Cornell 2020

[BigRedRover]

Refresh my memory. Did Matt Kerwick recruit Jeff Teat from The Hill Academy?

Nope, it was DeLuca

[FMUBart]

JeffCincy ?

That's him. Thanks. He was a big Buczek fan and a family friend I believe. I enjoyed his posts. He immediately came to my mind yesterday.

+1 Yes, he would be very proud!

+1. The Queen City’s finest. Buczek came out to LI to play some club ball against better competition. LI Express told him there was a spot on the B team. Buczek quickly found his way to the A team. ( that’s the legend, anyway)

Many so-called "Queen City" places; Cincy in this case

[FMUBart]

Refresh my memory. Did Matt Kerwick recruit Jeff Teat from The Hill Academy?

Nope, it was DeLuca

Kerwick was on staff...much like Milliman recruited many of Kerwick's "recruits"

[Typical Lax Dad]

JeffCincy ?

That's him. Thanks. He was a big Buczek fan and a family friend I believe. I enjoyed his posts. He immediately came to my mind yesterday.

+1 Yes, he would be very proud!

+1. The Queen City’s finest. Buczek came out to LI to play some club ball against better competition. LI Express told him there was a spot on the B team. Buczek quickly found his way to the A team. ( that’s the legend, anyway)

Many so-called "Queen City" places; Cincy in this case

https://theculturetrip.com/north-americ ... ueen-city/

[Chousnake]

I hear ya, VRR, and I'm not trying to point a finger at or blame anyone, it just strikes me as odd that a school like Cornell has had such a hard time holding on to coaches. It really isn't a good look at all. If it were a JUCO program it would be one thing but Cornell is quite another. I hope CB is given a permanent position as HC and Cornell can move forward with some stability from there. I don't think 28 is too young at all, a lot of 28 year olds in the military have got some huge responsibilities and a whole lot of people who are counting on them/looking to them for direction and leadership. CB's got a lot of lacrosse experience and by all accopunts is a pretty smart boy, no reason he can't handle it (if that's what his long term plans are). Now, if the school would get behind him and the program with more support it would help too. Cornell should have called the Mennonites as I suggested years back to build an indoor facility for the Big Red long ago for example. Done deal, CB's the coach, onward and upward.

I think the indoor facility may be a tough sell now with the extreme budget constraints resulting from the COVID-19 crisis. I'm not sure what the $7.2 billion endowment is reserved for, but it appears to me that this crisis justifies using it as much as any other comprehendible reason. Otherwise what is the purpose of an endowment if it is untouchable. And this goes towards much more than athletics, but all student-related needs and expenses to weather this crisis.

[Gobigred]

I think the indoor facility may be a tough sell now with the extreme budget constraints resulting from the COVID-19 crisis. I'm not sure what the $7.2 billion endowment is reserved for, but it appears to me that this crisis justifies using it as much as any other comprehendible reason. Otherwise what is the purpose of an endowment if it is untouchable. And this goes towards much more than athletics, but all student-related needs and expenses to weather this crisis.

Large portions of endowment funds are restricted by the donors for specific purposes. I believe there are state laws limiting the percentage of an endowment that can be withdrawn in any given year.

[FMUBart]

Here's another Queen City
https://www.tripsavvy.com/how-did-charl ... ame-583723

[Typical Lax Dad]

Here's another Queen City
https://www.tripsavvy.com/how-did-charl ... ame-583723

Yes. I knew that. I have never been to Charlotte. I have been to Chapel Hill and Durham. Thanks for posting that. It was an interesting read.

[faircornell]

All things considered, I am extremely happy to have the program leadership of Buczek, Stevens and Cifirri that we have. All three know the program, and (as noted) there are few better representatives of the Cornell lacrosse culture than Connor Buczek and Jordan Stevens. Paolo Cifirri also has a family legacy in the program.

As I have stated before, my view is that coaching at Cornell is a young man's job. While I don't like the "revolving door", and would have loved for Coach Milliman to stay, my personal view is that a Cornell Men's Head Lacrosse Coach is a steward of a long tradition as well as a support group of players, parents, alums and administrators who, collectively, make the program run. Coach Milliman had the awareness to recognize this array of supporters and managed to engage all of these constituencies. Before him, Coach Tambroni and Coach Moran also did this extremely well.

Reflecting on what Coach Milliman did well, and I'm hopeful the new staff does as well, includes the following:

1) Asking seniors to help lead the team through a tough transitional time
2) Keeping in contact with alums, including occasional physical letters
3) Using the presence of Richie Moran in Ithaca to help establish a sense fo tradition and pride
4) Keeping active with the various alumni "sub groups"
5) Encouraging and promoting strong academics within the team
6) Asking for help when needed. Two times that I saw Coach Milliman do this were:
a) Successfully compressing fund raising into one fall session
b) Asking for help when a player was injured in an accident

I'm sure that he did many other things well that I am unaware of, but a lot of the above is simply attending to the details of the work that goes into keeping the engine running.

