IAC Lacrosse

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do some Bullis players do a PG year at another prep school after Bullis? Isn't a four year prep education enough, or is this a sports recruiting thing rather than a need to improve academics? It looks pretty odd.

The recruiting coach does not have room on the roster their graduation year.

[Anonymous]

There are loads of kids from various schools who do PG years in various sports at various boarding schools and it could be rewarding on a number of levels. It really isn't a big deal at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Show me a HS program where the starting QB, RB's and WR's and BB point guard also play lacrosse, and I'll show you a winning program."

Maybe at the same time you could show me mediocre to poor football and basketball teams that could not come close to competing with the top 6 WCAC football and hoop teams.

Not the whole team of course. But plenty of individuals. I can easily name 20 GP lacrosse players who would have started for Gonzaga football and basketball teams.

The lacrosse-only kids are second-tier athlete at IAC and WCAC schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do some Bullis players do a PG year at another prep school after Bullis? Isn't a four year prep education enough, or is this a sports recruiting thing rather than a need to improve academics? It looks pretty odd.

The recruiting coach does not have room on the roster their graduation year.

It happens in two instances: 1. when kids aren't recruited in their class. Kid/family offer to drop back a year and go to a boarding school as a PG. Then the coach agrees to take them for the grade below. 2. Kid commits to a college and then isn't admitted & needs another academic year to make it into a very selective college. So go for a PG year and get the academics up. #2 used to be more common. #1 has become more common as kids & parents get desperate for a college to take them and bargain to do a $65K a year PG year.

[Anonymous]

There appears to be quite a bit of misinformation on this website about the current situation at Prep. I will try to address each:

1) Facilities: The cost of on-campus improvements totaled about $70 Mil. The Vision Campaign successfully raised $35 Mil. Prep financed the remainder of the improvements by issuing a $35 Mil. tax exempt bond at a very favorable interest rate. Prep leased out 5 acres of land for the Inigo's Crossing. Income over the 99 years will amount to $888 Mil. Present value, at the time they struck the deal, was about $65 Mil. The revenue from the land lease increases exponentially every year and services the bond payments. Once Prep pays off the bond, the rest will be pure income to fund operations and the endowment. In spite of hiring consultants to estimate the operating costs of the athletic center, these consultants did underestimate the costs, but Prep's leasing of the facilities helped to offset the costs. What hurt Prep the most financially, was a combination of the economic downturn, which killed the endowment, and the substantial increase in salaries promised to the faculty. The board of trustees, which governs the operation of the school, worked very hard to address the financial issues, and the school is now in a good place and will embark on a major capital campaign shortly. While the financial challenges may have led to the demise of other schools, Prep was never in any financial jeopardy.

2) Kevin Giblin: KG no doubt is almost singularly responsible (like Bordley at Landon) for the success of Prep's lacrosse program. Arguably, lacrosse increased Prep's national profile, in a positive way, more than any other factor in the last 20 years. KG is an incredible coach and mentor, and his heart was/is in the right place. He has one major flaw: He lacks a volume switch and became, at times, his own worst enemy. Much of the issues he expressed frustration with at Prep were valid, but he often expressed his frustrations in the wrong manner/forum or to the wrong audience. There was quite a bit of friction between the lacrosse program and some of the faculty/staff, but you could not argue with KG when it came to the results: His teams won, and his players attended some of the finest academic institutions in the country.

3) Current state of Prep: Prep, as a school, is in a great place. Their President, Rev. Scott Pilarz, SJ, is a rock star in the Jesuit order of the United States (former President of Scranton and Marquette Universities). He understands the whole picture (i.e., academics, administration and academics). Their head of development, a Gonzaga graduate, is also equally impressive. The new Dean of Admissions, a Prep graduate, is the polar opposite (a good thing) of his predecessor. The recently appointed Headmaster returns to Prep for a second tenure (first as Headmaster) and is incredibly accomplished for a relatively young individual. He understands academics and the important role of athletics in a rigorous academic environment.

4) Lacrosse Program: It is way too early to write the obituary for Prep lacrosse. With respect to the new head coach, his credentials are far more remarkable than KG's when KG took over the Prep program in its infancy. Urick does have significant name recognition in the lacrosse community, and, if necessary, I am sure he can lean on his father, a HoF lacrosse coach, for some coaching advice. He certainly knows the Xs and Os of lacrosse, and he can hire capable assistants to fill in the blanks. As for the pipeline, the biggest problems Prep experienced was an incapable Dean of Admissions (now rectified) and a struggling economy (arguably rectified). The rising sophomore class at Prep is absolutely loaded as is the rising freshman class. I know that at Mater Dei School, a big Prep/Gonzaga feeder, the pendulum has now swung back toward Prep and has so for the last two incoming freshmen classes (e.g., two of the best incoming freshmen lacrosse players have strong Gonzaga ties but opted for Prep).

Prep will do just fine.

[Anonymous]

Bullis has 3 lacrosse players from their 2016 class doing a PG year.

