Recruiting

[LaxPundit07]

If I could do over again I probably would’ve had at least another 6k in my pocket from the last three years. You learn. I guess.

On a side not got two more emails from the UA director. Appreciate her and I’m trying to tell her I’m not upset, but I guess it’s getting lost in translation. My daughter was thrilled to not have to play a third game today and quite frankly so was I. Wish tomorrow was cancelled as well.

Funny. All these showcases for “recruiting purposes.” I wonder how many kids actually get recruited from showcase. Million dollar industry making people rich. If you think UA and Juniors are bad you should register for the MarylandShowcase. They still haven’t released what colleges will be there. However, the event is just about sold out. Insane. How do you go to a showcase not knowing who will be there. I heard Juniors didn’t tell anyone either.

Maryland Showcase will be a lot of D2 and D3 only. And they say they’re sold out but they’ll just keep adding teams if needed. Any D1 coach spotted will be an assistant to an assistant who will swing by for 15 min on their way to something else. My daughter was coached by the coach of Lincoln Memorial wlax - no hate to her or her school whatsoever but that’s the gist of the schools that will be there.

Tell us how much you disrespect D2 and D3 without telling us how much you disrespect D2 and D3…..

[cltlax]

I saw a comment on this thread about "parents chasing the dream" and I've seen this even in U10, many parents are paying for 1 on 1 instruction over the summer, in addition to camps, clubs etc... Of course I do live near a hot spot for lax but still.

I've become a big fan of women's lax so I totally get wanting to get better and play at a high level but I'm not understanding the college dream part of it. My daughter is still young so maybe some others could help me understand?

As far as I know women's lax scholarships are insignificant, I mean if your Charlotte North maybe you get a nice scholarship but it's so rare. Looking at the alumni at the various clubs that my daughters teammates are joining it's a long list of schools I've never heard of, in places I've never heard of. No offense to those schools it's just that you can go to any of them without lax, you just show up with money and your in. Maybe the dream is just to play longer and get the college athlete experience which I agree is awesome but there's no scholarship money in it (as far as I understand).

When I say chasing the dream it’s the dream of getting committed to a division one program, not scholarship dollars. On a team with 12 full scholarships and 34 roster spots, the typical player gets a 1/3 of a ride. That’s real money….but I don’t believe it’s the heart of the “chase”. It’s the prestige/dream of playing for a top program. There are tons of opportunities to continue to play lacrosse after high school: Division 2,3 and club all offer great experiences. But the clubs and showcases are for the most part selling the dream of high level division one lacrosse.
And that’s a shame, because that represents a small minority of the college lacrosse experience. D1 has about 125 college lacrosse programs. D2 has 106. D3 has 293. There are 225 WCLA club teams. So less than 17 percent of college lacrosse players will play division one lacrosse. Maybe 5 percent of high school players.
If parents, coaches and players would be more realistic about where they likely fit, there would be a lot less angst and bitterness about the recruiting experience…

And within the bottom half of those 125 DI programs, there's a lot of mediocrity. But for some, it's all about being able to brag about "playing DI lacrosse".

[Deacon022]

I saw a comment on this thread about "parents chasing the dream" and I've seen this even in U10, many parents are paying for 1 on 1 instruction over the summer, in addition to camps, clubs etc... Of course I do live near a hot spot for lax but still.

I've become a big fan of women's lax so I totally get wanting to get better and play at a high level but I'm not understanding the college dream part of it. My daughter is still young so maybe some others could help me understand?

As far as I know women's lax scholarships are insignificant, I mean if your Charlotte North maybe you get a nice scholarship but it's so rare. Looking at the alumni at the various clubs that my daughters teammates are joining it's a long list of schools I've never heard of, in places I've never heard of. No offense to those schools it's just that you can go to any of them without lax, you just show up with money and your in. Maybe the dream is just to play longer and get the college athlete experience which I agree is awesome but there's no scholarship money in it (as far as I understand).

