Wow. Agonost had them in the NCAAs in 2011 and 2012. MFM takes over and they haven't been back since. And that gets a 4-year extension in the ACC? Her hire from Albany was a head scratcher, this is even a bigger surprise. 2013: 9-8-1, 4-8-1 in ACC 2014: 4-13-1, 2-7-1 in ACC 2015: 5-12, 2-8 in ACC 2016: 10-8, 5-5 in ACC and made ACC tournament 28-31-2 overall. 12-28-2 in ACC. 0 NCAA appearances. And a 4-year extension. Low bar at Miami.
Typo I think SoccerTrustee, their actual record over the past four years is 28-41-3 and that's poor by anyone's standard. Apparently a great AD to work for though if you get rewarded for that kind of performance.
I was speaking with an assistant in the ACC last night and they said the staff were all thinking it was "awesome" that she got an extension as it means most years it's a guaranteed win. They were worried after the full she would be canned and they would get a better coach in there. ACC has several programs with poor coaching as I've said before. Imagine the quality of the conference if Miami, Syracuse, Pitt got quality head coaches in there? The conference would be more loaded than it is now.
You'd have to be a uber-name/celebrity to exceed the second division in recruiting for Pitt and Syracuse. Arguably, Miami, as it's way down there. Boston is a cosmopolitan college city and they're still relegated to second division.
Morgantown WV is a total dump and they get it done. Ok maybe they cheat but they still get recruits. Pitt and Syracuse could do it but they clearly need better coaches.
that's a good point. I've read how it's literally a garbage can. But, yeah, foreigners don't question where in the US..yet...I just think synthetic soccer surfaces can't cut it in southern based conferences. Lacrosse doesn't offer near as many better options so they can compete...albeit, getting kinda wobbly, not the sure thing it was.
I can't quite understand why very good Canadian players choose West Virginia, of all schools. Maybe no one else recruits them.
They are cheaper than other rival colleges for the most part. Plus they cheat do get recruits and do all the unethical methods they can go by. That's why they had recruiting sanctions in recent years. Nikki is a good person face to face but she would happily screw anyone over to get ahead.
The WVU cheating Line is getting old. If you are going to sling mud, be specific or come out from behind the curtain.
Sometimes you sound like a knowledgeable insider but then a digruntled dad when you talk about WVU. I refuted your exaggerated claims before about WVU - they were contacting recruits too early and got caught and were punished...Years Ago. Some of those contacts are now allowed with recent rule changes. If they were having kids take fake classes (UNC) or buying prostitutes for recruits (Louisville) or hiding sexual assault cases (Baylor) then maybe your persistent slam of WVU would have more credibility. WVU a "dump"? It's a big State school in a rural location. There are lots of them! What's the tuition, admission standards, retention rate at Ole Miss? Arkansas? Minnesota? even Penn State? Very many big state schools in the P5 are more like WVU than different. If you want to slam them because its WV, a mostly poor rural coal state, that's up to you. They are an underdog in many ways for sure and have a poorer, less prepared pool of HS graduates to work with than almost any other state. But in women's soccer there may not be a better example of a program doing more with less resources and reputation in recent years. Frankly, I love it when Elites at places like Stanford, Duke, Notre Dame, get their butts kicked by a school like WVU and are home watching them in the College Cup. Money and reputation still can't buy championships in sports (okay, mostly true). A big reason why sports will always be popular. There's always hope for the little guy.
I agree with a lot of what you wrote but since you asked about admissions standards at a few schools, let's look at them. Penn State - PSU is a pretty competitive school in terms of admission standards. About 50% of applicants are admitted. The average math SAT score is 614. Reading and writing are around 600 as well. The 25th percentile on the ACT is 25. The 75th percentile is 29. Average is 27ish. There is a high retention rate with 93+% of students returning after freshman year. Minnesota - Minnesota has a similar academic profile to PSU but is even more competitive. 45% of applicants are admitted. 675 is the average SAT math score. 620s for reading and writing. 25th percentile for the ACT is 26. The 75th percentile is 31. 28 is the average score. Again, 93+% of freshman return. Arkansas and Ole Miss are not quite at the level of PSU & Minnesota but they are solid academically. Most of the SEC schools are solid. The two that you singled out, Arkansas & Ole Miss, are probably the least competitive but overall they're still good schools. Florida and Georgia in particular have high admission standards and high retention rates. Looking again at the B1G schools, they're probably more solid than the SEC schools. Michigan only admits around 25% of applicants. Of those admitted, if one has an ACT score of 29 it's only in the 25th percentile. A 33 would put you in the 75th percentile. Over 70% had a 30 or better. Only 3% averaged less than 24. SAT score in the mid to high 700s across the board are the norm. Nearly 100% of the frehmen come back. Ohio State isn't far behind these numbers. I won't even go into the ACC schools but Virginia has stats that are very comparable to Michigan. The point that I am trying to make is that many of the P5 schools are, indeed, very solid academically. You painted them with a broad brush. Even WVU, that you have singled out in particular, is not a horrible school. It is not quite at the same level as the top P5 schools but it isn't horrible. Gone are the days of the large public universities being the "easy" schools to get into. My cousin went to college in the early 90s and he said that kids in Ohio viewed Ohio State as their "fall back school" or "safety school." Those days are gone. Kids that apply to tOSU today need to have a solid resume or they won't get admitted (I am speaking of kids in the general population, of course, and not athletes). I am not attempting to put these P5 schools in the same category as the Elite schools such as Stanford, Duke, Notre Dame, etc, but the fact is that some of them are nearly as good. In some instances they may even be better and a good many of them are better schools than many private schools.
