Source: UConn lacrosse to DI in 2018

[auggie22]

Most of the good football players at my high school played lacrosse. We had two lacrosse All Americans my senior year, neither played football.

I always thought of lacrosse as a combination of tennis and football. High coordination and precision required, but also a rugged toughness.

Then again, most of the lacrosse players that I knew were raging stoners.

 

[BarkingDog]

 

[Kolumbo]

....so now that you have cleared the air regarding the merits of talent with lacrosse, what are your thoughts on (ice) hockey? I ask as you have said lacrosse is pretty simple to play and this is what (ice) hockey players play in the summer....I do realize that may have been said in jest...but the jest can be taken as hockey players don't need to do much to stay in shape, which lead me to question what you think you need for talent to play (ice) hockey?

I think hockey is the most difficult to play. the combination of speed, strength, and finesse is unmatched.
no one has to agree with my take on lacrosse. but some must admit that it just isn't that exciting to watch. although it may soon surpass college basketball with pretty much a whistle on every possession.

 

[StingLykOllie]

I took a Sport Law class at UConn a few years back (spring or fall 2013) and we had a guest speaker into the class. I believe it was Paul McCarthy, who is currently the Deputy Director of Athletics and has a background in law.

I posed the question about Lacrosse being added as a Division 1 sport in the near future and cited Title IX. He had told us that Title IX was not the main hurdle, it was more of a budgeting problem. He said it would cost over a million dollars to add a team when factoring in hiring a coach, allocating scholarships, transportation costs, equipment costs, practice facilities and playing fields.

With UConn athletics' current budget situation, it doesn't sound like something that will happen in 2o18 unless there is a significant donor involved.

 

[ZooCougar]

Most of the good football players at my high school played lacrosse. We had two lacrosse All Americans my senior year, neither played football.

I always thought of lacrosse as a combination of tennis and football. High coordination and precision required, but also a rugged toughness.

Then again, most of the lacrosse players that I knew were raging stoners.

When I played I thought it was a combination of basketball, soccer, hockey and a bit of football. Hockey because of the faceoffs, line substitutions and the way the field is layed out, basketball because of the set plays and the semi-regular scoring, soccer because of the running and the field size, although the middies were the only ones who routinely had to cover the whole field. When the ball was on the ground the hitting was football like.

We actually had some good luck recruiting some of our tall centers from the basketball team to play long stick. Similar defensive concepts and footwork. But to be a good middie or attack you needed to have the stick handling skills.

If Michael Jordan had played lacrosse, he would have been the best player that ever was and ever would be.

 

[ZooCougar]

I think hockey is the most difficult to play. the combination of speed, strength, and finesse is unmatched.
no one has to agree with my take on lacrosse. but some must admit that it just isn't that exciting to watch. although it may soon surpass college basketball with pretty much a whistle on every possession.

Hockey is definitely more difficult. Stick handling is hard enough as it is, being a good skater is even more difficult. Playing lacrosse is way more fun than watching, and if you've never played I can see why it might be hard to watch. It also has a huge number of quirky rules.

 

[ZooCougar]

Yeah, I think I am. I am quite sure in my prime I could outrun a few guys while carrying a ball in a stick. Now, if all those guys playing football and basketball grew up playing lacrosse, it might be a different story. I don't see too many Bo Jacksons out there but I am pretty sure he would level my ass.
Like I said, nothing against lacrosse. I just see too many small white guys running around with a stick so it seems speed is the key factor. I know a few guys who played D-1 and I know I was faster than they were. Seriously, other than a few guys who do a bunch of spinning in an attempt to get a deceptive shot off, the other guys are pretty much jogging around playing catch. Isn't lacrosse what hockey players play in the summer to keep in shape?

That's like saying that anybody can bounce a ball around on a court.

 

[ZooCougar]

I took a Sport Law class at UConn a few years back (spring or fall 2013) and we had a guest speaker into the class. I believe it was Paul McCarthy, who is currently the Deputy Director of Athletics and has a background in law.

