Five city student-athletes will play sports at Division One schools next year.

The sixth nearly was Free State High’s Justin Howell.

Considering most student-athletes would jump at the chance to play D-I sports, it’s a bit surprising that Howell, a goalkeeper for the Firebirds, will sign with D-II Tampa University today and not join the five others who already have committed.

Then again, soccer is unlike the other sports when it comes to playing at the highest level.

To recap, Free State seniors Emily Wang will play tennis at Illinois, while Keith Wooden is set to hoop at Arizona State. Home-schooled tennis player Caitlin Collins inked with North Carolina. Lawrence High’s Ryan Elwell hasn’t played his senior season of tennis yet, but he has orally committed to Iowa, while Brandon McAnderson signed Wednesday to play football for Kansas University.

And that’s not counting LHS senior Brian Seymour, who will be a preferred walk-on for KU’s football team.

Howell is one of the midwest’s top keepers, and has been the backbone of the Free State soccer team the last three years. The Firebirds are 32-18-4 in that span, including three trips to the state playoffs. He’s quick on his feet, has excellent reflexes and, to be honest, has the right mix of cockiness and confidence to play with the best athletes around.

So why didn’t he make the jump to Division I?

Two things: money and playing time.

“A lot of the D-I schools are so competitive you might have to sit a couple of years. With some of the D-II schools, you usually have a chance to play right away,” Howell said.

“And they gave me a little bit more money. The D-I schools I was looking at were gonna give me less.”

There’s more scholarship money — no LeBron James stuff going on here — available through Division II schools. And when you’re talking tens of thousands of dollars for college, money matters.

“Soccer’s one of the unique sports, where unless it’s basketball or football, the opportunities really aren’t there,” FSHS coach Jason Pendleton said.

“Ultimately, looking at just raw financial data, it’s just as good to go D-II.”

The 201 D-I schools that offer soccer have 12 scholarships available. Total. That means to fill a 30-man roster, schools split up the scholarships, often packaging them with academic offers. It’s the same thing baseball and softball teams go through — without enough scholarships available, there’s only so much money to go around.

Division II schools don’t have that limitation, so they can usually offer more scholarship money. Todd Trahan, a 2000 FSHS grad who now plays at South Carolina-Spartanburg, discovered that when he was looking at schools. Howell said Tampa could offer more financial aid than D-I schools like Coastal Carolina or Tulsa.

Plus, the caliber of play is pretty fair.

Tampa was the D-II champ in 2001, and was among the top 20 teams last season. Truth be told, with the scholarship limitations and the caliber of players in college soccer, the competition level isn’t much different.

“If you’re one of the top 20 teams in D-II, you’re probably one of the top 40 teams overall,” Pendleton said.

Still, the D-I allure was there.

“I did have the option,” Howell said. “But the coaches told me if you’re good, you’re gonna get noticed no matter what level you’re playing.”

Without Howell, the city probably won’t match its recent high of eight Division I athletes in one year. LHS and FSHS each had four in 2000.

But there’s still a couple of D-I caliber athletes out there.

Free State’s Linsey Morningstar could catch on with a smaller school’s volleyball team and Lawrence’s Dylan McClain could run for a number of D-I schools.

Either could be Lawrence’s sixth D-I athlete, and they certainly won’t be the last.