Going Varsity?

[OAKS]

Well Michigan didn't add it while Michigan State had a team. Would be nice if more universities did have this policy.

[John Paul]

Much more likely with small schools that compete in a conference. I can't see any big universities adding an expensive sport just because their competitor did. What would their motivation be? Schools want to keep up with the Joneses for major sports, not revenue drains like lacrosse.

[cphafner]

I'd take that bet! Ask Ohio State and Notre Dame how long it took them to even crack the top 20. They are closer to the traditional recruiting hotbeds than FSU and only Notre Dame is getting top recruits consistently now. And they're Notre Dame!

while i'de take that bet as well, i still think it would be a lot easier to recruit to FSU than OSU or ND.

ND is an elite academic institution which would be recruiting a totally different pool of players than FSU. ND would continue to comepte with schools such as Cornell, Duke and GT. FSU would be competing with Towson, UMBC, and Hofstra.

[Danny Hogan]

one of the factors that makes it much easier to recruit.

[semilaxed]

Take a look at FSU's roster as it is right now. I would be willing to say its one onf the most diverse rosters in the leage. The CLUB pulls many players from maryland and ny as it is. I think fsu u could pull something like what UF did with chris leak a few years ago. Lock one solid player and many others will follow. I personally believe that there are more great players in the world than there is room on D1 teams for. Starting a new team anywhere now is the best time to do it. Plus i know growing up in NC that having divison teams near the high school will escalate the play of the high schools. That will give the team a local pools to pull from. FSU will soon have a monopoly on FL atheletes, which have always been considered the some of best atheletes in the world. Sorry for such a long post i hate long posts. really hate long posts

[Catlax]

And when was the last time Hofstra, UMBC or Towson competed for a National Title? Do you think the talent pool you cited can win an ACC championship? Notre Dame is an elite school and even they are having trouble making it into the NCAA playoffs on a consistent basis. Your point reinforces my position. FSU will have a very difficult time recruiting the type of lacrosse talent they will need to compete at the ACC level. It will take years for them to become competitive in their own league, much less the national scene.

[SElaxalum]

Catlax,

Lacrosse is shifting away from an elitist prep school sport. FSU wont get the Harvard kids, but they will get the same type kids that make Syracuse and Maryland so successful. Neither of those schools are the top of the academia world either.

[Catlax]

Catlax,

Lacrosse is shifting away from an elitist prep school sport. FSU wont get the Harvard kids, but they will get the same type kids that make Syracuse and Maryland so successful. Neither of those schools are the top of the academia world either.

Well then we'll just have to agree to disagree, because both Syracuse and Maryland are better schools than FSU and the talent level of their recruits is exactly the caliber of lacrosse player that FSU could not get for years. Not forever, just a long time.

[John Paul]

It's not so much about what newer or rising programs have to offer. It's about the deep roots the traditional powers like Hopkins, Syracuse and Maryland already have in the lacrosse world. So much of recruiting is about relationships, and they have had those relationships for many years. Notre Dame, Denver and Ohio State can get the ocassional east coach blue chip to commit, but Hopkins gets 10 of them every year.

Unique sport situation, though. Playing for one of the traditional powers in Maryland is kind of like playing a glorified high school schedule. If you're at Hopkins, there are potentially six other highly ranked teams within an hour (Navy, Maryland, Georgetown, Towson, Loyola, UMBC). Half of your schedule could be bus trips shorter than the typical high school bus trip - often to play against a lot of the same guys you played against in high school. That's the one major thing I think the MDIA has over top-level D1. Playing a national schedule is a great experience those guys don't get.

[SElaxalum]

Maryland is no way a superior school. Syracuse has selected programs that are phenomenal, but overall its not a top tier university. I think many people would be suprised in the adminstrations push over the last few years to make FSU more academic. This is also evident in the fact it hasnt been in the top 20 party schools in about 4 years. I still believe kids from Maryland and NY would jump down to FSU. You can look at their girls soccer team as an example. I believe in just their 4th or 5th year they made it to the final four with a roster from all over the nation. Now they are a perenial power natioanlly, and they are still only about 7 or 8 years old. FSU doesnt fool around with athletics, and they absolutly will get the athletes.

[OAKS]

If FSU went D1, they would definitely invest the time, energy and money to recruit top athletes. If you bring a kid down for a recruiting trip, show him the weather, the college, and an FSU football game, they would be hard pressed to say no, especially if they aren't going to see playing time at Maryland or Cuse until their Junior or Senior years when they will have an immediate impact in the first four or five years of the program. You would also immediately get many of the scholarship recruits from the lower-tier D1 programs. Also, FSU has a huge advantage over other new D1 programs such as Robert Morris or Bellarmine and the smaller or lower-tier programs... they are guaranteed a schedule against at least 4 of the top 15 or so teams in the nation every year in the other four ACC teams. And by no means am i knocking the smaller colleges and universities, but if you say you went to FSU, everyone will immediately recognize it compared with a place like Stony Brook or Quinnipiac if you're outside of the NE.

[semilaxed]

Will your typing is better than your speaking. Great comment!

[Catlax]

especially if they aren't going to see playing time at Maryland or Cuse until their Junior or Senior years when they will have an immediate impact in the first four or five years of the program. You would also immediately get many of the scholarship recruits from the lower-tier D1 programs. .

Will, that is exactly my point! They will get the players that won't make an impact at the other, more established ACC schools! I'm not saying that no one from the NE will go there, but they are not going to get enough blue chip lacrosse players to make an impact (for a long time). The biggest disadvantages for FSU is that they will have to compete in one of the premier lacrosse conferences and they do not (yet) have a quality hs feeder program in their own state.

SElaxalum- If you think FSU is mentioned in the same breath academically with Maryland or Syracuse, you need to get a copy of the US News and World Report that ranks colleges. FSU isn't even the top institution for academics in its own state! Virginia Tech would be a better draw for academics than FSU and they have a fantastic hs base from which to recruit. Keep dreaming!

[Bluevelvet]

Academic comparisons of some MDIA schools to Syracuse and Maryland (according to US News and World Report):
#5 Stanford
#11 Washington Univ (St. Louis)
#18 Vanderbilt
#20 Emory
#20 Cal
#25 UCLA
#25 Michigan
#30 USC
#32 UCSD
#37 Ga Tech
#40 BC
#40 UC Irvine
#42 Illinois
#45 UCSB
#45 Washington
#48 UC Davis
#50 Florida
#50 Syracuse*D1

Others of interest:
#52 Texas
#55 Maryland*D1
#71 BYU
#78 Colorado
#78 VaTech
#85 Tenn; Auburn and Missouri
#97 Arizona
#104 USD
#109 FSU
#115 Oregon
#120 Colorado St: Utah




http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/natudoc/tier1/t1natudoc_brief.php

[SElaxalum]

Catlax,

I live very close to Univ of Maryland. It is not a far superior academic school. Maryland and FSU draw the same type of student athletes. Maryland gets no ivy leaguers. Its a good school, but not exceptional.