The ASU Advantage
by Tom Nurre
In their efforts to enlist athletes skilled enough to contend in the Lone Star Conference, one of the most competitive conferences in NCAA Division II, ASU coaches hit the recruiting trail better armed than many of their rivals.
A beautifully landscaped campus, top-notch athletic facilities, an excellent academic reputation, affordable tuition, a supportive community and the backing of the administration are all points of pride used by the Rams and Rambelles coaching staffs to entice new recruits.
“For ASU sports in general, and I know in softball, if we can get players to campus on a recruiting visit, then we have a really good shot at signing them,” said head softball coach Travis Scott. “This campus will sell itself.”
“Of the guys who have come to campus on official visits,” said Fred Rike, men’s basketball coach, “we have signed a very high percentage. That really shows you that Angelo State is a great place because these guys are visiting other places, too.”
One of the biggest draws for the ASU campus is the athletic facilities, including the Junell Center/Stephens Arena, Multi-Purpose Sports Complex, Foster Field, Softball Complex and Soccer Field.
“The Junell Center is a big, big reason why I came here,” said basketball player Brandon Hohle. “You walk in that arena and it’s so nice. I went on trips to Kingsville, Sul Ross and A&M-Corpus Christi and none of them had a gym like the Junell Center. I would imagine it is one of the best facilities in D-II.”
“We are able to show off and treat our players like big-time athletes,” Scott said. “They feel like they are college athletes and not just at a big high school.”
It is also a plus that ASU athletes regularly get to show themselves off in front of sizable crowds at all
campus venues.
“A lot of these players come from places where the only people that cared about their team or them were their mom, dad and girlfriend, but that is not true here,” said head baseball coach Kevin Brooks. “There is some pressure that goes along with that, but it is good pressure. I know if we ever have a bad season, we will hear about it from the town. But, they are so supportive of us and it is nice that they care.”
But, recruiting is not all about athletics. There is also the academic side of the student athlete to consider. Division II schools in general and ASU, in particular, place a higher emphasis on academics to better prepare their athletes for what can be an uncertain future.
“I talk to some of my friends that go to larger schools and they can’t believe the academic requirements that we have to keep up with,” said football player Ian Ritchey. “I think you get a better education here. You get to know your instructors better and really get to develop those relationships.”
“I knew a Division II school,” said distance runner Paige Massingill, “was more what I wanted because I like the teacher-to-student relationship better. It seems that they know your name and know more about your personality than just your roll-call number. I feel like I’m getting a more in-depth education than I would at a Division I school.”
Often, though, a school’s academic standards mean more to parents than to prospective student athletes. Again, advantage ASU.
“Because there is more to life than athletics at Division II, the parents play a big role in the recruiting process,” said James Reid, ASU track and cross country coach. “They see the whole picture, so when you can go through all the programs we have and what kids can accomplish academically, the parents understand and
that plays a role when they are helping their kids make a decision on where to go.”
Since academic achievement and graduating its athletes are priorities at ASU, the university has taken great
pains to remain affordable since the vast majority of Division II athletes cannot count on a full athletic
scholarship to pay for college.
“I didn’t know if I was going to be able to afford school,” said football player Jordan Cortez, “but the prices at ASU are great and that really helped me out. I’m going to finish school only owing a little bit of money. I will be able to start my life up and do what I want without having to pay off school debts for the rest of my life.”
“I was planning on going to Tulsa,” said decathlete Ryan McWilliams, “and they actually offered me the best scholarship. But, it is a private school, so even though they were going to pay more money than ASU, I would have still ended up paying more.”
ASU also prides itself on turning out well-rounded students by providing them with quality social programs and
opportunities.
“I think I could have gone Division I, but I also think you get more of the college lifestyle in Division II,” said soccer player Lucy Thompson. “You are still playing a sport all the time, but there is more time for other things like hanging out with your friends and being able to commit a reasonable amount of time to your studies, which is important.”
Distance runner Brian Carroll agrees.
“People will say ‘Angelo State, that is just in the middle of nowhere,’” he said. “But, the school offers so many different events that you can participate in and so many organizations. From that standpoint, the school really has a lot to offer.”
It is also important to offer those social opportunities in a safe and stable atmosphere.
“Parents like it because the city of San Angelo is big enough to have things to do, but it is not what I would call a party town,” said Dale Carr, head football coach. “This school is not what I would call a party school. What parents really want to send their child to a party school?”
“I treat my program like a family,” said volleyball coach Chuck Waddington. “I care a lot about my players and want them to know that. I also want their parents to know that they are sending their child to someone that is going to look out for them.”
Volleyball player Cristina Doris has a sister who plays at the University of Texas and has seen first-hand how different the atmosphere is at a larger institution.
“I think we are a lot closer as a team here, being smaller,” Doris said. “The coaches worry about your
homework and are always asking how you are doing. At places like UT, they are so big, the coaches still care about their players, but it’s nothing like here.”
In short, ASU is certainly living up to the statement made by NCAA president Dr. Myles Brand that Division II is “the division that has it all together.”
“I think a balanced lifestyle as an athlete is an advantage we definitely have,” Waddington said. “At ASU, you really have the opportunity to be a normal student as well as a championship caliber athlete, while at the same time being able to enjoy the social side of college.”
Coach Scott agrees. “I think the competitive advantage of being able to win team titles, the class sizes, the one-on-one attention they can get with their professors, and the small-town environment compared to a big city environment attracts a lot of students, along with the quality academics.”
But, none of those stellar recruiting tools would even exist without the support of the ASU administration, which has a long history of keeping the university’s athletic programs in the proper perspective.
“Our administration has always supported what athletics brings to the university, but has also kept in mind that it is a part of the university, not the engine that drives the train,” said Athletic Director Kathleen Brasfield. “A lot of that has to do with Dr. Vincent, Dr. Hindman after him and now Dr. Rallo, who has continued those ideas.”
“ASU has always tried to fund us at a level where we can be competitive and where no sport has special
status,” she added. “As a coach, that is something I always appreciated, that there was a sense of fairness from the administration that gave us an advantage in terms of access and ability to recruit.”
From the university president all the way down to the water carriers, everyone involved in the ASU athletic program works to ensure that Rams and Rambelles student athletes have a competitive, educational, enjoyable and safe experience during their time on the ASU campus.
“There is not one moment that I’ve regretted coming here instead of anywhere else,” said softball player Rachel Walck. “This is our home.”
