Clay Adams to Syracuse/George Curtis to Middlebury

[Redtwin]

MBA junior midfielder Clay Adams has verbally committed to play lacrosse for Syracuse University. The Orange have won more NCAA titles than any other Division I program and were ranked the preseason #2 team in the country by Inside Lacrosse. Quite an opportunity/challenge for Clay.

 

MBA senior midfielder George Curtis has committed to play for Middlebury College. The Panthers are the preaseason #6 team in Division III and they have made 13 NCAA Tournament appearances in the last 14 seasons, including taking part in the title game during six of the last 11 seasons. They won 3 consecutive national titles from 2000 to 2002.

 

Congrats to these two young men.

[Redtwin]

I believe MBA junior attackman Connor Pagnani has also verbally committed to play lacrosse for Coach Bill Tierney at Denver University. Coach Tierney won six national championships while coaching at Princeton. The Pioneers are the preseason 17th ranked team in Divisiion I.

[TheBigRedDog]

Congratulations to these young men. This shows how far TN lax has come. Hopefully, they can lead the Big Red to another state title this year!

[itzme]

If I'm not mistaken (which I could be) these guys would be the first from Tennessee to earn scholarships to DI Lacrosse programs. Is that right?

[Redtwin]

Atctually, there have been several TN lacrosse players who have played DI lacrosse at schools like UVA, Notre Dame, Delaware, Ohio State, Navy, Army, Towson, UNC, Bucknell, VMI, Bryant, Penn, Villanova, Air Force, and I think Lehigh and Duke to name a few. There are also several small Southeastern schools starting to adopt lacrosse as a varsity sport at the DI level like Mercer, Jacksonville, Presbyterian, Bellarmine, and I believe there have been TN players go to each of those schools. One interesting thing about lacrosse is that after DI, DIII is generally considered to be a better level of lacrosse than DII, and lots of the top DIII teams could beat the mid to lower level DI teams. Lots of really good TN players have chosen to go to DIII schools that may be a better all around fit like W&L, Hampden Sydney, Gettysburg, Denison, Salisbury, Middlebury, Lynchburg, Sewanee, Birmingham Southern, etc, which can still be very competitive lacrosse. For such a small lacrosse population TN has done a pretty good job of getting kids to the college level. I think it's a testament to the high levels of athleticism and coaching our state has to offer.

[itzme]

Atctually, there have been several TN lacrosse players who have played DI lacrosse at schools like UVA, Notre Dame, Delaware, Ohio State, Navy, Army, Towson, UNC, Bucknell, VMI, Bryant, Penn, Villanova, Air Force, and I think Lehigh and Duke to name a few. There are also several small Southeastern schools starting to adopt lacrosse as a varsity sport at the DI level like Mercer, Jacksonville, Presbyterian, Bellarmine, and I believe there have been TN players go to each of those schools. One interesting thing about lacrosse is that after DI, DIII is generally considered to be a better level of lacrosse than DII, and lots of the top DIII teams could beat the mid to lower level DI teams. Lots of really good TN players have chosen to go to DIII schools that may be a better all around fit like W&L, Hampden Sydney, Gettysburg, Denison, Salisbury, Middlebury, Lynchburg, Sewanee, Birmingham Southern, etc, which can still be very competitive lacrosse. For such a small lacrosse population TN has done a pretty good job of getting kids to the college level. I think it's a testament to the high levels of athleticism and coaching our state has to offer.

 

Thanks for the correction and information Redtwin. Were most of these in recent (as in past 5) years for the DI schools? Were they walk-on, partial or full scholly for the most part? Interesting about the DII v. DIII comparison. I was not aware of that either.

 

Just trying to learn more.

[Redtwin]

Atctually, there have been several TN lacrosse players who have played DI lacrosse at schools like UVA, Notre Dame, Delaware, Ohio State, Navy, Army, Towson, UNC, Bucknell, VMI, Bryant, Penn, Villanova, Air Force, and I think Lehigh and Duke to name a few. There are also several small Southeastern schools starting to adopt lacrosse as a varsity sport at the DI level like Mercer, Jacksonville, Presbyterian, Bellarmine, and I believe there have been TN players go to each of those schools. One interesting thing about lacrosse is that after DI, DIII is generally considered to be a better level of lacrosse than DII, and lots of the top DIII teams could beat the mid to lower level DI teams. Lots of really good TN players have chosen to go to DIII schools that may be a better all around fit like W&L, Hampden Sydney, Gettysburg, Denison, Salisbury, Middlebury, Lynchburg, Sewanee, Birmingham Southern, etc, which can still be very competitive lacrosse. For such a small lacrosse population TN has done a pretty good job of getting kids to the college level. I think it's a testament to the high levels of athleticism and coaching our state has to offer.

 

Thanks for the correction and information Redtwin. Were most of these in recent (as in past 5) years for the DI schools? Were they walk-on, partial or full scholly for the most part? Interesting about the DII v. DIII comparison. I was not aware of that either.

 

Just trying to learn more.

 

For over a decade now, t's been pretty consistent that one or two guys going to play DI every couple of years. I think there have been as many as 4 or 5 that have gone in one year. A varsity lacrosse roster is usually going to carry about 44 guys or so, but the maximum number of scholarships available per team is 12.5, so most DI guys are on a partial scholarship or are a preferred recruit with a roster spot, but no money. Some guys do get full rides though. I've seen guys from the South get offered academic scholarships, and some have been offered divsersity scholarships from Northern schools because they are from so far away. There's not a lot of money in college lax though.

[itzme]

Pretty much like all other no-rev sports at the next level. Great to see the growth of interest and excellence in TN high schools. Hopefully it never becomes a TSSAA sport and gets ruined!!