WVU is also a lot cheaper than other power five schools so kids on partial scholarships would pay less there than at other places that makes a difference. And I still believe Morgantown is a dump.
It's a fact that the NCAA publicly reprimanded WVU women's soccer for illegal recruiting and the "years ago" in question are the years the staff recruited the senior class that just led WVU to the College Cup. And because some rules may have changed since doesn't mean they were allowed to broken then. Bad logic. There are a lot of potential NCAA rules coming and being proposed but you can't act on them until legislation passes.
Thanks royturner, yes 41 losses for Miami during that tenure instead of 31. My bad. I swear it was a typo and not bad math. As for Syracuse, Pitt, and BC they can all do better. The line of "northern schools can't recruit is getting old". Notre Dame is pretty good in athletics last I looked. BC went to a College Cup within the past decade. Syracuse men's soccer have been to a College Cup 2 years ago and have other sports like field hockey winning national championships. Can be done. Have a good staff, good recruiting, you can get make it happen. I also agree that West Virginia is a s***hole and they can get players. Poor academics and crappy campus and they find a way.
I think what these stats illustrate is that most of the power-5's are on the same playing field. Big public institutions with big "brands" generally have at least good enough academics to be a factor in recruiting. You can really only make the case for Ivy's, and a few others (Stanford, Vandy, Northwestern, Duke, maybe Notre Dame... though not what they used to be) that the education they offer is THAT much better than another Power 5 school. It also depends on the major and school they want to go into: for example, Syracuse has fantastic broadcasting. If you seek a career in broadcasting, you'd be better off (or just as well off) going to Syracuse than Vanderbilt. Just one example. I think Power 5 recruiting is far more about resources available (scholarships, academics, otherwise) as well as where the recruit and her family feel "at home" than it is about being an Ag school that's not on a major interstate (WVU, Ole Miss, Arkansas, etc.) than in a major city (Ohio State, Minnesota, etc). I personally think recruits are often attracted to towns that feel like college towns, rather than campuses so big they feel like a city, or campuses that are in a major city. Not to mention, schools like Penn State, Minnesota and Ohio State have campuses of 40,000+...Arkansas, Ole Miss, and WVU are all less than 30. This branding, and college-town feel has to be at least a contributing factor as to why we have seen an increase in smaller, "less academically prestigious," making runs in the College Cup. Let's also not forget, talent identification, recruiting, and money all matters. Don't think for a second the relationship with the coach, feeling of the team (even if the recruit may only play w/ a handful of them) doesn't contribute to the system just as much as academic reputation. Lastly, in terms of retention rates and admission standards, you're kidding yourself if you think a women's soccer player, especially "scholarship offered" kid, plays by the same rules as Sally Smith, a generic high school senior. Even "academically prestigious" schools have a certain number of kids they can get in almost regardless...now how many varies by school, and maybe some can get by without using this measure, but don't fool yourself into thinking there are a lot of kids sweating out their acceptance letters after being committed for two years. For example: I'm privy to a non-Power 5, but FBS DI school that gets 6 of these kids each season. If they only use 5, they don't get 7 the next year, but they can bring in 6 kids that would otherwise not be accepted to the school each year. I also know of a P5 school (B1G) that gets less than that, but still a few. Sorry to get off topic. Also, this is NOT to say that every kid that is at a power-5 didn't earn their way there. There are many highly qualified kids that do get in and play at academically prestigious schools on their own merit, so take nothing away from them.
Look again, Lou Holtz is gone. Basketball doesn't count. Too much supply, small number of schollys. Factors like NBA and PT play the primary role in recruiting, not the school itself. Decade. The game is changed now with the SEC investment and international recruiting. i did acknowledge of all those northern schools, Boston presents the best environment in every way. In my opinion, BC's major problem is that they are the prime target for New England players so they fill up on those commits early, kinda paint themselves in a corner. Within the decade and now, ACC midling. Supply/demand, again. Like lacrosse of both genders, there are far less men's soccer options than women, so Syracuse is able to sustain itself competitively. The SEC is not even in play. Football is the true barometer of destinationess. Lots of schollys, measure of appeal to athletes with many options. BC, Pitt and Syracuse have been irrelevant for a long time. Speaking of ND... I'd love for the biggest name, I don't know, Dorrance? to go to Pitt for four years as an experiment.
That's quite easy...because it's one of the few schools the Canadian national staff pushes their best youth players. Since John Herdman has come on board the best, most promising Canadian players are steered toward a small handful of schools while being steered away from the rest. WVU is on that exclusive list of preferred schools.
His name alone would attract a higher caliber of athlete. Pitt can do a lot better; should not be losing to Duquesne or Kent State. Maybe it was all the fault of the assistants that's why they were shown the door. If Pitt got a big name in there the program would move forward. There is a lot of negativity associated with that program and it is probably hurting recruiting.
Cincinnati's Associate Head Coach Nate Lie is the new coach at Xavier. Grambling has selected a finalist that has already been on campus. Should be announced in the next two weeks. Only 7-8 players returning, have been without a Head Coach for 5+ months.
Here is more on Nate: http://goxavier.com/news/2017/5/13/nate-lie-hired-as-new-womens-soccer-head-coach.aspx He is a good hire for Xavier - particularly this late. He is also very familiar with the local players, having been Cincinnati's primary recruiter, as well as talent nationally. I would look for Xavier to improve over the next few years.