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MCFinARL
06-09-2011, 06:00 PM
Mods, if you don't want a thread on this, do as you wish, but since the earlier thread about the rumors that John Danowski might take the lacrosse coaching job at his alma mater, Rutgers, is closed, I wanted to share the news, reported on Insidelacrosse.com today, that Danowski has removed himself from consideration for this job.

"Sources are also telling IL that Duke coach John Danowski has turned down the Scarlet Knights opening. The Long Island native and Rutgers alum weighed an offer last weekend and has ultimately pulled out of the running."

http://insidelacrosse.com/news/2011/06/09/sources-dave-cottle-richie-meade-interviewing-rutgers

Indoor66
06-09-2011, 06:07 PM
Mods, if you don't want a thread on this, do as you wish, but since the earlier thread about the rumors that John Danowski might take the lacrosse coaching job at his alma mater, Rutgers, is closed, I wanted to share the news, reported on Insidelacrosse.com today, that Danowski has removed himself from consideration for this job.

"Sources are also telling IL that Duke coach John Danowski has turned down the Scarlet Knights opening. The Long Island native and Rutgers alum weighed an offer last weekend and has ultimately pulled out of the running."

http://insidelacrosse.com/news/2011/06/09/sources-dave-cottle-richie-meade-interviewing-rutgers

That is good news. Thanks for sharing.

laxbluedevil
06-09-2011, 06:35 PM
It would be great if Duke's administration and Danowski himself would tell the press he's staying, like Maryland and Tillman did the day after Navy came calling. This pursuit of Danowski has been in the press for weeks and no statement from anyone connnected with Duke and no story at all in Duke or local media, disappointing. Rutgers insiders keep insisting to this day their AD is trying to come up with more money for the buyout in Danowski's contract. How many millions did Koskinen donate to name the soccer/lacrosse stadium after him? I think big time lacrosse buyouts seem to be $500k like the Maryland buyout. I think some schools like Harvard name their coaching positions after donors like the John R. Smith coach of football or whatever so it would seem possible a school could get some big donor to resurrect a sport. Danowski's 57 though, so Rutgers should probably go after a young coach that's a great recruiter and fast program builder. Danowski took Hofstra to one quarterfinal after 21 years. Rutgers seems hellbent on signing a legendary veteran like Cottle, Tierney, or Danowski though.

The Stony Brook job just came open today with their coach going to Navy, their fans want local Long Island guy Danowski too! They should hire a young top recruiter too.

Expect people to go after Danowski every year unless Duke locks him up with a big contract and buyout. Anyone know the terms of Danowski's deal? McCallie was given a 7 year contract recently, didn't Duke initially hire her for the same $500k she made at Michigan State after offering Goestenkors twice that? Does anyone know how much McCallie makes, and was anyone trying to hire her? 7 years with a big buyout should keep Danowski at Duke until he retired with 12 straight final fours. He more than deserves it, right? Matt Danowski could be a great assistant or asset to Duke athletics too.

CameronBornAndBred
06-09-2011, 06:49 PM
Sounds good to me. I love that he took a young class this year and got them to go so far. If you look back early in the season, the signs were there to not expect much. (Not a knock against the team..but the youth showed.) A season like the one Duke had, with the inexperience Duke had, really rests on the shoulders of the coaching staff. Looking for more deep tourney runs in Duke's future.

chrishoke
06-09-2011, 07:00 PM
Excellent news. Coach D is a class act, a proven winner and a great representative of Duke.

laxbluedevil
06-09-2011, 07:41 PM
I noticed rivals like UVA, Maryland, UNC, Syracuse, and others seem to have one more assistant than Duke. According to goduke, one of Duke's assistants works with defense, and the other with midfielders and face offs. Does that mean Danowski himself works with attackmen? I think hiring Matt Danowski as an offensive assistant and recruiter could be a good move.

That would level the playing field in recruiting with having the same number of recruiters as rival programs. Maryland, UVA, and UNC, have 7, 6, and 5 of ESPN's top 50 HS seniors committed, and 1, 3, and 5, of the top juniors, compared to Duke's 3 and 2. The insidelacrosse and underarmour rankings are similar to ESPN. Matt Danowski already teaches and works with Duke's lacrosse camps, and other programs could offer to hire Matt as well as John. Hiring Matt would certainly help keep John Danowski at Duke as well as help recruiting and teaching and possibly set up an heir to keep the dynasty going.

CameronBornAndBred
06-09-2011, 08:19 PM
I noticed rivals like UVA, Maryland, UNC, Syracuse, and others seem to have one more assistant than Duke. According to goduke, one of Duke's assistants works with defense, and the other with midfielders and face offs. Does that mean Danowski himself works with attackmen? I think hiring Matt Danowski as an offensive assistant and recruiter could be a good move.

