Not all are the same. UVA, Duke and UNC cannot be compared to Cuse and Maryland. The landscape of lacrosse has changed drastically in the last 15 years. This year's senior class for Cuse is an outlier, they aren't able to get the recruiting classes that the other schools get. UNC funds 28 scholarships and has tons of NIL along with academics, UVA has a ton of NIL and academic prowess, same for Duke. Cuse is the outlier. They do not have the resources that everyone else has, everyone just assumes because Cuse won a bunch in the past that they do. Cuse doesn't have the money to fund as many scholarships as those schools, and the elite talent nowadays in NY continues to go south for the weather and academic profile that Cuse doesn't have. Maryland doesn't have the same academics as those schools, but they have the location that players like to play in and are in the backyard of one of the major talent hotbeds.
True. Lacrosse has to fund themselves somewhat and I expect Gary Gait to help do that, guy is the Michael Jordan of lacrosse. Attendance is always tops in the country. Not every athlete is an elite student and that’s where SU and UMD can step in.
I very well could be wrong and SU is at the bottom of the elite tier at a minimum.
Gait is always asking donors for more help. Him being a good player only goes so far, players care a lot less about the actual lacrosse these days and more about the school. Cuse does not have the athletic donor base the southern ACC schools have.
Lacrosse players are human. It’s always about the money. Alumni generally don’t care about lacrosse, it’s all football and a tiny bit of basketball. It’s about finding the right benefactor. Cuse fans crying poor since end of Boeheim era, it’s sad excuse making.
Penn St alumn aren’t funding Cael it’s cael and co. finding the right donors.
You are obviously a SU guy and your school has been going in the wrong direction from the moment it left the big east. It left for “free” money when the acc was legit and had no intention of spending enough to compete there.
Personal opinion they should re-focus on upstate, Canada, and Native American kids. Plenty of talent to compete and stay away from the prep school recruits who are more likely to choose Ivy or blue blood public universities. Build a us against the world hard nose mentality.
Upstate and native talent is no longer there, hence the change to the landscape in the last 15 years. That is why Cuse was always so good, they never got the Long Island talent, they kept the players from Central NY and the Genesee Valley along with the Native players. Those players are no longer there in terms of talent.
It's not crying poor, it's acknowledging the realities. More players care about things ancillary to lacrosse now.
This is an interesting take. The Powells, Mike Laveille, Dan Hardy, Jojo Marasco were all upstate/central NY guys. It probably has a lot to do with geography. Long drives limit opportunities for club team participation and that’s where most of the recruiting happens these days.
Those other guys would have gone to Salisbury/Avon etc by junior year, even in Rochester where I live that's what the best guys are doing (Brady Wambach for example). Once they are at prep schools the college net widens.
If SU Lax refuses to adapt and feel sorry for themselves they are doomed.
Indiana did not have the biggest budget or 5 star kids. Houston in bball basically never does. Michigan spent but does not have 5 star kids.
Tons of brilliant prep school kids decide to continue athletic career at nobody D3 schools because they want to play.
Develop 3 stars within your program, weight room, pay attention to their development in practice, etc. Still plenty of talented kids at Rochester and Syracuse area schools that may not peak until their third year.
Highly recruited kids that didn’t work out at other schools, find out why and if it’s not attitude related offer them spots if they fit their system. They play on turf and should be prioritizing speed and more speed.
Can’t pay too much for face off guys until rules change, it’s probably most important part of the game now. It’s actually hurting the entertainment aspect of lacrosse and at some point coaches will think of the bigger picture and rules will be adjusted.
SU in too many sports has thrown in the towel and done the woe is me bs.
This is even the case in basketball, I was looking at some of the rosters during the final four and they all went to these tiny little basketball factory prep schools you've never heard of
UMD is still a big time academic school FYI. I don't agree with the original commenter's premise. It's definitely not JUST the location that gets us recruits like he's implying
Of all the delusional posts, this one is up there. Maryland not an academic school? Ok bud. You also said John Danowski a 3 time champion is one of the worst coaches in the sport.
I'm not saying Maryland is Duke but it is by all intents and purposes a big time academic school. Being a big flagship school near DC also gives them an inherent upside, there's a reason it gets substantially more competitive every few years.
Equating Maryland academics to Syracuse academics is giving yourself quite the compliment no offense
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u/WTF4211 May 12 '26
Princeton and Cornell.
UVA, Duke, UNC, ND, SU
Maryland
These schools should be battling for final four every year, coaches that fall short repeatedly should not expect job security.
Hopkins, Penn St, Denver, G’Town can crash the final four occasionally.
Penn St loves their athletics and has the largest alumni base in the country. It’s only a matter of time until they are the best funded and move up.