The Trials of Underfunded Athletes
The University of Dallas is home to an excellent staff of dedicated coaches for our various NCAA Division III programs. The Athletics Department is an integral part of the UDallas community, and one coach opened up to The Cor Chronicle on some of the struggles and highlights he’s had as a Division III coach.
Basketball Head Coach Matt Grahn has been the head coach of the Crusaders Men’s Basketball team since the 2021-22 season and has faced many trials during his stint in the position. Grahn was previously the Assistant coach at NCAA Division I McNeese State and said that “the biggest difference between D1 and D3 is the money.”
According to the official NCAA website, the NCAA only allots 3.18% of revenue to Division III, as opposed to the roughly 60% received by Division I schools. On top of this the NCAA has strict rules against athletic-based scholarships for Division III Athletes, so athletes have no financial incentives to play hard.
Grahn said that “with more money comes resources for assistant coaching staff, ancillary staff, travel, recruiting, facilities, athletic development physically, mentally, emotionally, and academically.” Grahn is forced to work around the limited budget to try and deliver “the same experience” to his Division III athletes as he did for his Division I team.
Despite the financial struggle, Grahn still pushes the team to be the best they can be. Grahn takes inspiration from former Division III football coach Frosty Westering’s book, “Make the Big Time Where You Are”, which he thinks should be, “required reading for any coach.”
Grahn told The Cor Chronicle that he looks at the challenges of the limited resources like the movie “Rocky IV (1985)”. The competition, like Ivan Drago has “every advantage”, in things like “equipment” or “technology.” Grahn said that “The University of Dallas Men’s Basketball team… we’re Rocky Balboa.” Like Rocky, the Crusaders are the scrappy underdogs. Grahn said that they may not have the fanciest facilities or the newest technology, but they are “going to make the big time where [they] are, with what [they’ve] got, and be better for it.”
Grahn has adopted John Wooden’s “2 rules of 3” for the team, “Don’t lie, cheat, steal. “No whining complaining, excuses.” On top of that, he added one more, “show up, work hard, and listen.” Grahn believes that, if the team can stick to these rules, despite their disadvantages, they can “make the big time right here.”
While the “big time where you are” mindset in the players is good, it’s only a piece in getting past the Division III hurdles. The coach needs to have a mindset geared toward excellence as well, and this is something Grahn strives for.
Similar to how he asks his players to compete despite the Division III hurdles, Grahn aims to coach the players the same way he coached Division I. Grahn said that the players “love the game and love to compete” just as much as a Division I player, “so to short them on the experience is not fair or right.” He has them spend “the same amount of time on the floor, in the weight room, watching film and all of the other things” a power 5 school would do.
Despite all the difficulties of Division III Coach Grahn highlighted a major advantage of being a Division III Coach. Grahn said that his job “is not solely focused on wins and losses.” Grahn believes his job more than anything is to use basketball as a means to develop “young men into contributing members of society, bringing value to others, being the best husbands and fathers.” Grahn believes that these values can “get lost in the ‘win-at-all-cost’ environment” of a Division I school. For Grahn, the most rewarding part of being a coach is not the wins but “the relationship with the players.”