. Here is how D3 schools that have money really work. I graduated HS and was recruited for football by several D3 schools. The financial package they all put together were chock full of every type of scholarship name you could think of other than an "athletic" scholarship. I went to school for free on an "honor" scholarship and played D3 football.

Now, the other part of this story was that I hated being at such a small school. Transferred out and actually went up to D2, sat out a year, walked on and earned a scholarship at a state school. A larger state school was a much better fit for me and everything worked out fine.

Point is, there is all sorts of "scholarship" money available to D3 athletes, they just aren't called "athletic" scholarships but the financial package ends up being free or cheap school, which is all that really matters.

This is what happened for my friend as well, he got an academic scholarship despite being a pretty average student. It was pretty well understood it was for football.

elliott70 · Post by **elliott70** » Wed Aug 01, 2018 10:24 am

Also, Division 2 for the most part does not exist for hockey.

D3 is the next step 'down' for hockey guys.

'Commit' 'signing a NLOI'
if a kid is going to a D3 school let him enjoy the same announcing as a D1 kid.

yesiplayedhockey · Post by **yesiplayedhockey** » Wed Aug 01, 2018 10:48 am

I hear you Elliott but this world has gone tweet happy on just about anything hockey related where someone needs their back slapped, a AAA team needs to promote their brand or a dad needs to self promote their kid.

We are not to far from the following tweets

Team: We'd like to congratulate Billy Johnson for making the 2nd unit penalty kill

and then Billy retweets back with the comments "thanks team, I'd like to thank my family, friends and coaches who have helped me along the way

or

Mikey Peterson tweets: I am proud to announce I will be attending Lakeville North High School on a state sponsored scholarship where I plan to play hockey and continue my education

elliott70 · Post by **elliott70** » Wed Aug 01, 2018 10:55 am

yesiplayedhockey wrote:I hear you Elliott but this world has gone tweet happy on just about anything hockey related where someone needs their back slapped, a AAA team needs to promote their brand or a dad needs to self promote their kid.

We are not to far from the following tweets

Team: We'd like to congratulate Billy Johnson for making the 2nd unit penalty kill

and then Billy retweets back with the comments "thanks team, I'd like to thank my family, friends and coaches who have helped me along the way

or

Mikey Peterson tweets: I am proud to announce I will be attending Lakeville North High School on a state sponsored scholarship where I plan to play hockey and continue my education

I know...
about the only tweets I care about are scores, and then pretty much final scores
'hockey and football'
might have to add soccer as my grandson is proving to be pretty good at it.

elliott70 · Post by **elliott70** » Wed Aug 01, 2018 10:56 am

I will leave it to JerseyDave to sort through it and give us the 'important' ones.

northwoods oldtimer · Wed Aug 01, 2018 11:05 am

yesiplayedhockey wrote:I hear you Elliott but this world has gone tweet happy on just about anything hockey related where someone needs their back slapped, a AAA team needs to promote their brand or a dad needs to self promote their kid.

We are not to far from the following tweets

Team: We'd like to congratulate Billy Johnson for making the 2nd unit penalty kill

and then Billy retweets back with the comments "thanks team, I'd like to thank my family, friends and coaches who have helped me along the way

or

Mikey Peterson tweets: I am proud to announce I will be attending Lakeville North High School on a state sponsored scholarship where I plan to play hockey and continue my education

You just figuring out that "social media" as all about self aggrandizement?

kniven · Post by **kniven** » Wed Aug 01, 2018 11:34 am

That guy for that thing wrote:
Stang5280 wrote:
BP wrote: What's even better is there are schools that have kids part of their National Signing Day that are D3 players in various sports. Schools were getting so much pressure from parents that their kids be included - they gave in. So, AD's put together a similar thing for them to sign like the D1 and D2 athletes. This is all sports - not hockey. What are they signing - their financial aid forms or dorm room assignments?
Apparently there was enough complaining from parents, athletes, and the schools that the NCAA instituted a Division III Celebratory Signing Form For these types of ceremonies. It is obviously a non-binding document, and the school cannot publicize anything until a tuition deposit is received. And I saw some article stating that prospective D3 athletes use to go so far as to say blank sheet of paper at the signing ceremonies! [Shaking my fist and yelling at millennials to get off my lawn]
I will put a lot of this on the parents, but I will also put a bit of it on the kids. Making a verbal/written commitment to a school is part of the high school/junior dream for a lot of these kids. Maybe they had initially looked the U or the Sioux as the big commitments but when it comes down to it, keeping their dream alive and fulfilling whatever parts of it they can is still something they strive for.

100% totally agree with you, Hinckley hockey guy.....

Stang5280 · Post by **Stang5280** » Wed Aug 01, 2018 12:46 pm

SCBlueLiner wrote:D3 athletics, some of you may laugh at it. Here is how D3 schools that have money really work. I graduated HS and was recruited for football by several D3 schools. The financial package they all put together were chock full of every type of scholarship name you could think of other than an "athletic" scholarship. I went to school for free on an "honor" scholarship and played D3 football.

Now, the other part of this story was that I hated being at such a small school. Transferred out and actually went up to D2, sat out a year, walked on and earned a scholarship at a state school. A larger state school was a much better fit for me and everything worked out fine.

Point is, there is all sorts of "scholarship" money available to D3 athletes, they just aren't called "athletic" scholarships but the financial package ends up being free or cheap school, which is all that really matters.

I hope it didn’t sound like I was denigrating D3 athletics in any way, as I played at that level myself, and believe that it is often a better fit for many young people. Heck, some of the better D3 teams are actually comparable in talent to the lower-tier D1 programs.

I know we are getting a bit far afield from high school hockey, but FYI, the NCAA has been cracking down on the type of aid packages you describe. Schools are not permitted to provide athletes with academic or need-based aid that is disproportionate from that offered to regular students. Though difficult to enforce, the Geneseo and Buffalo State hockey programs were sanctioned a few years back for doing this.

zamboniexhaustinhaler · Wed Aug 01, 2018 5:36 pm

It's just another version of the "everyone gets a trophy" scene with regards to parents, players, etc.

As said earlier with regards to junior teams, it's a simple albeit shady way to pad their marketing claims (We had xxx college commitments last year !" But not mentioning xx of those "commits" were d3).

Regarding $, maybe in d3 football financial games are played, but I've not seen it in d3 hockey.

Maybe someone else has.

School is putting a lot on the NCAA line for little or no return by breaking such rules at the d3 level.