Good morning. Here's the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. Whittier College is shutting the doors on its men’s lacrosse program.
Announced Tuesday, the decision became a big conversation point on Wednesday. Whittier is also shutting down its football and men’s and women’s golf teams, citing cost concerns. In terms of football and lacrosse, Whittier leadership also expressed a concern about contact sports.
Whittier was the last remaining NCAA team in California. It won 10 WCLL championships from 1980-99 and reached the NCAA final four in 2003.
2. The Premier Lacrosse League has revealed more details about February’s Championship Series.
The four-team tournament will be held at an indoor facility, The St. James, in Springfield, Va., from Feb. 22-26. The tournament will be played in the Sixes format, but the league has added a two-point line.
3. The NLL and ESPN have announced that 10 games will be on linear this season.
The slate will feature games on ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPNews. The first linear game will be on Dec. 2 on Face Off Weekend, a matchup between Philadelphia and Halifax.
4. Christianne Malone is the 2022 USA Lacrosse Homer Schwartz Award winner.
Based in Michigan, Malone is president and co-founder for Detroit United Lacrosse, which uses lacrosse to unify the youth from Detroit’s many neighborhoods by promoting character education, personal development, and pathways to prosperity.
5. USA Lacrosse CEO Marc Riccio is Sportico’s guest columnist this morning.
Riccio wrote about lacrosse’s growth potential and ESPN’s recognition of the budding sport. You can read his full column here.
6. According to new data, NCAA lacrosse players are among the best in the country in terms of graduation rates.
Women’s lacrosse has a graduation rate of 98 percent between 2019-22, and men’s lacrosse has a graduation rate of 91 percent over that same time.
Read the full report here.
WHAT WE’RE READING
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Inside Lacrosse with features on its No. 9 incoming freshmen — Penn’s Griffin Scane and Boston College’s Ava Besson.
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A beautiful telling of the history of lacrosse by Virginia Tech’s Jacelyn Lazore.
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Harvard men’s lacrosse will have just one captain in 2023 — Nick Loring, a midfielder elected by his teammates.
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Beatriz Gonzalez of the USF Oracle breaks down Mindy McCord’s first recruiting class at USF.
WHAT WE’RE WATCHING
Kyle Harrison was the latest guest on the Uninterrupted podcast “Iman Among Me,” a show hosted by former NBA guard Iman Shumpert.
“The second @alleniverson did his crossover, and I figured out how to do it with a lacrosse stick, it was a wrap.” @kyleharrison18 shares the story behind one of his signature skills and how it shaped his game from the jump.
— Redwoods Lacrosse Club (@PLLRedwoods) November 16, 2022
Full episode: https://t.co/JhKRKyGkrI pic.twitter.com/5AuQcQiQZE
WHAT’S ON TAP
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A recap of National Celebrate Lacrosse Week.