When I say chasing the dream it’s the dream of getting committed to a division one program, not scholarship dollars. On a team with 12 full scholarships and 34 roster spots, the typical player gets a 1/3 of a ride. That’s real money….but I don’t believe it’s the heart of the “chase”. It’s the prestige/dream of playing for a top program. There are tons of opportunities to continue to play lacrosse after high school: Division 2,3 and club all offer great experiences. But the clubs and showcases are for the most part selling the dream of high level division one lacrosse.
And that’s a shame, because that represents a small minority of the college lacrosse experience. D1 has about 125 college lacrosse programs. D2 has 106. D3 has 293. There are 225 WCLA club teams. So less than 17 percent of college lacrosse players will play division one lacrosse. Maybe 5 percent of high school players.
If parents, coaches and players would be more realistic about where they likely fit, there would be a lot less angst and bitterness about the recruiting experience…

And within the bottom half of those 125 DI programs, there's a lot of mediocrity. But for some, it's all about being able to brag about "playing DI lacrosse".

Yep problem I’m having now. Top 5 D2 school reached out to my daughter. Great school. Great location. Would love for her to go there. But I get, “it’s D2 dad.” I want to strangle her but Im trying to understand she’s 16 years old in an era where the kids have all the information we never had at their fingertips, but their maturity level as a whole is much lower than when we grew up. I tried telling her this school would probably beat 50 D1 teams.

[WLaxdad]

I saw a comment on this thread about "parents chasing the dream" and I've seen this even in U10, many parents are paying for 1 on 1 instruction over the summer, in addition to camps, clubs etc... Of course I do live near a hot spot for lax but still.

I've become a big fan of women's lax so I totally get wanting to get better and play at a high level but I'm not understanding the college dream part of it. My daughter is still young so maybe some others could help me understand?

As far as I know women's lax scholarships are insignificant, I mean if your Charlotte North maybe you get a nice scholarship but it's so rare. Looking at the alumni at the various clubs that my daughters teammates are joining it's a long list of schools I've never heard of, in places I've never heard of. No offense to those schools it's just that you can go to any of them without lax, you just show up with money and your in. Maybe the dream is just to play longer and get the college athlete experience which I agree is awesome but there's no scholarship money in it (as far as I understand).

From my perspective, kids figure out pretty quick that an only small number will receive any athletic scholarship of substance. But many love the game and have spent their whole lives playing competitively at a high level. Makes sense that they’re interested in continuing to play.

And lax families I see aren’t desperate for college $$ help either. It’s hardly a hunt for the scholarship mentality.

I agree with this. I’m the poorest family on my daughters last two club teams. Some of the kids didn’t have just one beach house they had multiple. That being said, if the parents who wanted to get their kids scholarships put the money they spent from travel lacrosse into a Roth IRA or 529, they could’ve probably paid off two years worth of college.

Makes way to much sense . Plus it is much more fun at a cocktail party to say little Suzy got a lacrosse scholarship than to talk about the success of your Roth IRA

These comments put things into perspective for me. It makes sense if the intensity isn't really about scholarships it's more about seeing someone you love succeed at something. I grew up poor so I'm new to this realm of thinking . It's not all about money once you earn enough to not worry about it constantly....

Along these lines I see Taylor Cummings & Charlotte North are running 6 hour training sessions at $600 a head maybe I should rethink my immediate negativity towards this

[lax410]

I saw a comment on this thread about "parents chasing the dream" and I've seen this even in U10, many parents are paying for 1 on 1 instruction over the summer, in addition to camps, clubs etc... Of course I do live near a hot spot for lax but still.

I've become a big fan of women's lax so I totally get wanting to get better and play at a high level but I'm not understanding the college dream part of it. My daughter is still young so maybe some others could help me understand?

As far as I know women's lax scholarships are insignificant, I mean if your Charlotte North maybe you get a nice scholarship but it's so rare. Looking at the alumni at the various clubs that my daughters teammates are joining it's a long list of schools I've never heard of, in places I've never heard of. No offense to those schools it's just that you can go to any of them without lax, you just show up with money and your in. Maybe the dream is just to play longer and get the college athlete experience which I agree is awesome but there's no scholarship money in it (as far as I understand).

