College Crosse Prospectus: St. Bonaventure Officially Hires Randy Mearns As Head Coach

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING, College Crosse Nation!! Thanks for making us a part of your day! Here are your links for June 20, 2017.

What You Missed

The St. Bonaventure Bonnies will reportedly hire former Canisius Golden Griffins head coach Randy Mearns as their first ever head coach.

Catch up with some of the stuff we posted on Sunday, including our question about conference realignment.

Lacrosse The Nation

It’s now official from St. Bonaventure:

Per the school press release:

"Everyone who knows Randy talks about his energy and his vision to move things forward," [Tim] Kenney said. "He's coming to St. Bonaventure to create something special and with Randy at the helm the sky is the limit for this program. His reputation in the lacrosse world is huge. We're going to build this program from the ground up and into a championship contender."

This past season, Mearns registered his 100th career victory with the Griffs and guided the MAAC Co-Offensive Player of the Year in Connor Kearnan while six of his players were honored as part of the annual MAAC awards. Mearns' players also enjoyed success in the classroom as 19 student-athletes were named to the MAAC All-Academic Team, tying for most in the league. Mearns enjoyed another winning MAAC season as well, giving him 11 years where his Canisius teams have been .500 or better in conference.

"As the process went, this became more and more of a great fit," Mearns said. "The opportunity at St. Bonaventure really intrigued me; when I came on campus I was immediately inspired. This is a gem of an institution. I think we can really build something special here.

"The academics at St. Bonaventure are phenomenal, the people are phenomenal and the support for the program is there," Mearns continued. "Tim Kenney is a visionary who is excited about this journey and I want to thank Tim and (St. Bonaventure University President) Dr. [Dennis] DePerro for this opportunity. I'm tremendously excited to be part of it."

Shoutout to former Vermont Catamounts great Craig Mygatt on making it to the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame!

Mygatt enters the Hall of Fame as the men's lacrosse program's all-time leading goal scorer with 148 career goals. He also ranks second in points (241) and assists (93) on UVM's career scoring lists. As a freshman, Mygatt tallied a single-season record 50 goals in 13 games and matched the program record with eight goals in a single game. As a sophomore, he scored 30 goals and lifted the Catamounts to a program record 11 wins. At graduation, Mygatt and the Class of 1988 had racked up 34 career victories, which is currently tied for third-most by a graduating class. This past April, Mygatt was honored as one of eight attackmen on the Vermont 40th Anniversary All-Time Team.

Check out this interview by Pressbox Online with Towson Tigers head coach Shawn Nadelen!

Over at our sister site Land-Grant Holy Land, Matt Brown asks if the Big Ten could add the Utah Utes for lacrosse:

The Big Ten is no longer a stranger to affiliate memberships to strengthen other sports. After all, Big Ten lacrosse includes Johns Hopkins, who does not participate in any other league sport. Big Ten hockey also recently added Notre Dame, and reportedly at least kicked the tires on Arizona State.

Utah isn’t in the AAU, but it is a big state flagship research university which, institutionally, isn’t that different from several other Big Ten schools. Forget TV markets... Utah isn’t a Big Ten expansion candidate generally, and the TV market for lacrosse is so small that adding a team outside the footprint doesn’t appreciably change anything for BTN, but the league could decide that adding a program in a growing city, giving their league schools another pathway towards recruiting the West, and balancing out the league a bit could be a good idea.

I personally think Utah is probably a better fit in the Big East or the ACC though, for whatever that’s worth.

Awesome fact about a Princeton Tigers alumni and someone who’s currently involved in politics today!

Former Villanova Wildcats midfielder Jake Froccaro was the best MLL rookie this weekend.

Are the Ohio State Buckeyes a great model for a modern team? Terry Foy of Inside Lacrosse explores that.

First, consider the roster composition. Defenseman Ben Randall became Ohio State’s first-ever first-team All-American. The junior is a native of Mason, Ohio, but spent his first two years at Stony Brook before transferring closer to home. Leading scorer Eric Fannell is an Ontario native who transferred to Columbus for his final two years after putting up 116 points in his first two seasons at DIII Adrian College in Michigan; he struggled with injuries last year. Second-leading scorer Tre Leclaire is a freshman from British Columbia who initially was committed to Delaware. Another Canadian, senior Jake Withers, built on his Big Ten Specialist of the Year campaign in 2016 to become one of the nation’s three best face-off guys in 2017. Senior Tom Carey paired with Withers as the nation’s best face-off/goalie duo; Carey started his career at Bryant.

Second, consider the schedule. Ohio State started 7-0 playing what was, to that point, the softest schedule in DI. Then they capped their non-league slate with a trio of teams that ended up being NCAA Quarterfinalists and earned wins over Towson and Denver before suffering their first loss of the season at Notre Dame. At 9-1, they'd built a resume and been hardened for their conference slate, but still had enough fuel in the tank to continue getting better.

Third, consider the style of play. Ohio State ended the season playing the 13th-slowest pace in DI, but were extremely balanced; they were top 15 in both defensive and offensive efficiency. They managed to win using that formula by saving opponents’ shots at a 55% clip and winning face-offs at a 62% rate. At its best, assistant Brad Ross’s offense was clinical with shooting range to overpower defenses, and the defense was overwhelmingly physical. Generally, they were methodical, never better exemplified than in the five-goal comeback against Towson in the NCAA Semifinals in which the Buckeyes outscored the Tigers 8-1 in a 20-minute second half stretch.

Fourth, consider the Big Ten affiliation. In three years of conference play, Ohio State’s TV appearances have increased by roughly 1000% versus the three years prior to the conference’s creation. They hosted the Big Ten Tournament in May. They’re 5-2 in home conference games, with a win over Maryland and two wins over Johns Hopkins. Thanks to the league’s overall power, that weak early season schedule netted out to the Buckeyes’ having played the fifth-toughest slate this year. The program is well-staffed to cultivate its public image via video, graphic design and social media.

GET YOUR GRADES UP!

A great story from US Lacrosse Magazine on the Montreal-Mohawk lacrosse reenactment as Canada celebrated 150 years of the sport.

Philly Jawns

TRUST THE PROCESS! The Philadelphia 76ers got the No. 1 overall pick from the Boston Celtics and will pick Markelle Fultz on Thursday!

World News

Peep the Boeing 797!

Video of the Day

A preview of Jay-Z’s new song from his new album 4:44!

That’s it for today!! I’ll see you out there!! Make sure you follow us on social media!

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Managing Editors: Safe Fekadu, Chris Jastrzembski, Ryan McDonnell