Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. Michael Sowers is officially Durham bound.
The former Princeton sensation received a call Tuesday informing him that he had been admitted into Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, he told US Lacrosse Magazine’s Nelson Rice.
Sowers, who was on pace to shatter the NCAA single-season scoring record before his senior campaign was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, decided to transfer to Duke after the Ivy League announced it would not relax its rule that prohibits graduate students from competing in athletics and Princeton announced it would not accommodate seniors who withdraw from the university and reenroll for the purpose of preserving their eligibility.
“The first couple days were pretty chaotic,” Sowers said. “My life was turned around in a short span.”
Sowers said he was excited to reunite with Phil Robertson, his former Princeton teammate who also is transferring to Duke, and to join a Blue Devils attack group that includes Joe Robertson, Dyson Williams and incoming No. 1 recruit Brennan O’Neill. That’s not to mention if Joey Manown returns for a fifth year.
“With the talent we have,” Sowers said, “the sky is certainly the limit.”
2. The Premier Lacrosse League is officially on the books.
William Hill, the largest sportsbook operator in the U.S., released odds for the PLL Championship Series. Whipsnakes LC is the 3-to-1 favorite to repeat as PLL champion.
First odds ever for @PremierLacrosse, available at @WilliamHillUS tomorrow... pic.twitter.com/XfqZtRUosm
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) June 24, 2020
The PLL announced last month that it had partnered with Genius Sports Group, which provides data to global sportsbooks for live betting on its games.
3. Michelle Tumolo, who has hosted a series of US Lacrosse-produced webinars on LGBTQ+ topic for Pride Month, has “realized that my purpose for sharing is much greater than I ever knew,” she wrote in a “Behind the Whistle” post for the IWLCA and US Lacrosse Magazine.
A U.S. national team attacker and the head coach at Wagner College, Tumolo wrote about coming out as gay at 15 years old, the importance of creating an inclusive culture on lacrosse teams and the value of authenticity.
4. The National Lacrosse League announced several key offseason dates and information regarding the 2020 entry draft, notably determining that teams selecting NCAA players who return to college for a fifth year will retain the rights to those players — a departure from how the PLL handled eligibility concerns in its draft last month.
WHAT WE’RE READING
-
Inside the digital-only, member-only July/August edition of US Lacrosse Magazine, featuring Taylor Cummings on the cover.
-
Going back to school with new Hun School (N.J.) coach Jim Stagnitta, also coach of the PLL’s Whipsnakes LC.
-
Sports Illustrated caught up with multi-sport Maryland commit Dante Trader, who will play football and lacrosse for the Terps.
-
Forbes on Utah using its “pandemic bubble” to become a destination for restarting sports leagues like the PLL.
-
How all 74 Division I men’s lacrosse schools got their nicknames.
WHAT WE’RE WATCHING
Pat Harbeson’s throwback to the time Shamel Bratton split-dodged behind his back in a nationally televised showdown between a pair of top-five ranked teams.
HERE IT IS!
— Pat Harbeson (@pharb19) June 24, 2020
If @ShamelBratton put this in the back of the net the stadium would've collapsed @DomStarsiaPLL @Chris_Jast @espn @UVAMensLax pic.twitter.com/t4VBChFuFJ
WHAT’S ON TAP
-
US Lacrosse members will receive our July/August digital-only edition via email today.
-
Lauren Davenport outlines ways to create opportunities in the sport for people of color.
-
An excerpt from Phil Shore’s book on the players and fans of Major League Lacrosse.