LSA Final Four - FORD STADIUM

[FoDotSix]

I THINK it will be UT v A&M for the championship and a nail biter at that. But keep in mind that it is the playoffs and anything can happen.

[Brent Burns]

This morning SMU Men's Lacrosse Team President Tom Greene self-reported the use of an ineligible player during an LSA Divisional game to the Lone Star Alliance Commissioner, Karl Lynch. The Commissioner recused himself and deferred the matter to the Executive Board of the LSA. After a thorough review of the Lone Star Alliance By-Laws; Section 3.3 calls for the forfeiture of games played with the ineligible player, and Section 3.3.1- "Forfeiture resulting from ineligible players will automatically disqualify a team from the Alliance Championship and representing the Alliance in post-season competition."

Therefore SMU was declared ineligible to participate in the LSA Final Four. The next highest ranked team in the LSA Division A North is declared the second place team from the North Division. The University of North Texas will face Texas A&M in the 5 pm game Saturday, April 28, 2007.

1:30 pm #1 Texas (North) vs. #2 Texas State (South)

5:00 pm #1 Texas A&M (South) vs. #2 Univ. of North Texas (North)

[JW]

I know that this is an unfortunate mark on the SMU team, but kudos to them for reporting it. It may have been caught, but give them credit for preserving the game and being honorable in spite of the consequences.

Finally a Christian University living up to the standards

[Kyle Berggren]

This looks like one hell of an event, congrats guys. It truly looks like a world class event.

[Golden]

Wow... SMU put together a great season; it is a shame that it had to end like this. Not to beat a dead horse, but this self reporting speaks loads, not just about their coach, but their entire program.

That being said, best of luck to the Mean Green- get us into the big dance!

[shrekjr]

Wow... SMU put together a great season; it is a shame that it had to end like this. Not to beat a dead horse, but this self reporting speaks loads, not just about their coach, but their entire program.

Yes it does!

[FoDotSix]

How long did they know about the ineligible player for? If it was the entire season and they just now notified the officials about it then that's hardly the stand up story people are seeing now. On the other hand if it JUST NOW came to the attention of the club officers then I commend them on their honesty. It just seems odd that this would happen right now as opposed to before the playoffs or if SMU did know about it before then why would they turn themselves in now, and just not wait to see if they get caught?

[SMULaxHC]

I would like to take this opportunity to clear some things up before further possible scenarios arise.

I had notified Karl two weeks ago that three or four of our players had to drop below twelve hours; however, I was confident that they had not played in another game past their drop date. Fast forward to this last Saturday's playoff game against UNT. We should have had our eligibility forms ready for the opposing team, but due to some miscommunication and error on our part and the part of the Registrar's desk we did not have them.

Because it involved his team, Karl appropriately stepped back from the situation and got in touch with Noah Fink and Tony Scazzero. They agreed that we could play the game under the condition that I personally dropped off the eligibility forms with a note from the Registrar first thing Monday morning.

When I picked up the forms Monday morning, I was pleased to see that everything checked out with the players I knew about in regards to dropping their classes and not playing afterward. However, I was shocked to find out that there was a first-year student who had dropped below hours on 1/29/07 (about a week after our first round of eligibility checks) and hadn't notified me. This didn't seem like the young man, so I double checked with the Registrar and attempted to get ahold of him. When I finally got in touch with him, he told me that he was taking four classes for a total of twelve hours. The problem was that one of the four classes was a required wellness class that only counts for one hour of credit leaving him at ten. He seemed genuinely unaware of the situation, and I believed him.

After much deliberation with my assistant coach (Chip Hiemenz), we determined that two of the four or five contests he played in this year were the OSU and UNT games, two conference games. Chip and I soon realized that there was no other course of action than to report this infraction to the league. We have worked extremely hard over the last five years to rebuild SMU's reputation in the LSA and want nothing more than to maintain the integrity of the league as it gets stronger and stronger within the MCLA. Sacrificing our honesty, integrity, and morals as well as the program's, the league's, and the University's was not an option. Having been a part of the LSA for the last few years, I knew what the ramifications would be. It was especially tough having fought so hard with Karl to host the conference tournament at Ford Stadium.

I can't express how sorry I am for the five seniors on the team whose last weekend of playing lacrosse was taken away from them. I hope this is a situation that everyone understands and can learn from. Maybe our league should self-impose more eligibility checks throughout the season. Tony S. suggested that our league might elect an eligibility chair to avoid this. Just some thoughts.

Best of luck to the teams participating in this weekend's events. It should be a great one, and I will continue to work hard this week to ensure it is successful.

Now that we've got a chip on our shoulder for next year, I'd watch out for the Mustangs . . .

Regards,

[JW]

I stand by what I said before.

Good job and thanks for being honest about the whole situation.

[laxforlife]

why is the league all of sudden choosing to look at the acdemic standing of players. I think the league should of done this all season instead of last minute. There needs to be a better system because coaches do not have direct files to a players coarses. In my own opinion I am fine with the rules but its not fair for a team to be disqualified last minute like this. This should of been dealt with a long time ago but I guess thats what happens when you have the honor system. Gotta love club lacrosse.

[JW]

The problem was not with the system, it was with a confusion with the player who thought he was taking 12 hours when in actuality he was taking 10.

We had a similar situation a few years back when on of our top 6 middies was ineligible because he didn't know that we had to take 12 hours back in 2003. He unfortunately had to sit out from the beginning of the season.

[forever lsu30]

respect to smu. glad to see some honor in a hard core situation.

good luck to everyone who plays this weekend. play hard.

it sucks i can't play on the old school game-

but i can make the 1st game on saturday. so i will be there.

edit: found it after some searching. thank you.

[`MM9]

3:30 on sunday if im not mistaken....

[Campbell]

why is the league all of sudden choosing to look at the acdemic standing of players. I think the league should of done this all season instead of last minute. There needs to be a better system because coaches do not have direct files to a players coarses. In my own opinion I am fine with the rules but its not fair for a team to be disqualified last minute like this. This should of been dealt with a long time ago but I guess thats what happens when you have the honor system. Gotta love club lacrosse.

It is not the league's responsibility to make sure everyone is eligible, only to enforce the rules. It is the responsibility of the players and the team to make sure all of their players are taking 12 hours. You want to play in the MCLA, you take 12 hours.

[FlockOfSeagulls]

taking away smu's playoff spot and giving it to unt is, to me, the truest example of adding insult to injury that i've ever heard of.


also, i never met anyone who thought a wellness class counted for three hours. not trying to be disrespectful to the kid in question, just... surprised that's his story.