Can a D3 team without grad players win the National Title

[shorelax12]

Not sure how this relates to fifth year players winning titles but large rosters hasn’t hurt Salisbury they are at about 53 , W&L 57 , Tufts 58. Who is over 60 other than Stevenson close to 70.

I just looked at CNU roster and I think they are just over 60

I agree that it is a large number to deal with, but some kids just want to be part of the program. Also, it affords the coach some flexibility timewise in order to develop younger players, and also gives those younger players time to acclimate to the program. The greater impact would seem to be a top heavy roster with kids that, despite a few years on the team, will never be role players, but then again, those kids have accepted their role and just want to be part of the team. Frankly, the kids that hang around despite not seeing a lot of field time deserve a ton of respect, it is a lot of time and effort on their part.

[Nosey Ned]

Another question which is somewhat related. Is a roster of 60+ players hurt the team in the long run? Hard to get reps for the freshman.

I’m not sure about the damage it causes to a team’s run for a Championship directly but indirectly I have to believe it hurts team chemistry. If I’m not mistaken a coach bus holds about 54 people so if you leave room for coaches and trainers that gives you about 48-49 seats on the bus. Meaning you now have to have a travel team and a home team. No team is bringing 2 buses on the road. Much like we blast the NCAA for leaving players off tournament rosters, we should blast coaches for having to leave kids home for away games. We all know, most of the longest lasting memories with your teammates happen on the bus, in the hotel or at a team meal - probably on the 1week Spring Break trip. So as a player (or parent of a player) I would want no part of a 60-70 man roster.

One bus and one van for all of Tufts' team/trainers/coaches in 2023. Van was pretty coveted as less noisy and better able to do work. In the Covid year, 2021, Tufts had two buses and a van so the kids could "social distance" on the bus ffs.

So all rostered players make the away games. Glad to hear that. That is probably the exception unfortunately and not the rule for teams with 55+ helmets. If I’m wrong please LMK. Think Stevenson showed up in Ohio on 1 bus meaning 15-20 players didn’t make the trip. That’s awful.

[Dehuntshigwa’es]

Another question which is somewhat related. Is a roster of 60+ players hurt the team in the long run? Hard to get reps for the freshman.

I’m not sure about the damage it causes to a team’s run for a Championship directly but indirectly I have to believe it hurts team chemistry. If I’m not mistaken a coach bus holds about 54 people so if you leave room for coaches and trainers that gives you about 48-49 seats on the bus. Meaning you now have to have a travel team and a home team. No team is bringing 2 buses on the road. Much like we blast the NCAA for leaving players off tournament rosters, we should blast coaches for having to leave kids home for away games. We all know, most of the longest lasting memories with your teammates happen on the bus, in the hotel or at a team meal - probably on the 1week Spring Break trip. So as a player (or parent of a player) I would want no part of a 60-70 man roster.

One bus and one van for all of Tufts' team/trainers/coaches in 2023. Van was pretty coveted as less noisy and better able to do work. In the Covid year, 2021, Tufts had two buses and a van so the kids could "social distance" on the bus ffs.

So all rostered players make the away games. Glad to hear that. That is probably the exception unfortunately and not the rule for teams with 55+ helmets. If I’m wrong please LMK. Think Stevenson showed up in Ohio on 1 bus meaning 15-20 players didn’t make the trip. That’s awful.

Stevenson has been putting up large rosters for a decade. I recall a player that was accepted as a freshman had little to no idea as to the roster size. Needless to say it was a wake up call. Buyer beware, I agree a lot of kids are happy being part of a program ( have to give these kids a lot of credit for putting the work and time in) but about 20-25 % of the roster aren’t seeing the field. Mustang Classic must be fun dressing for however !

[Jknows]

Hopefully the first and last time I ever defend Stevenson, but at one point they actually had a JV schedule for men’s lacrosse due to their numbers. So they had a delineation on members of their travel roster and the JV team played against local community colleges and whoever else they could find to play. Not sure if those JV members dressed for home games.

[Gullsby1000]

Not sure how this relates to fifth year players winning titles but large rosters hasn’t hurt Salisbury they are at about 53 , W&L 57 , Tufts 58. Who is over 60 other than Stevenson close to 70.

Salisbury has 66 players on the roster right now. Not all will travel but they have lots of depth. Had over 70 kids in the fall but had to make cuts.

[Unknown Participant]

Another question which is somewhat related. Is a roster of 60+ players hurt the team in the long run? Hard to get reps for the freshman.

I’m not sure about the damage it causes to a team’s run for a Championship directly but indirectly I have to believe it hurts team chemistry. If I’m not mistaken a coach bus holds about 54 people so if you leave room for coaches and trainers that gives you about 48-49 seats on the bus. Meaning you now have to have a travel team and a home team. No team is bringing 2 buses on the road. Much like we blast the NCAA for leaving players off tournament rosters, we should blast coaches for having to leave kids home for away games. We all know, most of the longest lasting memories with your teammates happen on the bus, in the hotel or at a team meal - probably on the 1week Spring Break trip. So as a player (or parent of a player) I would want no part of a 60-70 man roster.

