Comments on: Anybody Care to Lax?

By: Tim

Tim — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:31:11 +0000

Context clues are the biggest point, as Martin has so much on his plate right now, why should he add more to it by worrying about lacrosse?

Sadly, Coach Paul seems to think more along your lines than mine – that he’s just not interested for the time being.

By: Old Blue

Old Blue — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:13:02 +0000

Tim,
Do you know that for a fact? I have heard that Martin has no interest in lacrosse.

By: Tim

Tim — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 22:17:42 +0000

Bill Martin doesn’t talk about lacrosse because it’s definitely near the top of his priorities list right now (and for good reason). Once the Michigan Stadium, Crisler, and BBall practice facility renovations/building are done, I think there’s a pretty good chance you’ll see a minor boom in the number of D-1 sports at Michigan, even if it’s just the lacrosse teams.

By: Old Blue

Old Blue — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 22:13:56 +0000

Laxman,
You’re right. Down year for BR this year. But that goes even farther to prove Tim’s point. If Rice isn’t the top team in the midwest, but they are still sending a handful of kids D1 every year, then there must be a lot of talent in the midwest.

It’s amazing how many people read Tim’s arguments and twist them. Bottom line, if Michigan had a D1 program they would be able to draw a few very good players from the midwest every year, maybe one or two from the far west (Colorado, California, Oregon, Texas, etc) and the rest, and perhaps the majority, from the east. Fortunately, the club team is already making strong inroads in eastern recruiting (see the goalie from Gilman coming this fall for example) and Michigan draws very well from the east in the general student body. Do they get blue chip kids now? Of course not. But it’s not far-fetched to think they would as a D1 team – especially if the facilities that Hennessy alluded to in the Free Press article are actually coming.

Might be a moot point for awhile anyway. I don’t see Bill Martin talking about lacrosse much. They’ll need an AD who sees potential for a lacrosse program, especially compared to some of the declining or publicly ignored sports that are currently sponsored.

By: LAX4MAN

LAX4MAN — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:40:23 +0000

Brother Rice isn’t event the best program in the Midwest. They lost 3 games this past season. All 3 of them were Ohio schools. There is a lot more talent in the Midwest other than Brother Rice.

By: Tim

Tim — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:38:26 +0000

I don’t think I’m making those assumptions at all. On the contrary, I think Michigan would probably get a maximum of 1 or 2 guys a year from any given school, and spread out their recruiting among various schools.

The only point with Rice is that there is indeed good lacrosse in the midwest, and there are going to be some homegrown players available. They’ll fill a roster, not comprise the entire thing.

By: Rosey

Rosey — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:33:20 +0000

I think there’s a fault in your logic in assuming that one high school would be enough to fill a program. Michigan would have to compete with all of the east coast schools that Brother Rice sends kids too. If Rice lax kids are getting scholarships to perennial powerhouse schools like Hopkins and UMass, why would they automatically go to Michigan?

Look at football, the top recruits that Rice has produced recently have gone to schools such as Penn State, Tennessee and Cincy. You even pointed out that PSU LB and Rice alum Chris Collasanti didn’t count as Michigan losing an in-state prospect last year because “he was considered long gone anyway”.

By: LAX4MAN

LAX4MAN — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:48:50 +0000

College lacrosse is unique as there isn’t a big gap between DI and DII & DIII. Denison and Ohio Weslyan both have all time winning records agains Ohio State. They competed with MSU when they had a team and they used to play ND in the regular season as of about 10 years ago. If OWU and Denison can pull respectable players from the East Coast I am sure Michigan can do it. Both have a few players that have made MLL rosters in recent years. I can’t imagine a lacrosse player wanting to go to OSU unless they are a total meat stick. I thing Michigna and ND would quickly become rivals. Even Butler had a better program that Ohio State did before they closed down shop. They used to pick off all of the good Ohio talent. I really think Michigan would have a competitive progam in a short amount of time. Especially since they arleady have a strong club team that is at least on par with the top DIII schools. Get a blue chip or two in there and M is on their way to a winning record.