Jeff Jacobs: Lacrosse at UConn makes sense, but don’t hold your breath
>>“It’s not a priority at this time from the standpoint that we’ve got a lot other things we’re dealing with,” UConn athletic director David Benedict said. “Obviously, whether it’s sports sponsorship or budget, we’ve got to get our situation in order before we start thinking about adding sports.
“I do think if you were ever going to consider adding a sport at UConn, that one is at the top of the list.”<<
>>“Listen, we can’t go back and play revisionist history here,” said Benedict, hired in 2016. “But why that sport wasn’t on the list and isn’t already sponsored at our place, I can’t tell you. This isn’t just something that’s becoming relevant right now. This is a sport we could have been dominating the last decade.”<<
>>“If someone came forward who wanted to support lacrosse financially, it certainly would increase the likelihood of it happening,” Benedict said. “That hasn’t happened. We really haven’t gone out and solicited people for it. It is something we’ll have on the list, but there are more pressing things we’ve got to address first.”>>
>>“It comes down to this,” Brameier said, “money and managing Title IX numbers.”
Truth. That’s why lacrosse is a club sport for men at UConn and the women are Division I.
“If you add a men’s sport, you have to have something to offset that,” Benedict said. “A lot of these men’s lacrosse teams have 40 athletes (average D-I roster: 44). That’s a big number. What would be the complementary sport to add for women? Or do you reduce a men’s sport? You’re not canceling soccer or baseball at our place.”<<
>>Few things would win over Fairfield County better than adding lacrosse. Evidently it will take some gold from the Gold Cost to make it happen. “Anybody interested,” Benedict said, “should look me up.”<<
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