One bus and one van for all of Tufts' team/trainers/coaches in 2023. Van was pretty coveted as less noisy and better able to do work. In the Covid year, 2021, Tufts had two buses and a van so the kids could "social distance" on the bus ffs.

So all rostered players make the away games. Glad to hear that. That is probably the exception unfortunately and not the rule for teams with 55+ helmets. If I’m wrong please LMK. Think Stevenson showed up in Ohio on 1 bus meaning 15-20 players didn’t make the trip. That’s awful.

Tufts and most teams it plays seem to do it that way. Really good for team building/bonding. Some of the teams that show up for first round of NCAAs with 20-25 players may not, which sucks for the kids left out. (It was that way back in my day too.)

I can see Stevenson doing that, pretty mercenary program based on what I have heard/read, as well as according to my older son's HS teammate who went there for a year. According to him, when he told the staff he was transferring, the staff did not even know his name. Maybe not true (or only partially true), but I know the Tufts' staff knows all the players on the roster really well on a personal level.

[ICGrad]

Stevenson has been putting up large rosters for a decade. I recall a player that was accepted as a freshman had little to no idea as to the roster size. Needless to say it was a wake up call. B

My son plays d3 basketball for one of the better programs in the country (he's a freshman and on the jv squad). One of the teams they played against earlier this season had 25 players...on the JV squad. For basketball.

One of his HS teammates was on that team; he was none too pleased to get to campus and discover the number of basketball players who had been admitted into the program.

[Jumbo]

D3 basketball teams have JV squads. Is this common??

[Unknown Participant]

Stevenson has been putting up large rosters for a decade. I recall a player that was accepted as a freshman had little to no idea as to the roster size. Needless to say it was a wake up call. B

My son plays d3 basketball for one of the better programs in the country (he's a freshman and on the jv squad). One of the teams they played against earlier this season had 25 players...on the JV squad. For basketball.

One of his HS teammates was on that team; he was none too pleased to get to campus and discover the number of basketball players who had been admitted into the program.

He didn't look at the roster size when applying?

[ICGrad]

D3 basketball teams have JV squads. Is this common??

Yes; very common. I was surprised, too, though given that many d3 schools use athletics as recruiting tools I guess I shouldn't have been.

I'm in Indiana; as far as I know, every d3 program in the state has a jv squad. In the multi-state conference my son plays in, all of the schools have jv squads.

As for my son's friend not asking. he was specifically told that they have a max of 12 kids on the jv roster. There's a dearth of info about most of these jv squads on the team websites, so unless you know someone from the team you would be hard pressed to find info on the jv rosters of prior years.

EDIT: It may be a midwest thing? Looking at my alma mater, it doesn't appear that they have a jv team.

[Dehuntshigwa’es]

With rosters popping up we are beginning to see what I’d call” super teams” . Only because I follow the ODAC closely I wanted to see what Lynchburg returns; it’s everybody. Their goalie Hadley returns for a 5th year with 50 games, 32 starts and is an AA. Mitchell 67 career games 151 career pts, Ian McCarthy 54 games 38 pts, Marindin on D 64 games 74 gbs 41 cto’s , Cotter 29 games 25 pts , Shuster 50 games 47 gbs 31 cto’s, Dylan Wolfe 53 games 112 pts. Lynchburg is my dark horse to win it all , top choice is CNU. All ODAC teams need to step up and bring their best this season to beat the Hornets.

For my pick of the year hands down is CNU 13 grads 12 seniors; 5 yr- Miller 59 games 190 pts, Mercado 37 games, 24 pts, Adam’s, 55 games 86 pts, Wheeler Def, 62 games 61 gbs , Auslander 62 games 210 pts, 74 gbs Brandes 67 games 227 pts 85 gbs, Hannah goalie 60 starts 54% save pct. Foti ? Randy Mac transfer, Cook 42 games 164 pts 47 gbs, kropnski 37 games,25 gbs O’Brien …Brost Def 45 games 62 gbs Young Def, 58 games 164 gbs, 113 cto’s. …. I will be very surprised if they can’t win it all. The saying has always been you win with your seniors , it can be said now you win with your grad students.

[D3LaxFan2]

With rosters popping up we are beginning to see what I’d call” super teams” . Only because I follow the ODAC closely I wanted to see what Lynchburg returns; it’s everybody. Their goalie Hadley returns for a 5th year with 50 games, 32 starts and is an AA. Mitchell 67 career games 151 career pts, Ian McCarthy 54 games 38 pts, Marindin on D 64 games 74 gbs 41 cto’s , Cotter 29 games 25 pts , Shuster 50 games 47 gbs 31 cto’s, Dylan Wolfe 53 games 112 pts. Lynchburg is my dark horse to win it all , top choice is CNU. All ODAC teams need to step up and bring their best this season to beat the Hornets.

If Lynchburg is a "super team," I guess that makes Tufts NJIT?