With resect to the "four coaches in 10 years" frustration, while I share the frustration, I would note that the strength of the program and the recruiting "draw" of the school has allowed the lacrosse team to weather the storm in good shape, if not optimal shape:

1) 2011-2020 winning record: .674 (97-47)
2) 2011-2020 USILA Average end of season Rank 9.9 (approximate)
3) 2011-2020 NCAA: 5 Tournament Appearances, 1 Semi, 2 Quarters, 2 First Rounds

The coaching staff has a lot of work in front of them, but they can do it. I am hopeful that they will do it.

[Gobigred]

94 - 77 comes to 55%...or I have a bad calculator.

Otherwise, agree with your posting.

A hiring freeze is a hiring freeze. If a great university says it's not hiring professors, it shouldn't be hiring a new lacrosse coach. National universities have three missions: teaching, research, and public service. They are not sports franchises. And I follow Cornell lacrosse like a religion. But lacrosse is an extracurricular activity, not a primary mission of the institution.

[faircornell]

94 - 77 comes to 55%...or I have a bad calculator.

Otherwise, agree with your posting.

A hiring freeze is a hiring freeze. If a great university says it's not hiring professors, it shouldn't be hiring a new lacrosse coach. National universities have three missions: teaching, research, and public service. They are not sports franchises. And I follow Cornell lacrosse like a religion. But lacrosse is an extracurricular activity, not a primary mission of the institution.

Very sorry. The correct number is 97-47 for .674. For once, it was a typo and not a math error. Thanks for the correction.

[CU77]

A hiring freeze is a hiring freeze. If a great university says it's not hiring professors, it shouldn't be hiring a new lacrosse coach.

Well they haven't exactly said that:

Most significant are the freeze on all new staff and temporary staff hires, and the cancellation of salary increases originally set to go in effect on July 1st. The hiring freeze does not apply to academic hires like professors, though the letter states all proposed faculty hires will be "carefully reviewed" by deans.

https://ithacavoice.com/2020/03/cornell ... -salaries/

I do agree with not hiring a new coach at this point.

[Gobigred]

Thanks. Then, Cornell has its priorities right.

[LRoggy]

I got to know Connor down here with the Launch and liked him a lot. But college politics is hard enough for someone with a lot more experience. Good luck Connor! You'll need some of it.

[RedIvy]

This is all unfortunate, we went from a very hopefull season playing out as or better than expected with final four or even higher aspirations, to a canceled season and then to loosing a coach who many thought put the program in good hands after challenging times since JT left for Penn State 10 years ago. I’m not sure there is much that could have been done differently to have the current situation be different. I for one think with or without the interim tag PM would have taken this opportunity, in all fairness it’s an opportunity of a lifetime. I’m happy that Cornell Lacrosse is well represented in D1 lacrosse with both alumni and former coaches, ultimately this is good for the program over the long term.

Considering the current situation the world is in and to remain true to the Universities values, moving Connor Bucsek to the new “interim” position is the best solution (IMO). He knows the current players, recruits and other coaches. He is a great player, obviously very smart, with two Cornell degrees and although young seems to Handel himself well. The quick fill of the void at least for the short term is important as well.

This all may work out well with a very young smart and up and coming alumni at the helm if in fact this is what CB even wants. CB seemed to fall into coaching while completing his MBA. Having said that I’m confident he is committed to the program and the University to provide any help he can for at least the short term. We are fortunate to have two alumni at the helm right now.

[Gobigred]

I’m not sure there is much that could have been done differently to have the current situation be different. I for one think with or without the interim tag PM would have taken this opportunity, in all fairness it’s an opportunity of a lifetime.

I agree. Whether we in the Cornell family like it or not, the Hopkins job is still seen as at or near the pinnacle of the profession, and therefore hard to turn down. Plus, while Hop has high academic standards, there is no B1G academic index to deal with, there are jock scholarships to buy kids you really want, and a near-guarantee of an NCAA slot with an over .500 record (see 2019).

[CU77]

As a very vocal critic of AN for hanging the interim tag on PM, I agree that it likely was not the difference maker in PM going to Hop. For one thing it's very likely that PM's getting a big salary boost. And top coaching talent very often flows out of the Ivys (you know the names).

In 40 years, only three men have won the national championship at an Ivy: Moran, Tierney, Shay. It's likely not a coincidence that all three had long-term commitments to their Ivy schools.

[cltlax]

JeffCincy ?

That's him. Thanks. He was a big Buczek fan and a family friend I believe. I enjoyed his posts. He immediately came to my mind yesterday.

+1 Yes, he would be very proud!

+1. The Queen City’s finest. Buczek came out to LI to play some club ball against better competition. LI Express told him there was a spot on the B team. Buczek quickly found his way to the A team. ( that’s the legend, anyway)

Many so-called "Queen City" places; Cincy in this case

I believe they meant to say Porkopolis...

[Switzerland]

This may have been covered already, but given their backgrounds and bios, did Buczek leapfrog Stevens from 2nd assistant to HC?

[Matnum PI]

Ithaca.com...

https://www.ithaca.com/sports/steve_law ... d518a.html