When I say chasing the dream it’s the dream of getting committed to a division one program, not scholarship dollars. On a team with 12 full scholarships and 34 roster spots, the typical player gets a 1/3 of a ride. That’s real money….but I don’t believe it’s the heart of the “chase”. It’s the prestige/dream of playing for a top program. There are tons of opportunities to continue to play lacrosse after high school: Division 2,3 and club all offer great experiences. But the clubs and showcases are for the most part selling the dream of high level division one lacrosse.
And that’s a shame, because that represents a small minority of the college lacrosse experience. D1 has about 125 college lacrosse programs. D2 has 106. D3 has 293. There are 225 WCLA club teams. So less than 17 percent of college lacrosse players will play division one lacrosse. Maybe 5 percent of high school players.
If parents, coaches and players would be more realistic about where they likely fit, there would be a lot less angst and bitterness about the recruiting experience…

And within the bottom half of those 125 DI programs, there's a lot of mediocrity. But for some, it's all about being able to brag about "playing DI lacrosse".

Yep problem I’m having now. Top 5 D2 school reached out to my daughter. Great school. Great location. Would love for her to go there. But I get, “it’s D2 dad.” I want to strangle her but Im trying to understand she’s 16 years old in an era where the kids have all the information we never had at their fingertips, but their maturity level as a whole is much lower than when we grew up. I tried telling her this school would probably beat 50 D1 teams.

And the top D3 schools would be very competitive with the top D2 schools. I’ve seen these schools play one another in scrimmages.

[cltlax]

I saw a comment on this thread about "parents chasing the dream" and I've seen this even in U10, many parents are paying for 1 on 1 instruction over the summer, in addition to camps, clubs etc... Of course I do live near a hot spot for lax but still.

I've become a big fan of women's lax so I totally get wanting to get better and play at a high level but I'm not understanding the college dream part of it. My daughter is still young so maybe some others could help me understand?

As far as I know women's lax scholarships are insignificant, I mean if your Charlotte North maybe you get a nice scholarship but it's so rare. Looking at the alumni at the various clubs that my daughters teammates are joining it's a long list of schools I've never heard of, in places I've never heard of. No offense to those schools it's just that you can go to any of them without lax, you just show up with money and your in. Maybe the dream is just to play longer and get the college athlete experience which I agree is awesome but there's no scholarship money in it (as far as I understand).

When I say chasing the dream it’s the dream of getting committed to a division one program, not scholarship dollars. On a team with 12 full scholarships and 34 roster spots, the typical player gets a 1/3 of a ride. That’s real money….but I don’t believe it’s the heart of the “chase”. It’s the prestige/dream of playing for a top program. There are tons of opportunities to continue to play lacrosse after high school: Division 2,3 and club all offer great experiences. But the clubs and showcases are for the most part selling the dream of high level division one lacrosse.
And that’s a shame, because that represents a small minority of the college lacrosse experience. D1 has about 125 college lacrosse programs. D2 has 106. D3 has 293. There are 225 WCLA club teams. So less than 17 percent of college lacrosse players will play division one lacrosse. Maybe 5 percent of high school players.
If parents, coaches and players would be more realistic about where they likely fit, there would be a lot less angst and bitterness about the recruiting experience…

And within the bottom half of those 125 DI programs, there's a lot of mediocrity. But for some, it's all about being able to brag about "playing DI lacrosse".

Yep problem I’m having now. Top 5 D2 school reached out to my daughter. Great school. Great location. Would love for her to go there. But I get, “it’s D2 dad.” I want to strangle her but Im trying to understand she’s 16 years old in an era where the kids have all the information we never had at their fingertips, but their maturity level as a whole is much lower than when we grew up. I tried telling her this school would probably beat 50 D1 teams.

And the top D3 schools would be very competitive with the top D2 schools. I’ve seen these schools play one another in scrimmages.

Which is why my daughter has targeted multiple top 10 ranked DIII programs that have very high academics. Best of both worlds.

[LaxPundit07]

I was the head coach of a start up D1 back in the day.

Gettysburg, Salisbury, Pace, Adelphi would have beat the hell out of us.

Tell your daughter she will be getting a higher caliber lacrosse experience at one of those places vs an Akron, Youngstown State, Wofford, etc.

[user1020]

I was the head coach of a start up D1 back in the day.

