Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. The NCAA Division I Council, at the recommendation of its Student Athlete Experience Committee, has introduced legislation on recruiting that could affect lacrosse-specific legislation passed in April.
The proposal would pertain to all NCAA sports except football and basketball. One of the main contrasts between the existing lacrosse recruiting rules, widely heralded by the respective collegiate coaching associations and supported by US Lacrosse, and the proposed legislation is the start date for when college coaches may begin to communicate with prospective student athletes. The lacrosse calendar now specifies Sept. 1 of the student's junior year; the proposal advances that to Sept. 1 of the student's sophomore year.
“We are going to strongly and respectfully ask that our Sept. 1 of the junior year lacrosse rule remain intact,” Samantha Eckstrand, legal counsel for the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association, said.
The proposal will be voted on in April 2018.
2. The National Lacrosse League begins its 32nd season today, and Neil Stevens' final preview article this week projects the season-ending award winners.
On tonight's slate: defending champion Georgia travels to New England, Toronto visits Buffalo, and Colorado heads to Vancouver. If you missed any of this week's season previews, they're here.
3. Not entirely unrelated, US Lacrosse has expanded the schedule of educational sessions on box lacrosse at its upcoming coaches' and officials' convention.
The sport's national governing body will construct a partial box arena, complete with dasher boards, inside the expo hall of the Baltimore Convention Center to house five of eight indoor lacrosse-related clinics at LaxCon Jan. 19-21. The six sessions for coaches and two for officials more than doubles the offering of box lacrosse content at previous US Lacrosse Conventions, and it supports the organization's increasing committment to the box game.
Several prominent NLL figures will host the sessions, among them Georgia Swarm head coach Eddie Comeau and National Lacrosse Hall of Famer “Hollywood” Tom Marechek. Full speaker schedules and discounted web registration, a savings of $35 vs. walk-up tickets, for LaxCon are available here.
4. The Pac-12 Conference this season becomes the third power-five conference to sponsor NCAA Division I women's lacrosse, and its coaches rightfully are excited about what it means for the growth of the game.
Arizona State's addition of a varsity program in this academic year brought to six the number of league schools to field a team, resulting in conference sponsorship and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament for its champion. The Sun Devils, under coach Courtney Martinez-Connor, join California, Colorado, Oregon, Stanford and USC.
Megan Schneider has more on the league's marketing plans and a snapshot of each team.
5. The Dallas Rattlers, once again, successfully have re-signed two players that previously filed for Major League Lacrosse Player Movement.
BREAKING NEWS: The Rattlers have re-signed @jmacintosh44 and @JohnRanagan31 for the 2018 season. Read more here: https://t.co/6zJ9wQ9XMB pic.twitter.com/UYcpu7jOum
— Dallas Rattlers (@RattlersLax) December 7, 2017
Midfielder Jordan Macintosh has spent his career with the franchise, tallying 111 goals and 36 assists in six seasons out of RIT. He earned a spot in the league's all-star game in 2015. He had 17 goals and three assists in eight games last season.
Fellow midfielder John Ranagan likewise is a career Rattler, accumulating 62 goals and 34 assists in 55 games since being drafted in 2013 out of Johns Hopkins. Ranagan likewise has one all-star game appearance to his credit, and last season he contributed 12 goals and four assists in seven games.
Dallas waived goalie Kris Alleyne and attackman Frank Brown.