So your saying that Boston College, JMU and of course Navy and Army aren't big time schools? That is where the 2023 commits have come from thus far. Laughable... There were many more 2022 commits at this point. And many were able to get on campus and clinics prior to Covid's impact (Fall 2020, Winter 2021) so you can't use that as an excuse. I think there are going to be many surprises for the 2023 parents....
Looks like the definition of “big time” has a different meaning to different people… IMHO Big Time would be Boston College, UNC, Maryland, Northwestern, Syracuse, Princeton, Florida, Virginia, Duke, Penn, Notre Dame, JMU, Penn State, USC, Stanford and maybe a couple of others. Army & Navy are in there own category for the incredible individuals who choose to go that route. Stony Brook is a Top 10 Program but is not for everyone.
Agree "big time" means different things to different people. There are Elite Teams, which many of those would be on the list. Drawing another analogy from FB, there are probably 5 "power" conferences in wlax (ACC, Big Ten, Pac 12, Ivy, CAA) and about a half dozen other schools from other conferences that fall around there. Your top 25 rankings each week will generally feature teams from these schools. Yes, some in the conferences are better than others and have year-in, year-out chances at a NC, but most would agree that if you are competing at the top of the league in these conferences, you are a top 25 team. So girls going to schools in these leagues have the ability to play on nationally ranked teams if things go well (even if not realistic odds to win a NC). That may be a better barometer of "big time", where those regularly competing for NC are likely "elite". "Big time" schools can get ranked and compete occasionally in the national mix, but the "elite" are there regularly.
Let's keep some perspective folks. My kids were throwing the ball around in a local park last week and an older couple asked them what the game they were playing was called. For the majority of the population there is no such thing as big time lacrosse. Love the game, respect the game, enjoy the time you have left playing the game, most of all GET A THE BEST EDUCATION YOU CAN.
Oh stop. We all know which programs are considered big time and just about all of them are excellent schools where a player can get a great education. Most understand that education comes first so when you look at the perennial Top 10 -20 programs (the big time) obviously the top recruits can select a school that has excellent academics as well.
There is always someone trying to diminish a player, program, school even the sport.
Problem is that you can’t have real National Championship contender and a top 10 Academic school because you need to prioritize one or the other with exception of NU. You either choose a BC, UNC, MD, Cuse which are excellent schools and have a real strong shot at a NC in 4 years. Or you choose a Duke, ND, Stanford, JH, Princeton, Penn, who have top academics and a chance to break through to a final 4, and possible championship. I’m talking hypothetically for the absolute top recruits.
I would say if you are prioritizing winning a National Championship over a Top 10 academic school your priorities are screwed up. That said, you have no idea what programs out of that top 10-15 programs will win their first or be back for another. It took UNC 18 or 19 years to win their first, BC took a while, Been a long time since Northwestern, Princeton, UVA or Penn State have won. Syracuse has not won, Duke has never won, Notre Dame has not won, Stony Brook has not won. Obviously Stanford and Penn have not Won. JMU has Proven that if you can compete with the elite , you can win a NC if all the right pieces are in place. BTW, BC doesn’t win last year without their transfers and UNC had the most talented roster and didn’t get it done. Seedling in the tournament plays a huge role as well.
The vast majority of top recruits go to those top programs every year, I would say if the stars align any of the top 20-15 programs could win.
I think for the majority of top recruits finances play more of a role than the chance at winning a NC. Also, keep in mind not all of the top recruits have the grades for all of the top programs.