Gettysburg, Salisbury, Pace, Adelphi would have beat the hell out of us.

Tell your daughter she will be getting a higher caliber lacrosse experience at one of those places vs an Akron, Youngstown State, Wofford, etc.

These top 5 D3 programs are legit. Knew someone under recruited out of HS. She had a few options of some decent middle of the road D1 programs in the 30-60 range or to play for a NC at Salisbury. Loved the coach but didn’t like the campus. Picked a D1 school that was a better fit for her all around but was a worse team at the time. Team ended up improving a ton. She ended up as a 3 year starter, 2 year captain, all conference, and won 2 conference titles. Shows how these D3 schools are recruiting the same girls as D1 schools.

[user1020]

I was the head coach of a start up D1 back in the day.

Gettysburg, Salisbury, Pace, Adelphi would have beat the hell out of us.

Tell your daughter she will be getting a higher caliber lacrosse experience at one of those places vs an Akron, Youngstown State, Wofford, etc.

These top 5 D3 programs are legit. Knew someone under recruited out of HS. She had a few options of some decent middle of the road D1 programs in the 30-60 range or to play for a NC at Salisbury. Loved the coach but didn’t like the campus. Picked a D1 school that was a better fit for her all around but was a worse team at the time. Team ended up improving a ton. She ended up as a 3 year starter, 2 year captain, all conference, and won 2 conference titles. Shows how these D3 schools are recruiting the same girls as D1 schools.

Her HS team won a MD state title with a few top D3 commits that were starters over average D1 commits.

[LaxDadMax]

I was the head coach of a start up D1 back in the day.

Gettysburg, Salisbury, Pace, Adelphi would have beat the hell out of us.

Tell your daughter she will be getting a higher caliber lacrosse experience at one of those places vs an Akron, Youngstown State, Wofford, etc.

These top 5 D3 programs are legit. Knew someone under recruited out of HS. She had a few options of some decent middle of the road D1 programs in the 30-60 range or to play for a NC at Salisbury. Loved the coach but didn’t like the campus. Picked a D1 school that was a better fit for her all around but was a worse team at the time. Team ended up improving a ton. She ended up as a 3 year starter, 2 year captain, all conference, and won 2 conference titles. Shows how these D3 schools are recruiting the same girls as D1 schools.

Absolutely. In fall ball 2 years ago I believe, MIddlebury absolutely destroyed Darthmouth. Last year, Marquette had to come back from 3 down in the 4th quarter to beat Chicago (barely a top 20 D3 program).

If you look at the starters for any top 10 D3 team, at least 50% of them had D1 offers, in the case of Middlebury or Tufts, that number is closer to 100%. In my opinion, a D3 final four team would probably be ranked between 25 and 40 in D1.

Last year's Middlebury team would have been top 25 and made the D1 NCAA tourney if they were in any conference other than the ACC.

[Brownlax]

I was the head coach of a start up D1 back in the day.

Gettysburg, Salisbury, Pace, Adelphi would have beat the hell out of us.

Tell your daughter she will be getting a higher caliber lacrosse experience at one of those places vs an Akron, Youngstown State, Wofford, etc.

These top 5 D3 programs are legit. Knew someone under recruited out of HS. She had a few options of some decent middle of the road D1 programs in the 30-60 range or to play for a NC at Salisbury. Loved the coach but didn’t like the campus. Picked a D1 school that was a better fit for her all around but was a worse team at the time. Team ended up improving a ton. She ended up as a 3 year starter, 2 year captain, all conference, and won 2 conference titles. Shows how these D3 schools are recruiting the same girls as D1 schools.

Absolutely. In fall ball 2 years ago I believe, MIddlebury absolutely destroyed Darthmouth. Last year, Marquette had to come back from 3 down in the 4th quarter to beat Chicago (barely a top 20 D3 program).

If you look at the starters for any top 10 D3 team, at least 50% of them had D1 offers, in the case of Middlebury or Tufts, that number is closer to 100%. In my opinion, a D3 final four team would probably be ranked between 25 and 40 in D1.

Last year's Middlebury team would have been top 25 and made the D1 NCAA tourney if they were in any conference other than the ACC.

