Pony Express: SMU Is On The Verge Of Becoming The Next Great College Lacrosse Dynasty
Icon Sportswire. Getty Images.There are some big time schools that have some really great lacrosse programs. B1G schools like Penn State, Maryland, Michigan, and Ohio State. ACC powerhouses like Duke, UNC, and Virginia. You can go play Division 1 lacrosse at a school that still allows you to have an incredible student life during the fall semester. But for the most part, the best schools are still centralized around that Mid-Atlantic region.
Now the hypothetical has always been thrown around out there about "what if a big time football school in the south decided to add a lacrosse program?". About how big of a draw that would be for recruits. About how quickly a school like Florida or USC or Texas could build a championship contending lacrosse team.
Well it looks like we might be getting our answer pretty soon with SMU.
SMU has been in the rumor mill for a while now about adding lacrosse. It seems like every few months it gets brought up. But now it's starting to sound like the wheels are actually in motion.
There are some rumors out there that a very recent National Championship winning head coach could potentially be the head coach to start up the SMU Division 1 program. Even if that's not the case, the amount of booster money SMU would have to play with down there would likely be able to land whatever coach they want to get this program off the ground. And it's not just getting off the ground in year 1. It could very easily end up with SMU playing deep into May in year 1.
Because with the new 5-in-5 rule in the NCAA, SMU wouldn't even need to go out and recruit a bunch of high school kids. All they'd need to do is pick off a bunch of 4th year players already in college. If they wanted to, they could just create an Ivy League All-Star team of 5th years. You have all these kids who just got an Ivy League degree and would now have the opportunity to go down to Dallas to play one more year of college ball and contend for a National Championship at SMU? It's the easiest decision ever.
You load up on 5th years. You recruit a few high school kids here and there just to build a base for the program. You have a ridiculously successful first year, and then the cycle just repeats itself. More 5th years will want to jump on board the next year, and the year after that, and the year after that. Eventually, you're just rostering the best 23U team in the country every year until another better school comes around to do the same thing. There's never been an easier time to create a dynasty out of thing air than it is right now thanks to 5-in-5. So if SMU wants to get out ahead of the curve, they better start getting everything in place now.