I posed the question about Lacrosse being added as a Division 1 sport in the near future and cited Title IX. He had told us that Title IX was not the main hurdle, it was more of a budgeting problem. He said it would cost over a million dollars to add a team when factoring in hiring a coach, allocating scholarships, transportation costs, equipment costs, practice facilities and playing fields.

With UConn athletics' current budget situation, it doesn't sound like something that will happen in 2o18 unless there is a significant donor involved.

Say what you want about Warde, he seems to have a knack for finding donors. If what the OP is saying is correct then there probably is a donor involved.

 

[Stinger92860]

I took a Sport Law class at UConn a few years back (spring or fall 2013) and we had a guest speaker into the class. I believe it was Paul McCarthy, who is currently the Deputy Director of Athletics and has a background in law.

I posed the question about Lacrosse being added as a Division 1 sport in the near future and cited Title IX. He had told us that Title IX was not the main hurdle, it was more of a budgeting problem. He said it would cost over a million dollars to add a team when factoring in hiring a coach, allocating scholarships, transportation costs, equipment costs, practice facilities and playing fields.

With UConn athletics' current budget situation, it doesn't sound like something that will happen in 2o18 unless there is a significant donor involved.

Or an expectation of more conference revenue.

 

[CallMeBruce]

Hockey is definitely more difficult. Stick handling is hard enough as it is, being a good skater is even more difficult. Playing lacrosse is way more fun than watching, and if you've never played I can see why it might be hard to watch. It also has a huge number of quirky rules.

I think that lacrosse is a great spectator sport because of the rate of scoring. Teams generally score around 10-12 times/game, which is often enough to keep it interesting, but infrequent enough that it matters every time.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Say what you want about Warde, he seems to have a knack for finding donors. If what the OP is saying is correct then there probably is a donor involved.

Lacrosse is very big in Fairfield county where a lot of money lives also. Can easily see a hedge fund lacrosse lover making a donation to start a program. I think adding men's lax, while not a game changer, would make UConn even more attractive to prospective P5 conferences.

 

[ZooCougar]

Lacrosse is very big in Fairfield county where a lot of money lives also. Can easily see a hedge fund lacrosse lover making a donation to start a program. I think adding men's lax, while not a game changer, would make UConn even more attractive to prospective P5 conferences.

Yeah, maybe something like we saw with the soccer donation. But it's a great sport to have on campus. And a lot of fun to watch on a nice spring day.

 

[StingLykOllie]

Nothing better than a reductionist explanation of a sport from someone who even admits to not knowing what he's talking about. If you tried to take UConn's MCLA-level lacrosse team (which is a strong team at the MCLA level) and have them play a D-1 schedule, they'd get annihilated. They simply don't have the athletes to compete.

We had two kids on our team that could have definitely played a significant role on d1 teams, maybe three or four others that could have made a D1 roster.

 

[CL82]

I took a Sport Law class at UConn a few years back (spring or fall 2013) and we had a guest speaker into the class. I believe it was Paul McCarthy, who is currently the Deputy Director of Athletics and has a background in law.

I posed the question about Lacrosse being added as a Division 1 sport in the near future and cited Title IX. He had told us that Title IX was not the main hurdle, it was more of a budgeting problem. He said it would cost over a million dollars to add a team when factoring in hiring a coach, allocating scholarships, transportation costs, equipment costs, practice facilities and playing fields.

With UConn athletics' current budget situation, it doesn't sound like something that will happen in 2o18 unless there is a significant donor involved.

...or a conference affiliation change?

 

[CallMeBruce]

We had two kids on our team that could have definitely played a significant role on d1 teams, maybe three or four others that could have made a D1 roster.

That's always been the case. When I was there, we had one or two kids who could have hacked it as D1 guys, too, but nowhere near enough to actually compete at that level.

 

[uconnell]

Did anyone watch 60minutes last night? They had a story on Mike Pressler, the Duke coach that was fired on the supposed scandal on the lacrosse team. He took Bryant College from D111 to D1. He was on the Wilton high team in the midst of their 20 state championship runs. Coach Whitten was a genius, once he retired they went downhill.

I was hoping once UConn was into lacrosse they would hire Pressler,but he is so grateful to Bryant that I doubt he would leave, as he has had many offers.