I think it’s a real stretch to say Middlebury would have been a top 25 team and would have made the tournament.

[LaxGnome22]

I think some here are forgetting we are looking at this through the lens of being 40-50 years old. These are 15-16 year old kids making this decision. I’m sure when we were 15 if a D 1 team at a school like Ohio State was looking at you, I’m sure you would say no, I’m gonna go to D3 and have an easier time in school. Maybe some of us would’ve, but the majority would have also chased the number. Don’t forget. Five or six years ago in between lacrosse practice and games we were forced to watch iCarly with them. Although if we are being honest, was a pretty good show. They are still just kids. I’m trying to lead my daughter down the path of great school first, playing time second and division last. I am failing miserably. The school most likely is going to be great. Playing time, not sure if she continually wants to play top 25. Would rather her go to a d2, get more money and play as a freshman. But it’s her choice.

[Deacon022]

I was the head coach of a start up D1 back in the day.

Gettysburg, Salisbury, Pace, Adelphi would have beat the hell out of us.

Tell your daughter she will be getting a higher caliber lacrosse experience at one of those places vs an Akron, Youngstown State, Wofford, etc.

These top 5 D3 programs are legit. Knew someone under recruited out of HS. She had a few options of some decent middle of the road D1 programs in the 30-60 range or to play for a NC at Salisbury. Loved the coach but didn’t like the campus. Picked a D1 school that was a better fit for her all around but was a worse team at the time. Team ended up improving a ton. She ended up as a 3 year starter, 2 year captain, all conference, and won 2 conference titles. Shows how these D3 schools are recruiting the same girls as D1 schools.

Absolutely. In fall ball 2 years ago I believe, MIddlebury absolutely destroyed Darthmouth. Last year, Marquette had to come back from 3 down in the 4th quarter to beat Chicago (barely a top 20 D3 program).

If you look at the starters for any top 10 D3 team, at least 50% of them had D1 offers, in the case of Middlebury or Tufts, that number is closer to 100%. In my opinion, a D3 final four team would probably be ranked between 25 and 40 in D1.

Last year's Middlebury team would have been top 25 and made the D1 NCAA tourney if they were in any conference other than the ACC.

What I tried telling my daughter. Pace, Tampa, Westchester would’ve have beat any team outside the top 40 in D1. Probably somewhat competitive with 20-40. But they know more.

[lacrossemwj]

My dd was heavily recruited by Pace. She didn't end up there because the school was not the perfect fit for a few non-lacrosse reasons, but she still feels a tinge of regret, especially since they won the natty but more because that coach is AWESOME. So fyi if you know girls looking at D2.

[user1020]

I was the head coach of a start up D1 back in the day.

Gettysburg, Salisbury, Pace, Adelphi would have beat the hell out of us.

Tell your daughter she will be getting a higher caliber lacrosse experience at one of those places vs an Akron, Youngstown State, Wofford, etc.

These top 5 D3 programs are legit. Knew someone under recruited out of HS. She had a few options of some decent middle of the road D1 programs in the 30-60 range or to play for a NC at Salisbury. Loved the coach but didn’t like the campus. Picked a D1 school that was a better fit for her all around but was a worse team at the time. Team ended up improving a ton. She ended up as a 3 year starter, 2 year captain, all conference, and won 2 conference titles. Shows how these D3 schools are recruiting the same girls as D1 schools.

Absolutely. In fall ball 2 years ago I believe, MIddlebury absolutely destroyed Darthmouth. Last year, Marquette had to come back from 3 down in the 4th quarter to beat Chicago (barely a top 20 D3 program).

If you look at the starters for any top 10 D3 team, at least 50% of them had D1 offers, in the case of Middlebury or Tufts, that number is closer to 100%. In my opinion, a D3 final four team would probably be ranked between 25 and 40 in D1.

Last year's Middlebury team would have been top 25 and made the D1 NCAA tourney if they were in any conference other than the ACC.

