University of Illinois

[stevelaxnj]

Does anybody know anything about the Univ of Illinois lacrosse team. My dad went there and he wants me to go. I looked at the webpage but there was hardly any info. Are they good? How organized are they?

[Lyons Lax]

Its a club and they're not bad at all actually.

[moondog]

They're not bad. They have a bunch of kids from IL lacrosse programs. They travel a lot, and play a decent schedule. I'm guessing their webpage won't be updated til spring? Not sure.

I believe they're looking for a coach, but nevertheless, they have solid players with adequate high school experience. They're pretty organized. I belive team dues are in the area of 2 grand, or so; but I don't want to be wrong about that.

On another note, those All-Orange CPros they sport are q

[smooth87]

actually moondog the dues are a cool grand.. one of my old teammates is going to play there in the upcoming spring

[sluhlax]

Moondog, they've got a coach. His last name is Stevens, and he's coached at a couple of DIII schools, as well as at Dartmouth, so he's got some good experience.

[moondog]

I saw that they were looking at lacrosseamerica's site (but that could have easily been a year ago), and when I heard dues were closer to 2 grand, I could have mistaken them with Michigan State, or another school.
Good program, good opportunities with the illini.

[rkirke]

I thought id give my two cents. Im from a Chicago suburb, and looked at going to Illinois. I ended up going to Purdue, but that is beside the point. Illinois has a pretty solid program. I know quite a few guys playing and alumni that played for Illinois. Anyways, a quick rundown. The program is decent. What I think makes Illinois so appealing is that they are in a weak conference. They are fighting for a trip to Nationals every year, which for me at least, was my ultimate goal. Their conference has become stronger in the last few years with Lindenwood, Mizzzou, and Wash U having stronger programs, but Illinois is always in the mix. With Illinois high school talent increasing, Illinois depth has become much better over the years. The only drawback is that it is a huge time commitment. They go on what I think is a required Spring Break trip. They usually make a trip down south, or out west to play. This spring break trip makes dues very expensive, I am pretty sure it is in the 1500 range. As a side note, they usually get stomped when they play OOC games, Purdue of course, being the exception. They have beaten us the last three times. One of which was in OT, and another also a 1 goal game. All in all, they have a good program, which is getting better.

Being originally from upstate NY, I am more of an old schooler, Illinois definitely is not. They like to look and act flashy. Quite a few of them carry some attitude thinking they are hot, and in the state of Illinois, that may be the case, but in big picture they aren’t as great as they like to think. That was just one of my motivations to beat them when I was around. That is just my Purdue-ness talking. Anyways, good luck on your decision. If you want to play good club ball though, Id probably stay out east or go way out west. Better players, better competition, better lacrosse.

[stevelaxnj]

Thanks for the info. Anyone else have anything to say?

[lowcarb9]

Andrew Kohl

[CoachK]

Why not contact their club president or coach?

[iLUVduke]

I know nobody's visited this thread in a couple months, but this question is outrageous. Is the University of Illinois Lacrosse good? It's amazing. Not only do they have Andrew Kohl, but Senior Danny Ruffo, and Junior Jack Gainey, and Senior James Barret will lead these guys to the Final Four in the springtime at the very least.

P.S. I love Duke.[B]

[PilotShinjiIkar]

I know nobody's visited this thread in a couple months, but this question is outrageous. Is the University of Illinois Lacrosse good? It's amazing. Not only do they have Andrew Kohl, but Senior Danny Ruffo, and Junior Jack Gainey, and Senior James Barret will lead these guys to the Final Four in the springtime at the very least.

P.S. I love Duke.[B]


Lol, you probably just joined the forum just to post that.

[stevelaxnj]

So I talked to the coach. He used to coach at Dartmouth. He said they look like they will have a sick team this year. I am sure it will make a big difference having a Division one coach. How many club teams have coaches from DI. I am a little worried because he said they have like 5-6 middie lines. So next year I will be wearing one of those sick orange CPX helmets as long as I get in. He also told me they have a deal with Nike and Brine.

[Mr. Raw]

i know this is an old thread but i was wonder if they have tryouts / how many kids typically tryout and how many of these kids actually make it?