 

[jostar1]

Have no idea if this is reliable:


UConn to join BE in Lax 2018
First year of play will be 2018 in league. Will recruit in 2017 and play the club level as basically a RS year for some recruits. Former Duke coach who did great things at Bryant is rumored to be in play. Supposedly UConn has the support of Darien, Fairfield Prep and other important state programs to build something special. The program will use the next soccer stadium being built since the seasons work out field wise. There is also talk of a second indoor turf field being built in the athletic complex and that one will be Lax, Soccer and other sports leaving the Burton to football only. More info to come from my sources soon.

http://csnbbs.com/thread-734723.html

 

[UConnMike04]

Only negative about this is if we are set to join the Big East in lacrosse in 2018 that means as of now we have no plans on joining the ACC/B1G before then since both leagues support lacrosse.

Unless it's a temporary "in name only" move until we get an invite and never actually play a game in the BE.

 

[jostar1]

Here is the 60 minutes video about Pressler:

http://thehayride.com/2015/04/60-minutes-revisits-the-duke-lacrosse-case/

 

[Penfield]

The 60 min segment seemed to make it pretty clear that Pressler had no intentions of leaving Bryant. If he wouldn't leave for higher profile jobs why would he leave for UConn?

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Have no idea if this is reliable:


UConn to join BE in Lax 2018
First year of play will be 2018 in league. Will recruit in 2017 and play the club level as basically a RS year for some recruits. Former Duke coach who did great things at Bryant is rumored to be in play. Supposedly UConn has the support of Darien, Fairfield Prep and other important state programs to build something special. The program will use the next soccer stadium being built since the seasons work out field wise. There is also talk of a second indoor turf field being built in the athletic complex and that one will be Lax, Soccer and other sports leaving the Burton to football only. More info to come from my sources soon.

http://csnbbs.com/thread-734723.html

To good pieces of news there. One, sounds like the new soccer(/lax) stadium is a go. Just wondering where it will be - next door to the current field as per the last master campus planning or over by the softball field where the old field hockey field was as per the prior campus plan rendering. Second, it would be nice for Fairfield County programs to support a UConn sport for once, unlike the crap given to the football program.

 

[CallMeBruce]

The 60 min segment seemed to make it pretty clear that Pressler had no intentions of leaving Bryant. If he wouldn't leave for higher profile jobs why would he leave for UConn?

He is a local; it's possible that would appeal to him enough to make a move.

 

[Fairfield_1st]

He is a local; it's possible that would appeal to him enough to make a move.

I had to look it up since I never heard about his local connection. Went to high school in Wilton, right in the area we'd want to recruit (heavily). I sure hope the LAX stories are true and would love Pressler making the move. On the flip side, I know nothing about lacrosse and he's the only coach I know by name, so of course he's my favorite (and only) choice.

 

[CallMeBruce]

I had to look it up since I never heard about his local connection. Went to high school in Wilton, right in the area we'd want to recruit (heavily). I sure hope the LAX stories are true and would love Pressler making the move. On the flip side, I know nothing about lacrosse and he's the only coach I know by name, so of course he's my favorite (and only) choice.

A top DIII coach might be an option, too. I could see Mike Daly from Tufts or WNEC's John Klepacki being pretty good targets.

 

[ZooCougar]

To good pieces of news there. One, sounds like the new soccer(/lax) stadium is a go. Just wondering where it will be - next door to the current field as per the last master campus planning or over by the softball field where the old field hockey field was as per the prior campus plan rendering. Second, it would be nice for Fairfield County programs to support a UConn sport for once, unlike the crap given to the football program.

That's a bunch of detailed info. If UConn is making a move to a P5 in the next 5 years, UConn Lax in the Big East could mean the Big 12 is in the suitor in play. If it were ACC or B1G they wouldn't be talking to the Big East. But this lacrosse info could be all bogus.

For one Pressler said he wants to stay put. NCAA Soccer is likely becoming a fall/spring sport if they were using the new stadium then they would share the field.

