The NCAA teams by the numbers: A recruiting perspective
Just out of curiosity, I looked at the rosters of all the teams that made this year’s tournament from a recruiting and geographical perspective. It surprised me in a few ways and, while not a full look at the Division I recruiting scene, it is quite telling. Here are some of the results.:
Of the 16 postseason teams, 146 players are from Maryland, while 201 are from New York. No wonder, Syracuse has 28 New Yorkers and 1 kid from Maryland, while Siena has 40 from their home state and none from ours. Not surprisingly, Maryland has the most from Maryland with 32, while UMBC is second with 26. Both have some New Yorkers though with 11 and seven respectively. UMass has 11 kids from Massachusetts, Brown has eight and Maryland has four.
Undefeated Notre Dame has an even number of players from Maryland and New York with 10 apiece. The Irish have no one from Indiana on the squad. Indiana has lacrosse, but no players in the field this year. That will change rapidly if Notre Dame wins a championship in 2009.
Lacrosse is the national sport of Canada and Canada is the reigning indoor and outdoor world champion, but only 14 Canucks are found on these teams and nine are at Cornell. Cornell has more New Yorkers, though, with 15.
The team with the fewest amount of states represented is Siena with six and the one with the most is Princeton with 13 states plus Canada in the mix. Syracuse, Maryland and Cornell are tied for second with 12 states and some Canadians.
Some other interesting numbers are also found in the data. Duke relies heavily on the state of Connecticut for recruiting with 9 kids from the state, which has 36 players in the 16-team field. Pennsylvania and Massachusetts have a few more with 39. New Jersey has 55. California surprised me with 18.
Who has more kids from Ohio than anyone? Maryland with six. How about Nevada kids? Maryland again with two. Who has the most kids from Virginia? Yep. The Terps with seven. The University of Virginia has only five. How about North Carolina recruits? Um ... the Tar Heels with seven. Duke has only two.
Hopkins has a good mix of blue-chippers with 15 from Maryland and 10 from New York. But Hopkins also has the only recruit from Arizona. Only seven Coloradans and seven Illini are in the field. There are 12 from North Carolina, 11 from Ohio, nine from Michigan, five from Rhode Island. There are three players apiece from Washington D.C., New Hampshire, Texas and Georgia. There are two each from Tennessee, Delaware, Maine and Nevada. There’s only one Australian. He’s at Maryland. Cornell has the only Minnesotan. Princeton has the only Montanan. Siena has the only Oregonian.
Syracuse has two members of the Iroquois Nation. The whole field has two members of the Iroquois Nation. That is sad. More coaches need to attend the Nation’s Cup in the fall and see the talent that exists at the all-aboriginal tournament.
Comments
I too have wondered why more Iroquois aren't playing D1 lacrosse, and then two years ago on a trip to see the Hobart Syracuse game I think I found out why: money. The Onondaga Nation is south of Syracuse and like many Indian communities it looks more like a 3rd World country than the United States. Not content with just passing by I went to watch two community teams play there later in the weekend -- with wooden sticks! -- and confirmed my first impression of almost abject poverty. With the NCAA limiting schools to 6.5 scholarships a year for their lacrosse teams, it's a rare coach who will give more than a handful of these kids the full ride they need to attend college. Consequently you see a lot of them playing in junior college where money is less of an issue. Sad, but true.
Posted by: Winston Wood | May 6, 2009 8:50 AM
Very interesting analysis. It might be useful to look at the location of the high school. For example, one of the players who lives in DC played high school lacrosse in Maryland. The Montana player went to prep school in Connecticut.
Posted by: Sandy Murdock | May 7, 2009 9:57 AM
That factor was discussed and their home state was chosen to represent them. That kid from Montana wouldn't say he was from Connecticut. It works both ways. There are kids from other states playing at every boarding school in the nation.
Posted by: John Weaver | May 7, 2009 10:09 AM