USA Magazine Way Early Rankings for 2024

[Cno3putts]

Maryland's weak spot last year was in goal. If that improves, think they will definitely contend for top spot

[Cno3putts]

McNaney is the answer. I heard he is returning

[BigTom5]

If Duke doesn’t win this year in Brennan’s last year, is it one of the biggest choke jobs in history?

They have had a world games MVP caliber player playing at the college level, surrounded by top 3 recruiting classes every year, bolstered by transfers like Michael Sower, Sean Lulley, Alex Slusher, Josh Zawada, etc, with a top five fogo getting him possessions every year. Guess coaching really matters…

[Laxguy703]

Maryland's weak spot last year was in goal. If that improves, think they will definitely contend for top spot

Agreed. Ruppel showed some promise at the beginning of the year and essentially won them the UVA game, but after UVA he went about 46% for the rest of the year which won’t cut it.

I think Logan coming back will help soften the loss of Makar.

[10stone5]

Can't help but notice that Jacksonville is no where to be found. I guess everyone figured out that the coaches don't play.

Notwithstanding their Athletics websites crappy user interface, they are 26-7 over the last two seasons w wins over Duke (2x), Denver and Richmond.

Competitive conference.
McMinn is a top coach, Air Force, RMU.

[blue angels]

Maryland's weak spot last year was in goal. If that improves, think they will definitely contend for top spot

Agreed. Ruppel showed some promise at the beginning of the year and essentially won them the UVA game, but after UVA he went about 46% for the rest of the year which won’t cut it.

I think Logan coming back will help soften the loss of Makar.

Ruppel got thrown into the fire due to the AA starter’s injury at perhaps the toughest position and played brilliantly early and struggled after scouting reports developed on him. Regardless, he is a superb talent, will get much better, and a lot of other teams would love to have him. IMO, he caught way too much grief for Maryland’s fortunes. It was a tough spot to be placed in, but now, who else has 2 goalies with that kind of skill and experience. The problem is you can only play one.

[coda]

Maryland's weak spot last year was in goal. If that improves, think they will definitely contend for top spot

Agreed. Ruppel showed some promise at the beginning of the year and essentially won them the UVA game, but after UVA he went about 46% for the rest of the year which won’t cut it.

I think Logan coming back will help soften the loss of Makar.

Ruppel got thrown into the fire due to the AA starter’s injury at perhaps the toughest position and played brilliantly early and struggled after scouting reports developed on him. Regardless, he is a superb talent, will get much better, and a lot of other teams would love to have him. IMO, he caught way too much grief for Maryland’s fortunes. It was a tough spot to be placed in, but now, who else has 2 goalies with that kind of skill and experience. The problem is you can only play one.

He finished poorly, but so did the Maryland defense.

[blue angels]

Maryland's weak spot last year was in goal. If that improves, think they will definitely contend for top spot

Agreed. Ruppel showed some promise at the beginning of the year and essentially won them the UVA game, but after UVA he went about 46% for the rest of the year which won’t cut it.

I think Logan coming back will help soften the loss of Makar.

Ruppel got thrown into the fire due to the AA starter’s injury at perhaps the toughest position and played brilliantly early and struggled after scouting reports developed on him. Regardless, he is a superb talent, will get much better, and a lot of other teams would love to have him. IMO, he caught way too much grief for Maryland’s fortunes. It was a tough spot to be placed in, but now, who else has 2 goalies with that kind of skill and experience. The problem is you can only play one.

He finished poorly, but so did the Maryland defense.

Ok.... I am no Maryland fan, but do we not give him a little bit of a Mulligan for being thrust into a difficult situation way before ever expected. A similar situation played out with some "unrealistic" Virginia fans about Nunes early last year and he was 2nd year. They were arguing very early for a goalie change for a kid they had never seen. A few were bitching when Nunes was very close to 50% and solid in the clearing game. The impatience was unbelievable.

[coda]

Maryland's weak spot last year was in goal. If that improves, think they will definitely contend for top spot

Agreed. Ruppel showed some promise at the beginning of the year and essentially won them the UVA game, but after UVA he went about 46% for the rest of the year which won’t cut it.

I think Logan coming back will help soften the loss of Makar.

