TD Ierlan, statistically the most accomplished faceoff man in Division I lacrosse history, has entered the transfer portal with the status of the Ivy League’s spring season up in the air, according to a report from Inside Lacrosse.
“Right now, I don’t want to speculate on what the team or the league is doing,” Ierlan told Inside Lacrosse in a text message. “With that being said, the manner in which the Ivy League has handled their student-athletes during the pandemic has given me no choice but to consider a back up plan.”
In May, Ierlan announced his intention to return to Yale for a final semester, a possibility because he still hadn’t finished his political science degree. Ierlan had told US Lacrosse Magazine’s Matt Hamilton that he didn’t want to play for anyone but Yale prior to announcing he would return to the Bulldogs.
The Ivy League has released very little information regarding spring athletics and has been vague in its communications to student-athletes and coaches, especially in an update sent out this week.
In a story posted earlier this week, US Lacrosse Magazine contributor Justin Feil detailed the ongoing uncertainty of the Ivy League, which was the first Division I conference to cancel sports last spring as the COVID-19 pandemic grew in the United States. From Feil:
“Questions remain about how they will play games. Several Ivy League institutions have such restrictive COVID-19 policies at the moment that they could not travel. Ivy teams also have to go through a three-phase approach to even get to games. None of the Ivy teams got out of Phase 1 in the fall, which limited them to practicing in pods of fewer than 10 players while socially distanced, doing skill work, lifting and conditioning.
“A rumored plan to bubble the league for weeks for conference play seems unlikely. ‘I doubt that’s going to happen because the Ivy League doesn’t do different things for the athletes,” Corbett said. “They’re not going to do that from my understanding, anything special for the athletes versus other kids on campus.’”
Ierlan told Inside Lacrosse that he hopes to have the chance to play for Yale in 2021 but is keeping his options open.