[jk20jk20]

hey i know some kids who are on the team and i believe they keep everyone but a lot of them do not play...also they are very good top 25 club ranking

[Mr. Raw]

thanks alot
if anyone has anymore info about them having cuts or if they just keep everyone let me know cuz i really wanna play collage lax and as long as im not cut ill find a way to get on that field

[jk20jk20]

where are you from i mean like high school

[Mr. Raw]

we're not that respectable and arent even in conference with schools like hinsdale central, NT, or nequa... i go to downers grove south and we're currently combined with downers north and hinsdale south as a 'club' team. i know. its lame

we have good coaches though. one played for hofstra and the other cornell

[jk20jk20]

well thats good

[Mr. Raw]

what about yourself?

[somrandomguy]

Illinois is a solid club team, though Lindenwood is obviously better. Though in terms of national prominence, the B Division teams in the Great Rivers Lacrosse Conference are probably better, as they have three schools in the top 25, two of them in the top 10.

[lancerlax3]

to answer your question about the cuts, they do have them. on their website it says the fall is their tryout period with two different cut days. it also says theres 42 spots on the team

[naptownlax101]

yea they are pretty good for club, i know the head coach stevens he was my goalie coach at butler here in indianapolis and he is a pretty cool guy

[Mr. Raw]

nice sounds pretty good

so if theres 42 open slots for hte team, how many freshman do u think make it a year?

[showmelax]

Illinois is a solid club team, though Lindenwood is obviously better

Illinois will beat Lindenwood very easily this year. Lindenwood is not the same team without Silva on the coaching staff. Not to mention the players that have left since he went to Fontbonne. The Lions have lost Zies 28 goals & 36 assists Combs 21 goals & 19 assists and Nix 49 goals & 4 assists. No team can survive losing that many points. On top of that how do you explain your top 3 players transferring out? Hopefully Mizzou can knock off the Illini to show that Missouri is still better than Illinois. Fontbonne will be taking the top players that Lindenwood used to get.

[patlax22]

idk if u know this but on google video there is a lax video of illinois from last year i believe?

[gordie]

It looks like Illinois is taking a step up with the addition of two new asst coaches. Doug Shanahan and Vince Smith. They have to have the best coaching staff in the USLIA.

http://www.collegelax.us/news.php?action=fullnews&id=1454

http://www.collegelax.us/news.php?action=fullnews&id=1472

[aaphs84]

It hasn't been called the USLIA for years. It's the MCLA.

Big name guys yes. Impressive for Illinois. Best coaching staff? Playing big-time lacrosse doesn't make you a great coach. They may be awesome coaches. They may not. Great coaches are guys who can teach, motivate and create. Some of the best coaches in many sports never played the game they coached at a high level. A few of the best never played the game at all.

[gordie]

It hasn't been called the USLIA for years. It's the MCLA. I should pay more attention.

Big name guys yes. Impressive for Illinois. Best coaching staff?
Who are the top staffs in the MCLA?

Playing big-time lacrosse doesn't make you a great coach. They may be awesome coaches. They may not. Great coaches are guys who can teach, motivate and create. Some of the best coaches in many sports never played the game they coached at a high level. A few of the best never played the game at all.

More often than not a great lacrosse coach played the game. For every Quinn you have a hundred Pietramalas, Sowells, Breschi, Cannellas, etc.

My point was that it is a extraordinary staff for a club team.

[aaphs84]

Erin Quinn. Great example. You passed the test and obviously know your stuff. You're right that most good coaches played the game, especially at higher levels. Playing the game is naturally going to lead to more coaching careers and opportunities. However, many bad coaches also played the game. My point was simply that these guys shouldn't be judged solely on their name, but on their results - which will take some time. As I said, very impressive that Illinois got them to Champaign (not exactly a hotbed or a metropolis) and has the resources to pay them as full time assistants. I agree with you.

Best staffs in the MCLA? You have to go with BYU and CSU first. Colorado and Michigan and UCSB for sure. All of these programs have full time coaches and staffs who have been with the team for awhile and have had success year-in, year-out. FSU doesn't have a full time coach, but they've pulled in some impressive names as well. Top of my head, that's what I come up with. Any others I'm missing?