Lax Links: January 17, 2013

As always, send your news tips, articles, college commitments, etc. to the inbox either through e-mail or Twitter. Michigan and Detroit season preview material coming… hopefully soon.

College

Detroit is gettin’ ready for the season:

(H/T: College Crosse). News story from the official site on their preparations.

The final Michigan lacrosse coaching clinic took place last week. A good time was had by all. A recap of what I learned about the program through the coaching clinics will arrive sometime in the coming days.

Those hoping to watch the Metropolitan Lacrosse Classic, note a time change: Michigan and Colgate’s game will now be played at 3 p.m. It had previously been scheduled for 1:05 p.m. It will still air on ESPNU.

LSM Chase Brown is the latest Michigan freshman to get the official site profile treatment. If you’re super-curious about what Brown’s locker looks like, 412 Lax is your spot. Midfielder Sam Martorella is also profiled.

As for players already on the team, senior captain SSDM Sean Sutton gives a diary on the team’s preparations for the year.

The Major League Lacrosse draft has come and gone. Unsurprisingly, no Wolverines or Titans were taken, but Michigan will face a number of the draft picks on the field this spring.

An interesting Q&A with Michigan women’s coaches Jennifer Ulehla and Jen Valore about program-building.

Realignment Armageddon

With the additions of Maryland and Rutgers to the Big Ten as full members, the league will be one team short of a lacrosse conference in the near future. Could… Johns Hopkins (which, it must be noted, is Johns Hopkins) fill that void? What I had once dismissed as pie-in-the-sky pipe dreams looks to be more realistic.

College Crosse goes into a pretty in-depth breakdown of why it is in fact insanity, but the more smoke there is, the more believable it becomes. As for the impact on other conferences that he mentions: the ACC and Big East are almost certain of losing Maryland and Rutgers, respectively, regardless of whether there’s a Big Ten lacrosse conference, so really the impact is only on the other four teams’ respective leagues (or independence, as the case may be).

Recruiting

Don’t forget, Atomic Lacrosse will host a recruiting presentation Jan. 26 (next Saturday) , featuring UDM’s Matt Holtz and Albion’s Jake DiCola.

Michigan’s official site profiles women’s team goalie signee Grace Collins (H/T PhillyLacrosse.com). St. Anthony’s midfielder Kim Coughlin is profiled as well.

2014 Redwood (Calif.) LSM/D Liam Bourke has committed to Michigan over some big-name schools:

Other Schools considered: Denver, Loyola, Johns Hopkins, Bryant and Navy

Why did you choose Michigan? “I’ve always wanted to go to a big school like Michigan. I’ve actually always loved watching Michigan Football and sports, so I always thought it would be awesome to go their because they have great school spirit and academics.”

John Paul and company are cleaning up with the Alcatraz Outlaws club team (freshman Mike Hernandez, 2013 signees Mike Schlosser and Andrew Simor, and now Bourke). Other Outlaws are headed to Ivy League and top D-3 schools – among other destinations.

High School

Brother Rice lacrosse 1983, photo via @BroRiceWarriors

Brother Rice has become the state’s best program year after year, but in 1983 it was… whatever this is. Excellent retro shot from the Brother Rice Twitter account.

A regional tryout for the National Lacrosse Classic takes place Feb. 10 at Oosterbaan Fieldhouse in Ann Arbor.

Ann Arbor Pioneer is working hard in the offseason to improve. The Pioneers feel to Brother Rice in the D-1 finals last season.

Mark Seppala is the new head coach at Grosse Pointe North. He had previously served as the team’s offensive coordinator.

MCLA

Michigan State‘s 2013 schedule breakdown.

Grand Valley State looks forward to the 2013 season. Video promo? Video promo:

Etc.

Coach B of 313 Lax hits on a point that many have made, but is always worth reiterating:

NCAA in the house at the academy. UDMs Brandon Davenport and Albions Steven Treppa giving back. #whatmichiganlaxneeds

The lack of high quality, homegrown coaches has been a longtime problem in helping to grow the game. With two Division I programs now in the state, along with a boom in D03 options (not to mention the numerous MCLA programs), that’s hopefully on the way up, a good thing for the overall quality of play.

As always, thanks for visiting GreatLaxState.com. Come back for all the latest in lacrosse throughout the state. Inboxes for news tips can be found at the top of the post.