I agree with the 25-40 range. Her college team played some close fall balls games vs Gettysburg

[cltlax]

I think some here are forgetting we are looking at this through the lens of being 40-50 years old. These are 15-16 year old kids making this decision. I’m sure when we were 15 if a D 1 team at a school like Ohio State was looking at you, I’m sure you would say no, I’m gonna go to D3 and have an easier time in school. Maybe some of us would’ve, but the majority would have also chased the number. Don’t forget. Five or six years ago in between lacrosse practice and games we were forced to watch iCarly with them. Although if we are being honest, was a pretty good show. They are still just kids. I’m trying to lead my daughter down the path of great school first, playing time second and division last. I am failing miserably. The school most likely is going to be great. Playing time, not sure if she continually wants to play top 25. Would rather her go to a d2, get more money and play as a freshman. But it’s her choice.

What's also working into the decision is that my D24 also plays ECNL soccer, so is trying to figure out which (or both) she wants to play in college. Makes it harder to be laser-focused on DI.

[Womenslaxxfan]

I was the head coach of a start up D1 back in the day.

Gettysburg, Salisbury, Pace, Adelphi would have beat the hell out of us.

Tell your daughter she will be getting a higher caliber lacrosse experience at one of those places vs an Akron, Youngstown State, Wofford, etc.

These top 5 D3 programs are legit. Knew someone under recruited out of HS. She had a few options of some decent middle of the road D1 programs in the 30-60 range or to play for a NC at Salisbury. Loved the coach but didn’t like the campus. Picked a D1 school that was a better fit for her all around but was a worse team at the time. Team ended up improving a ton. She ended up as a 3 year starter, 2 year captain, all conference, and won 2 conference titles. Shows how these D3 schools are recruiting the same girls as D1 schools.

Absolutely. In fall ball 2 years ago I believe, MIddlebury absolutely destroyed Darthmouth. Last year, Marquette had to come back from 3 down in the 4th quarter to beat Chicago (barely a top 20 D3 program).

If you look at the starters for any top 10 D3 team, at least 50% of them had D1 offers, in the case of Middlebury or Tufts, that number is closer to 100%. In my opinion, a D3 final four team would probably be ranked between 25 and 40 in D1.

Last year's Middlebury team would have been top 25 and made the D1 NCAA tourney if they were in any conference other than the ACC.

I think it’s a real stretch to say Middlebury would have been a top 25 team and would have made the tournament.

Agree with Brownlax here. I had one daughter recently graduate from top 4 d3 program and another from top 10 d1. Stanford or UConn (top 25 d1 team) would have demolished my d3 daughters team. Demolished. And my d1 daughters team would have running clock in second quarter. The top 5 girls on my d3 daughters team could compete for starting positions at Stanford, Virginia tech, Princeton etc. but that’s it. The talent drops off—as it you would expect. 100 percent of midd or tufts did NOT have top 40 d1 offers. Midd gets some players that also had top 4 ivy bids. But the ivies win that recruiting battle 4 times out of 5.
My d3 daughter loved her experience as much as my d1 and our family loved it too. But having seen both products up close for 8 years, the top tier d3 teams are more competitive with the bottom 60 percent of division 1 programs than the top 40 percent. In my opinion.

[lax410]

I was the head coach of a start up D1 back in the day.

Gettysburg, Salisbury, Pace, Adelphi would have beat the hell out of us.

Tell your daughter she will be getting a higher caliber lacrosse experience at one of those places vs an Akron, Youngstown State, Wofford, etc.

These top 5 D3 programs are legit. Knew someone under recruited out of HS. She had a few options of some decent middle of the road D1 programs in the 30-60 range or to play for a NC at Salisbury. Loved the coach but didn’t like the campus. Picked a D1 school that was a better fit for her all around but was a worse team at the time. Team ended up improving a ton. She ended up as a 3 year starter, 2 year captain, all conference, and won 2 conference titles. Shows how these D3 schools are recruiting the same girls as D1 schools.

Absolutely. In fall ball 2 years ago I believe, MIddlebury absolutely destroyed Darthmouth. Last year, Marquette had to come back from 3 down in the 4th quarter to beat Chicago (barely a top 20 D3 program).

If you look at the starters for any top 10 D3 team, at least 50% of them had D1 offers, in the case of Middlebury or Tufts, that number is closer to 100%. In my opinion, a D3 final four team would probably be ranked between 25 and 40 in D1.

