Source: UConn lacrosse to DI in 2018

[Kolumbo]

UCONN was in the Big East but as was stated, it was the doormat. And I wouldn't say the Big East was the best conference when he got there. It wasn't dominant like it was a few years ago. I remember not even being able to see UCONN vs. PC on tv. JC turned the program into a blue blood. What other program has made that transition? I tend to look at guys like Roy Williams and think, OK, you went from Kansas to an even bluer blue blood in UNC and you found a way to win. Nice job. Try doing it in Storrs.
Gotta give Geno credit. But I think I have to give Lobo some credit too.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Seems if you can master the technical skill of throwing and catching a ball, you are good to go.

As someone who played the sport at a pretty high level, this is like saying "seems like if you can teach yourself to jump four feet off the ground you should be able to dunk at 5-10."

 

[Northbound]

By measure up, I mean there are many programs which can't compete with the top programs and may in fact lose to other college club teams. I have never played lacrosse so I don't doubt what you are saying. At the same time, it doesn't seem like it takes all that much talent, a bunch of guys twirling a stick around. Seems if you can master the technical skill of throwing and catching a ball, you are good to go.

I find it very hard to believe that any D-1 women's basketball team in a P5 conference would lose to a woman's college club basketball team. By your talent logic to be a lineman in football doesn't take much talent, just be big and stand there, hell you don't even need to learn to "twirl a stick" and soccer, just kick a ball how hard can that be - but your right anyone can play any sport and be piss poor at it. It's being good at it that takes a lot more that you seem to realize regardless of the sport.

 

[Kolumbo]

As someone who played the sport at a pretty high level, this is like saying "seems like if you can teach yourself to jump four feet off the ground you should be able to dunk at 5-10."

Exactly. I'm not knocking lacrosse. I played baseball and soccer and if I had grown up playing lacrosse, I think I would have done much better with lacrosse than the other sports. Good eye-hand coordination and speed and endurance. But it just doesn't seem that difficult to hurl the ball with the stick.

 

[CallMeBruce]

Exactly. I'm not knocking lacrosse. I played baseball and soccer and if I had grown up playing lacrosse, I think I would have done much better with lacrosse than the other sports. Good eye-hand coordination and speed and endurance. But it just doesn't seem that difficult to hurl the ball with the stick.

Given the fact that you've never done it, you're really not in a position to determine how difficult it is.

 

[Kolumbo]

Given the fact that you've never done it, you're really not in a position to determine how difficult it is.

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?

 

[CallMeBruce]

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?

Oh, so you're one of those guys.

 

[Stray_Dog]

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?

....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?

 

[SubbaBub]

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?

Jim Brown.

Many football players do play lacrosse in the spring. Soccer players, too.

The hockey connection comes from Canada.

Any of those would be happy to plant you.

 

[Fishy]

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?

You don't know what you're talking about.

 

[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.