Makes you wonder about the academics at the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There appears to be quite a bit of misinformation on this website about the current situation at Prep. I will try to address each:

1) Facilities: The cost of on-campus improvements totaled about $70 Mil. The Vision Campaign successfully raised $35 Mil. Prep financed the remainder of the improvements by issuing a $35 Mil. tax exempt bond at a very favorable interest rate. Prep leased out 5 acres of land for the Inigo's Crossing. Income over the 99 years will amount to $888 Mil. Present value, at the time they struck the deal, was about $65 Mil. The revenue from the land lease increases exponentially every year and services the bond payments. Once Prep pays off the bond, the rest will be pure income to fund operations and the endowment. In spite of hiring consultants to estimate the operating costs of the athletic center, these consultants did underestimate the costs, but Prep's leasing of the facilities helped to offset the costs. What hurt Prep the most financially, was a combination of the economic downturn, which killed the endowment, and the substantial increase in salaries promised to the faculty. The board of trustees, which governs the operation of the school, worked very hard to address the financial issues, and the school is now in a good place and will embark on a major capital campaign shortly. While the financial challenges may have led to the demise of other schools, Prep was never in any financial jeopardy.

2) Kevin Giblin: KG no doubt is almost singularly responsible (like Bordley at Landon) for the success of Prep's lacrosse program. Arguably, lacrosse increased Prep's national profile, in a positive way, more than any other factor in the last 20 years. KG is an incredible coach and mentor, and his heart was/is in the right place. He has one major flaw: He lacks a volume switch and became, at times, his own worst enemy. Much of the issues he expressed frustration with at Prep were valid, but he often expressed his frustrations in the wrong manner/forum or to the wrong audience. There was quite a bit of friction between the lacrosse program and some of the faculty/staff, but you could not argue with KG when it came to the results: His teams won, and his players attended some of the finest academic institutions in the country.

3) Current state of Prep: Prep, as a school, is in a great place. Their President, Rev. Scott Pilarz, SJ, is a rock star in the Jesuit order of the United States (former President of Scranton and Marquette Universities). He understands the whole picture (i.e., academics, administration and academics). Their head of development, a Gonzaga graduate, is also equally impressive. The new Dean of Admissions, a Prep graduate, is the polar opposite (a good thing) of his predecessor. The recently appointed Headmaster returns to Prep for a second tenure (first as Headmaster) and is incredibly accomplished for a relatively young individual. He understands academics and the important role of athletics in a rigorous academic environment.

4) Lacrosse Program: It is way too early to write the obituary for Prep lacrosse. With respect to the new head coach, his credentials are far more remarkable than KG's when KG took over the Prep program in its infancy. Urick does have significant name recognition in the lacrosse community, and, if necessary, I am sure he can lean on his father, a HoF lacrosse coach, for some coaching advice. He certainly knows the Xs and Os of lacrosse, and he can hire capable assistants to fill in the blanks. As for the pipeline, the biggest problems Prep experienced was an incapable Dean of Admissions (now rectified) and a struggling economy (arguably rectified). The rising sophomore class at Prep is absolutely loaded as is the rising freshman class. I know that at Mater Dei School, a big Prep/Gonzaga feeder, the pendulum has now swung back toward Prep and has so for the last two incoming freshmen classes (e.g., two of the best incoming freshmen lacrosse players have strong Gonzaga ties but opted for Prep).

Prep will do just fine.

A remarkable piece of writing. Thanks for it.

Two minor points. the treadmill is running much faster now than when KG took over the lacrosse program. So Urick's marginally better lacrosse resume is not going to be all that beneficial. There needs to be widespread agreement on campus that this is an important programs that everyone needs to support.

Secondly, KG needed that lack of volume control because for years he had to be forceful as he attempted to build something from almost nothing against internal resistance from the usual suspects.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bullis has 3 lacrosse players from their 2016 class doing a PG year.

Makes you wonder about the academics at the school.

I don't believe it is because of academics. It is much more likely a move to drop backwards a class because they weren't recruited at the ones they wanted I the 2016 class. Kind of lame but that's what you do to make it work when recruiting doesn't go your way. Boarding schools love it. $65 grand for a kid to take a gap year at their school.

[Anonymous]

I think the next move is for kids to declare they are Mormon as seniors, then do a 2 year mission and come back as 21 year old triple reclassified college freshmen. That would be a killer lax bro move. It would also get them off the booze for a couple of years. A win win.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bullis has 3 lacrosse players from their 2016 class doing a PG year.

Makes you wonder about the academics at the school.

And all 3 were already kids who reclassified already to be 2016s. Either Bullis is an academic joke or the repeat to make it work for lacrosse game is what's up. Pretty expensive buy-in. $250K for prep school here including 8th grade reclassify year and then a $65K PG year. Why not just buy the kid a sports car?

[Anonymous]

Don't hate because Bullis owned everyone in the IAC this spring.

[Anonymous]

Congrats to Bullis on a great season. I do think it is nonsense the clog up the classrooms at boarding schools or selective colleges with kids there for sports favoritism reasons. It takes away the same opportunity from other academic minded and performing candidates and produces nothing but grads who majored in lacrosse in many instances. Last summer my son was getting some life plan preaching from a club coach who is a Dartmouth grad. He lives with his parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't hate because Bullis owned everyone in the IAC this spring.

They owned Gonzaga?

[Anonymous]

The PG seems to be v. popular now. Do other independent schools do this? I have heard of people doing an extra year to go to the Naval Academy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Congrats to Bullis on a great season. I do think it is nonsense the clog up the classrooms at boarding schools or selective colleges with kids there for sports favoritism reasons. It takes away the same opportunity from other academic minded and performing candidates and produces nothing but grads who majored in lacrosse in many instances. Last summer my son was getting some life plan preaching from a club coach who is a Dartmouth grad. He lives with his parents.

They all do it. And the Ivy League does the same thing as do the NESCAC schools.