Last year's Middlebury team would have been top 25 and made the D1 NCAA tourney if they were in any conference other than the ACC.

I think it’s a real stretch to say Middlebury would have been a top 25 team and would have made the tournament.

Agree with Brownlax here. I had one daughter recently graduate from top 4 d3 program and another from top 10 d1. Stanford or UConn (top 25 d1 team) would have demolished my d3 daughters team. Demolished. And my d1 daughters team would have running clock in second quarter. The top 5 girls on my d3 daughters team could compete for starting positions at Stanford, Virginia tech, Princeton etc. but that’s it. The talent drops off—as it you would expect. 100 percent of midd or tufts did NOT have top 40 d1 offers. Midd gets some players that also had top 4 ivy bids. But the ivies win that recruiting battle 4 times out of 5.
My d3 daughter loved her experience as much as my d1 and our family loved it too. But having seen both products up close for 8 years, the top tier d3 teams are more competitive with the bottom 60 percent of division 1 programs than the top 40 percent. In my opinion.

I agree entirely. As as result I see girls passing on lower half D1 schools, for D2/D3 schools with a better fit with great lacrosse. Think Wesleyan or Tufts instead of Quinnapac or UNH.

[Laxfan212]

If I could do over again I probably would’ve had at least another 6k in my pocket from the last three years. You learn. I guess.

On a side not got two more emails from the UA director. Appreciate her and I’m trying to tell her I’m not upset, but I guess it’s getting lost in translation. My daughter was thrilled to not have to play a third game today and quite frankly so was I. Wish tomorrow was cancelled as well.

Funny. All these showcases for “recruiting purposes.” I wonder how many kids actually get recruited from showcase. Million dollar industry making people rich. If you think UA and Juniors are bad you should register for the MarylandShowcase. They still haven’t released what colleges will be there. However, the event is just about sold out. Insane. How do you go to a showcase not knowing who will be there. I heard Juniors didn’t tell anyone either.

Maryland Showcase will be a lot of D2 and D3 only. And they say they’re sold out but they’ll just keep adding teams if needed. Any D1 coach spotted will be an assistant to an assistant who will swing by for 15 min on their way to something else. My daughter was coached by the coach of Lincoln Memorial wlax - no hate to her or her school whatsoever but that’s the gist of the schools that will be there.

Tell us how much you disrespect D2 and D3 without telling us how much you disrespect D2 and D3…..

Not at all. But the tournament should be transparent about who is coming. The list of committed college coaches had numerous schools on the list that didn’t end up coming - it was a bait and switch. My point in providing this info is to say that if your kids target is D2 and D3, that is the focus of this event. But if not, it’s not a great time and money investment.

[LaxDadMax]

I was the head coach of a start up D1 back in the day.

Gettysburg, Salisbury, Pace, Adelphi would have beat the hell out of us.

Tell your daughter she will be getting a higher caliber lacrosse experience at one of those places vs an Akron, Youngstown State, Wofford, etc.

These top 5 D3 programs are legit. Knew someone under recruited out of HS. She had a few options of some decent middle of the road D1 programs in the 30-60 range or to play for a NC at Salisbury. Loved the coach but didn’t like the campus. Picked a D1 school that was a better fit for her all around but was a worse team at the time. Team ended up improving a ton. She ended up as a 3 year starter, 2 year captain, all conference, and won 2 conference titles. Shows how these D3 schools are recruiting the same girls as D1 schools.

Absolutely. In fall ball 2 years ago I believe, MIddlebury absolutely destroyed Darthmouth. Last year, Marquette had to come back from 3 down in the 4th quarter to beat Chicago (barely a top 20 D3 program).

If you look at the starters for any top 10 D3 team, at least 50% of them had D1 offers, in the case of Middlebury or Tufts, that number is closer to 100%. In my opinion, a D3 final four team would probably be ranked between 25 and 40 in D1.

Last year's Middlebury team would have been top 25 and made the D1 NCAA tourney if they were in any conference other than the ACC.

I think it’s a real stretch to say Middlebury would have been a top 25 team and would have made the tournament.

Disagree. I believe they are better and could have beaten Marquette, Umass, Drexel and Penn St