The good news is that Lacrosse is in play, so the athletic dept is still growing. This means to me that they feel comfortable about the conference situation. If things were as dire as our resident chicken little seems to be bleating, we would be contracting and not expanding.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

That's a bunch of detailed info. If UConn is making a move to a P5 in the next 5 years, UConn Lax in the Big East could mean the Big 12 is in the suitor in play. If it were ACC or B1G they wouldn't be talking to the Big East. But this lacrosse info could be all bogus.

For one Pressler said he wants to stay put. NCAA Soccer is likely becoming a fall/spring sport if they were using the new stadium then they would share the field.

The good news is that Lacrosse is in play, so the athletic dept is still growing. This means to me that they feel comfortable about the conference situation. If things were as dire as our resident chicken little seems to be bleating, we would be contracting and not expanding.

I think your first and last comments are important. Lacrosse would need a home, so the New Big East is logical at this moment in time. Can also be used as a selling point to both the ACC and B1G as both seem to place significant value on the sport that UConn, even in these 'dark times' is still investing in its athletic (and academic) programs and intents to be a P5 sports program in action if not name no matter what.

As for the new Soccer stadium, if its done using the new turf, it can handle 4 teams (soccer men/women, lacrosse men/women) as their primary game field. What they would need of soccer goes full-year is extra practice fields along with internal office, training, etc, space. That I think will be the challenge and could also explain the proposed addition to Burton in the master plan.

Of course, I am not sure how or old friends in Syracuse will take UConn moving to D1. They could take it as a great opportunity to forma new rival (year right), or a direct threat as half of their 50 man roster comes from areas that are closer to UConn than Syracuse - Mass, CT, Long Island, Hudson Valley NY, New Jersey.

 

[junglehusky]

Could be that the B1G or ACC wants UConn for all sports including lax but not making the move until 4-6+ years in the future. By having the lax program play a few years in the BE there would be time to get the program up to speed and full scholarships by the time Delany or Swofford (is he still the commish?) comes calling. I don't see why UConn would add men's lax if the B12 is the one calling.

 

[1husky]

That's a bunch of detailed info. If UConn is making a move to a P5 in the next 5 years, UConn Lax in the Big East could mean the Big 12 is in the suitor in play. If it were ACC or B1G they wouldn't be talking to the Big East.

I'm not following this logic. All of the moves we've seen seem to be to appeal to a P5. If the B12 doesn't offer LAX but are the suitor in play, why would we bother adding LAX? Joining the Big East is not the goal. However, if we were adding LAX and needed to get it off the ground to appeal to B1G/ACC we would need a place to park it for a few years before making a jump to B1G/ACC. Would be similar to Hockey East for the near term while awaiting a move to B1G?

 

[TRest]

Have no idea if this is reliable:


UConn to join BE in Lax 2018
First year of play will be 2018 in league. Will recruit in 2017 and play the club level as basically a RS year for some recruits. Former Duke coach who did great things at Bryant is rumored to be in play. Supposedly UConn has the support of Darien, Fairfield Prep and other important state programs to build something special. The program will use the next soccer stadium being built since the seasons work out field wise. There is also talk of a second indoor turf field being built in the athletic complex and that one will be Lax, Soccer and other sports leaving the Burton to football only. More info to come from my sources soon.

http://csnbbs.com/thread-734723.html

Posters on that board basically mine this board for information and then try to pass it off as "sources" over there.

 

[ZooCougar]

I'm not following this logic. All of the moves we've seen seem to be to appeal to a P5. If the B12 doesn't offer LAX but are the suitor in play, why would we bother adding LAX? Joining the Big East is not the goal. However, if we were adding LAX and needed to get it off the ground to appeal to B1G/ACC we would need a place to park it for a few years before making a jump to B1G/ACC. Would be similar to Hockey East for the near term while awaiting a move to B1G?

Maybe we're adding Lax because we want to in an effort to round out the athletic program and make us more like our aspirational peers.

Here's my logic restated.

1. I believe Skiblets, but I don't think anything could be imminent. It could also collapse like it did for us last time.

2. We're adding Lacrosse, but that's not imminent and it still needs a home.

3. If 1 is correct and it means a P5 membership in some capacity and we're talking to the Big East about Lacrosse then 1 probably doesn't involve the B1G or the ACC since they both sponsor lacrosse.