The race to court top prospects is more cutthroat than a Taylor Swift Ticketmaster queue, and a program’s very future can hinge on its incoming freshman class.

There are 438 DIII schools nationwide, and although it’s rare for DIII athletes to go pro, it’s certainly not unheard of, with recent grads doing so from fútbol to football.

Group of Five, mid-majors…whatever you call them, these smaller DI schools are rapidly catching up to their Power Five (er, Four?) competitors.

About 14K athletes compete at the NCAA’s 313 DII schools, with top stars making the big leagues (particularly the NBA and NFL) — though that’s becoming rarer: With the transfer portal, it’s easier than ever for DII’s best to jump to a DI school.

In general, the most elite competition and the deepest pockets can be found at DI schools, scaling down through DII and DIII. But the biggest difference lies in the DII and DIII divide: Unlike in DI and DII, DIII athletes aren’t eligible for athletic scholarships. That means they’re playing purely out of love of the game (and possibly NIL money, of course).

In an exclusive interview with The GIST, UChicago’s Rachael Hewson Grotts, who earned her M.S. in Post-Professional Athletic Training at a DI school before her current DIII stint, spoke about how a school’s resources directly affect players’ lives.

Not to sound like a broken record, but NIL regulations (or the lack thereof) created a whole host of new challenges for athletic departments, and keeping up can feel like a never-ending game of whack-a-mole.

But it’s not just the head coach (HC) leading these squads — for many teams, there’s a whole crew supporting the skipper, and graduate assistants do most of the grunt work.

Welcome to another edition of summer school Q&A!

Today, we’re exploring college sports’ invisible infrastructure: athletic departments (ADs).

On Wednesday, three current and former Butler University women’s soccer players filed lawsuits against the team’s former athletic trainer, Michael Howell, alleging years of sexual assault and harassment.

We’re going global, digging into the state of college sports worldwide.