Scholarships...

Many kids, parents, and high school/club coaches are unfamiliar with all of the levels of college basketball. I am going to breakdown all of the levels of college basketball and what scholarships they can offer and what ability is required to play at those levels.

​NCAA Division 1
​This is the top level of college basketball and only elite high school players can earn a scholarship to a D1 school. There are 351 institutions that compete at the D1 level with six of those located in the state of Utah. Each school has 13 "full-ride" scholarships to give out. These scholarships include; tuition, fees, books, housing, food, and usually some kind of stipend for spending money. At the D1 level there are no partial scholarships, it is a full-ride or nothing.
NCAA Division 2
​​This is second tier of college basketball that still requires a very high ability to  earn a scholarship. Every year, NCAA D2's beat D1 schools which means the top level of D2 is as good or better in some cases then the lower part of D1. 305 institutions compete at the D2 level with two located in the state of Utah.  The scholarship amount at he D2 level can drastically vary. Some schools are able to offer 10 "full-ride " scholarships and some can be as low as 2 or 3 scholarships. Typically at this level, coaches will break up scholarship money among the players based on ability and need. Coaches will try to package basketball money with Pell grants, academic scholarships and loans.
​NCAA Division 3
This is a much lower level of college basketball than NCAA D1 and NCAA D2. 451 institutions compete at this level with none located in the state of Utah. A majority of these schools are high academic and very expensive schools. NCAA D3 schools are unable to give any kind of athletic scholarship. with this being said, coaches try to get creative by putting together aid packages through academic scholarships, Pell grants, and loans. In my experience, most kids will  be paying between $10,000-$20,000 per year to attend a NCAA D3  school.
​NAIA D1
​The Top teams in NAIA can compete at a very high level with schools in NCAA D2 and even NCAA D1 but overall is a little weaker. 97 institutions compete at this level with none being from the state of Utah. The schools enrollment vary from some schools being at 300 students and some being at 8,000 students. Scholarships also vary with some schools being able to offer up to 11 scholarships. Much like NCAA D2, the coaches will break the scholarships up among the players. Some NAIA schools are funded much like an NCAA D2 and many of there players are on "full-rides" are close to it. Some schools are not funded very well and aren't able to give as much aid.
NAIA D2
​​This level is very comparable to NAIA D1, the only difference is NAIA D2 is very top heavy with the amount of quality teams. There are 133 institutions that compete at this level and most schools average around 2-3 thousand students but some can be much smaller. Scholarships vary but schools can offer up to 6 scholarships which the coach is in charge of breaking them up. Schools can get creative in giving aid packages out. At the NAIA D2 school I played at, our coach was able to package together basketball money, Pell grants, and academic scholarships. Most kids on my team payed very little or nothing for tuition and we were in charge of paying our room and board.
NJCAA D1
​This level is comprised of 221 2-year schools  across the country with three being from the state of Utah. The level of play for basketball is very high with many players transferring to NCAA D1 schools are two years. The scholarships at the NJCAA D1 can vary with some schools offering up to 15 "full-ride" scholarships down to a couple of scholarships. Many schools at this level are pretty well funded and can offer very good aid packages.
NJCAA D2
​Overall is a lower level of play than NJCAA D1 but some schools at this level can compete with any team in NJCAA D1. 118 2-year schools compete at this level with none being from Utah. Scholarships can vary at this level and the maximum scholarship given is tuition, fees and books. No money for room and board may be awarded
NJCAA D3
​​Is a lower level of play than NJCAA D1 and NJCAA D2 but in some cases schools at this level compete with them. 98 2-year schools compete at this level with none being from the state of Utah. NJCAA D3 schools can not offer any athletic aid but typically these schools are very affordable especially if you are awarded Pell grants or academic money.
NWAC
​This level of play is comparable with NJCAA D2. The NWAC is made up of 36 community colleges located in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. Schools from Oregon are able to offer full-tuition basketball scholarships and schools from Washington are able to offer up to 65% of tuition.
CCCAA
​​105 2-year schools compete in the California Community College league. the level of play drastically varies from top to bottom. The top teams are loaded with D1 level players and the bottom teams are very bad. CCCAA schools are not allowed to offer athletic scholarships. In my experience most out-of-state kids will pay between $10,000 to $15,000.

​I hope this helps and if you ever have any questions with recruiting please reach out!