CSU to add lacrosse in fall of 2015

[GoTitans]

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ss ... wil_5.html

http://laxmagazine.com/college_men/DI/2 ... university

They hope to increase enrollment. Good move for CSU. They would become the 2nd public university in Ohio with lax, OSU being the other. Northeast Ohio has some strong lacrosse clubs. As does the Toledo and Cincinnati areas. And Cleveland is an easy shot up I-90 to a hotbed of lacrosse in Northwestern New York.

[GoTitans]

Its official, but they will be begin play in the spring of 2017.

Cleveland State University has announced that it will establish a varsity men's lacrosse program and begin recruiting athletes to compete in the spring season of the 2016-2017 academic year.
The addition comes as a result of a program prioritization process headed by CSU Athletics Director John Parry that explored factors including funding, competitiveness and national trends. Lacrosse is the fastest growing sport in the U.S. among high school athletes, and the CSU team will be the second NCAA Division I program in Ohio, joining Ohio State University.
"The addition of lacrosse brings to CSU a spectator sport that will build on the activities and excitement happening across the campus. We anticipate that students and the community will be attracted to Krenzler Field for a unique opportunity to see high-level competition," Parry said.

The prioritization process mirrors efforts across the university to best align resources with programs and activities that display strong growth potential. The review resulted in the determination that university funding for men's wrestling would be discontinued following the conclusion of the 2015-2016 season. The university will explore external funding sources that if secured, could allow continuation of the program.

http://www.csuvikings.com/genrel/2014-1 ... 5_Lacrosse

[titanmike]

Hopefully they won't be in our Lacrosse league.

[JimmyChitwood]

Hopefully they won't be in our Lacrosse league.

Why not? It would be an easy win for at least a few years. We have some fairly week teams in our conference. With our conference, it is all about being in the top 4 so they play in the conference tournament, and a chance at the automatic bid.

[titanmike]

Hopefully they won't be in our Lacrosse league.

Why not? It would be an easy win for at least a few years. We have some fairly week teams in our conference. With our conference, it is all about being in the top 4 so they play in the conference tournament, and a chance at the automatic bid.

Of course from that stand point I completely agree.

[JimmyChitwood]

There may be some overlap in recruiting. Most of our kids come from Michigan, Ontario and New York. CSU is not terribly far from Ontario and closer to New York, by a little. I imagine they would do what we do -- get some very good local talent and the best of the rest wherever they are.

I don't see the HL adding lacrosse in the near future though. There are some good programs in Ohio that could fill out CSU, YSU, and WSU rosters. Northern Indiana is fairly strong. Chicago has a lot of good programs. Marquette has a built a very solid program in just a few year. But overall, probably not enough DI players left to fill enough HL teams. If the sport continues to grow it could happen some day. I suggested years ago that HL push for lacrosse and become kind of a niche conference for that sport and beat other conferences. Too late now with the Big Ten.

Here is a map of schools with lacrosse programs. It is at least a couple years old since it does not have UofM or Marquette on it.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... ations.svg

Not many school West of Pennsylvania and the Carolinas.

[Commissioner]

There may be some overlap in recruiting. Most of our kids come from Michigan, Ontario and New York. CSU is not terribly far from Ontario and closer to New York, by a little. I imagine they would do what we do -- get some very good local talent and the best of the rest wherever they are.

I don't see the HL adding lacrosse in the near future though. There are some good programs in Ohio that could fill out CSU, YSU, and WSU rosters. Northern Indiana is fairly strong. Chicago has a lot of good programs. Marquette has a built a very solid program in just a few year. But overall, probably not enough DI players left to fill enough HL teams. If the sport continues to grow it could happen some day. I suggested years ago that HL push for lacrosse and become kind of a niche conference for that sport and beat other conferences. Too late now with the Big Ten.

Here is a map of schools with lacrosse programs. It is at least a couple years old since it does not have UofM or Marquette on it.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... ations.svg

Not many school West of Pennsylvania and the Carolinas.

Again, not a lot of foresight in the Horizon League office over the years. It amazes me that Lecrone has kept his job. But then again, for most the schools now in the Horizon, the league was a step up. So they may feel he's doing great. All those dissatisfied with the conference have left. Except us, of course.

[JimmyChitwood]

CSU will be opening its program against UofM in Cleveland in early February.

On a side note, CSU has an inflatable dome the put over their soccer field in the winter, where the lax game will be played. And their field is more "land-locked" than ours. I know CSU is a public school with oodles of money, but it sure would be nice to have an on-campus indoor facility instead of paying rent at Ultimate and other places. I think low end permanent domes are about $5M, but that includes fields which we already have. I have no idea what it cost for an inflatable dome. Sounds like a headache to take up and down since I have problems putting up a 10x10 canopy tent.