It’s the spring signing period, which means that just about every day another high school athlete makes an announcement about what Division I school they will attend.

Tomorrow at Madison Square Garden, it’s Doron Lamb’s turn. The Laurelton, Queens native and former Bishop Loughlin standout has a final five of Arizona, Connecticut, Kentucky, Kansas and West Virginia, in no particular order.

The McDonald’s All-American is fortunate to be among the best players in the nation and has his pick of elite college programs. But what happens to the other players, the ones who aren’t on Lamb’s level, who don’t get to play on national television every week?

Unfortunately, too many athletes are hung up on playing Division I college sports. Part of that comes from an unrealistic and inflated sense of their value and it also comes from not having a basic knowledge of the recruiting process and the other college levels.

During the basketball season, I received an email inquiring about one player, if I thought he’d be a low Division I or a junior college player? That’s it. No mention of Division II or Division III.

Last Saturday, I covered the Big Apple Basketball Scholarship Games where 40 unsigned seniors were looking to earn a coveted college scholarship. They no doubt all started their high school careers with Division I aspirations. And yet, there they were at Baruch College showcasing their skills in front of coaches from Queens College, Adelphi University, St. Thomas Aquinas and others. John Calipari, Rick Pitino, heck even Steve Lavin were nowhere to be found.

It’s great to dream, but at some point reality has to set in. There’s just not enough Division I scholarships out there for every high school basketball player in New York. But there are many opportunities to play college athletics out there.

Brandon Rivera realized that. Sure the McClancy senior forward hoped to play at some Division I school, but he’ll get a great education and play college hoops at St. Lawrence University. At the end of the day, isn’t that what it is all about?

And if you’re good enough to go pro, which is the ultimate dream of every athlete, it doesn’t matter where you go to college. Bradd Wierzbicki was a skinny kid who went to Cathedral Prep and didn’t go the AAU route. He went to Division II Queens College, was among the leading scorers in the nation, earned his degree and is now playing professionally for the Leicester Riders in England.

Sure its not the NBA, but the sharpshooter from Maspeth, Queens is getting paid to play basketball. And he did it without having to play in the Big East or ACC — or even the NEC or MAAC.

The moral of this story is that while Division I is the highest level of college sports you can play, it’s not the only level. Explore every opportunity, keep all options open. Visit as many schools as possible, read up on teams. There are plenty of former all-league players who are filling out Division II and III rosters throughout the United States.