Ruppel got thrown into the fire due to the AA starter’s injury at perhaps the toughest position and played brilliantly early and struggled after scouting reports developed on him. Regardless, he is a superb talent, will get much better, and a lot of other teams would love to have him. IMO, he caught way too much grief for Maryland’s fortunes. It was a tough spot to be placed in, but now, who else has 2 goalies with that kind of skill and experience. The problem is you can only play one.

He finished poorly, but so did the Maryland defense.

Ok.... I am no Maryland fan, but do we not give him a little bit of a Mulligan for being thrust into a difficult situation way before ever expected. A similar situation played out with some "unrealistic" Virginia fans about Nunes early last year and he was 2nd year. They were arguing very early for a goalie change for a kid they had never seen. A few were bitching when Nunes was very close to 50% and solid in the clearing game. The impatience was unbelievable.

The point was the Maryland defense had injuries late in the year and wasn’t the same quality as early in the year. It isn’t a coincidence that Ruppel’s play degraded. He was facing more quality shots.

[PulpExposure]

Maryland's weak spot last year was in goal. If that improves, think they will definitely contend for top spot

Agreed. Ruppel showed some promise at the beginning of the year and essentially won them the UVA game, but after UVA he went about 46% for the rest of the year which won’t cut it.

I think Logan coming back will help soften the loss of Makar.

Ruppel got thrown into the fire due to the AA starter’s injury at perhaps the toughest position and played brilliantly early and struggled after scouting reports developed on him. Regardless, he is a superb talent, will get much better, and a lot of other teams would love to have him. IMO, he caught way too much grief for Maryland’s fortunes. It was a tough spot to be placed in, but now, who else has 2 goalies with that kind of skill and experience. The problem is you can only play one.

He finished poorly, but so did the Maryland defense.

Ok.... I am no Maryland fan, but do we not give him a little bit of a Mulligan for being thrust into a difficult situation way before ever expected. A similar situation played out with some "unrealistic" Virginia fans about Nunes early last year and he was 2nd year. They were arguing very early for a goalie change for a kid they had never seen. A few were bitching when Nunes was very close to 50% and solid in the clearing game. The impatience was unbelievable.

The point was the Maryland defense had injuries late in the year and wasn’t the same quality as early in the year. It isn’t a coincidence that Ruppel’s play degraded. He was facing more quality shots.

Yeah. It's a combination of Ruppel being a freshman and struggling like many freshman goaltenders can. But the defense wasn't anywhere near as good the year before. Burlace is a good 3rd pole, but Rahill was an HM AA the year before as a third pole. The SSDMs weren't anywhere near as good as that group they had before, which was a frankly ridiculous group of SSDMs. So the goalie was much more exposed.

[Cno3putts]

Not a MD fan, but a no-brainer. McNaney as a freshman was a cut above. In the final 4, he made the position his. His return is definitely a ++++

[Laxxal22]

Appreciate all the comments regarding Utah. I have never seen the campus but everyone’s points make it sound like it’s a great place to play lax.

I wish them continued success.

One more point. I'm not sure how it works for other state schools across the country, but my nephew goes to Utah (not a lacrosse player) as an out of stater. They make establishing residency very easy for students which then makes the college very affordable.

[44WeWantMore]

Contrast with VA:

Where an applicant moves to Virginia and enrolls as a full-time student soon afterwards, there is a rebuttable statutory presumption that they are living in Virginia as a resident rather than as a domicile. If an applicant's primary purpose in moving to Virginia was to attend school, it will be determined that the applicant is not entitled to in-state educational privileges. To rebut the statutory presumption, an applicant must provide clear and convincing evidence that their primary purpose for moving to Virginia was not to pursue educational objectives.

https://vastatus.virginia.edu/virginia- ... quirements

My bold.

[pcowlax]

To be fair to UVA, that is certainly how most schools do it. There is no point to the concept of “in-state” tuition if simply attending the school qualifies you as being in-state.

[Big Dog]

To be fair to UVA, that is certainly how most schools do it. There is no point to the concept of “in-state” tuition if simply attending the school qualifies you as being in-state.

Indeed.. Utah is one of the exceptions to the rule.