Grad Student Transfers

[Hackalicious]

Most grad students are not going to have the time to devote to daily practices and road trips. I'd guess that no more than a couple dozen grad students would actually end up playing each year, if even that many. If there were a "4 in 6" rule, they might play 1-2 seasons max. Is that really going to upset the balance of power?

The more players trying out for MDIA teams, the better the competition will be. I say if you've got someone who loves lacrosse enough to try to play during grad school, then let 'em play.

(I would have loved to play during grad school, but probably would have died of sleep deprivation.)

[Sonny]

The point made about 12 credits is also correct. Assuming we keep the 12 credit rule, which I don't see us changing, how many grad students would even want to play knowing they had to take 12 credit hours when the average full-time grad student takes far fewer credits.

Assuming that the Board did vote to allow grad students to play in the MDIA, I would guess that it's a slippery slope from changing the 12 hour rule to something less to accomodate "full-time" grad students.

[the lax]

Let grad students play regardless of the credit issue. A grad student in law school at Michigan is going to have more work than an undergrad at Michigan. Letting grad students play only if they carry 12 credits is pointless.

What eligibility rules does the NCLL have?

[andycureton]

Does anyone know of an MDIA student (played all 4 years) going to grad school at an NCAA program and playing?

Do the MDIA/NCAA rules allow this?

[Zeuslax]

We would have had 3 to 4 additions to our squad last season if this rule wasn't in place. Carnegie Mellon also has a large grad population, even though the overall student body is small.

At the A level I don't see this having an overwhelming impact. However, at the B level one player can have a major impact on the field.

[John Paul]

NCAA rules do not count playing for a college club team as using up eligibility. In that regard, as in the grad student rules, we are actually more strict. However, the NCAA has a clock. In Division 1 and 2, you have five calendar years to play four years of your sport. That clock begins the first day you are enrolled in college, regardless of whether or not you are playing. Thus, a player who plays four years of MDIA lacrosse would have one calendar year of NCAA eligibilty remaining. There are players who've transfered to NCAA programs from MDIA programs as undergrads, but I don't know of any who have used that one year of eligibility to play as a grad student. I do know of at least one who tried though...

David Silverman, an LSM from our team who graduated two years was given the opportunity to walk on at Maryland last year, but they did not end up keeping him on the roster. Their coaching staff considered him one of their top two or three LSM's (out of seven), but since he only had one year of eligibility remaining due to the NCAA clock they could not justify cutting a young, recruited, scholarship player to give him the spot.

In Division 3, by the way, there is no clock. However, you have 10 total semesters of eligibility to play four seasons. So you could theoretically spread those semesters out over many years if you wanted to.

[jessexy]

good explanation JP.

i brought up the point earlier because the schools in the original post (about football) were major universities and they seem to be dealing with it. the schools that lost players to this rule, only one (Duke) was mad about the rule. I think it was Arizona that actually wished the player luck at Vanderbilt.

i still cant understand why this cant happen in the MDIA. I dont have any eligibility left, but if i did and i decided to attend Grad school, i would still want to play. And because EVERY PLAYER IN THE MDIA is a STUDENT-ATHLETE, grad school is a decision that is made for the students future career, not for the chance to win a MDIA championship.

As an example, if i had a choice between Stanford and Sonoma St. for grad school as an MDIA player, i'd definitely choose Stanford because of the school. playing lacrosse would be a factor, but not winning a championship. this is a life decision, but why cant a student play lacrosse also?

[John Paul]

Exactly.

[onpoint]

At some point, I would imagine that all the rules and regulations (and punishments) for eligibility will be laid out on a website somewhere? This is a long time in coming . . .

[Zeuslax]

onpoint wrote:

At some point, I would imagine that all the rules and regulations (and punishments) for eligibility will be laid out on a website somewhere? This is a long time in coming . . .

Great point!

[John Paul]

In the works.

[Kevin Boyle]

Didn't know that about Silverman. I would have loved to see what he could have done at that level.