That would level the playing field in recruiting with having the same number of recruiters as rival programs. Maryland, UVA, and UNC, have 7, 6, and 5 of ESPN's top 50 HS seniors committed, and 1, 3, and 5, of the top juniors, compared to Duke's 3 and 2. The insidelacrosse and underarmour rankings are similar to ESPN. Matt Danowski already teaches and works with Duke's lacrosse camps, and other programs could offer to hire Matt as well as John. Hiring Matt would certainly help keep John Danowski at Duke as well as help recruiting and teaching and possibly set up an heir to keep the dynasty going.
Matt's playing in the pro's right? I know I saw a commercial with him as the feature player during the FF. Why would he want to bail on his dream so soon to coach? I'm not attacking you here..I'm just asking..are the pro and college seasons in line that it could work?

MCFinARL
06-09-2011, 08:36 PM
Matt's playing in the pro's right? I know I saw a commercial with him as the feature player during the FF. Why would he want to bail on his dream so soon to coach? I'm not attacking you here..I'm just asking..are the pro and college seasons in line that it could work?

Well, playing pro lacrosse isn't like going pro in other sports--it's very much a part-time job, and you can't make a living at it. For example, Max Quinzani is playing in the pros, for the Boston Cannons, while also working on Wall Street during the week. Matt may also have a Wall Street job (there is a pretty good lax alumni network, from ACC and Ivy schools, in New York finance), but I'm not sure. He does have an endorsement contract or two, so he may be focusing on an all-lacrosse career path. This can be done if you have enough of a name to get endorsements, get involved in camps and other lacrosse related businesses, and possibly play in multiple pro leagues (there is an indoor lead with a season that doesn't really conflict with MLL)--this is what Ned Crotty is trying to do. Some pro lacrosse players are also coaching.

If you were just playing MLL, the season is mostly in the summer, so it might work to be an assistant coach with a college team, but your head coach might have to make some allowances here and there.

laxbluedevil
06-09-2011, 08:45 PM
Long Island Lizards schedule says 2 games are before memorial day final four for some reason, season goes from 5/14 to 8/13. It's strange timing of games, no games between 7/1 and 7/16, some games 5 days apart. No real rhyme or reason to it, especially starting before the college season is over. I didn't know anyone really cared about pro lacrosse compared to the 50,000 that watch college final four. I think a lot of these guys work in finance and barely get paid to play. I heard Rutgers was going to offer Matt an assistants job and that was one of the perks for luring John Danowski, guess they could do that since Rutgers is close to Long Island? I would think a lot of MLL players coach too, so if they were in the final four they'd be excused from showing up until their team was eliminated. I don't know, but I would think Matt plays for the national team and can certainly get practice in with the Duke players.

Even if it's not Matt, Duke should definitely have as many assistants as all its rival programs. I could have sworn there were only 2 assistants according to goduke as recently as last week. Now there seems to have been a volunteer assistant recently added with no clickable bio, maybe that was part of Danowski's new deal? Even with him though, Duke would still be behind all its ACC peers and others in not having at least 3 full time assistants in addition to a volunteer assistant and even others. UNC seems to have a whole bunch of guys on their staff. Maybe that's why UNC is inexplicably reeling in #1 recruiting classes every year lately while being at the bottom of the ACC. UNC has supposedly also reeled in superstar transfers Jack McBride from Princeton and Davey Emala from Georgetown, could they be as corrupt as their football program?

Anyway Duke needs to catch up with its recruiting with another recruiting assistant. Duke should have just enough depth if the really promising recruits all pan out and there are no big injuries. But UVA supposedly had enough talent to field 2 top 10 teams and UNC has twice as many amazing attackmen then they know what to do with. I read Maryland is getting a star transfer at attack and added his brother another top recruit recently, to go with the #1 overall senior, also an attackman. Duke's ACC rivals each have twice as many top 50 seniors + top 25 juniors committed, and their better players are higher ranked. Hopkins, Syracuse, and even Harvard with 5 has more top 50 seniors coming than Duke, to go with Harvard's #3 and #7 recent classes brought in by Maryland's new coach.


http://rise.espn.go.com/lacrosse/articles/2010/09/30-Top-50-Overall.aspx?pursuit=Lacrosse

MCFinARL
06-09-2011, 08:59 PM
Lizards schedule says 2 games are before memorial day final four for some reason, season goes from 5/14 to 8/13. It's strange timing of games, no games between 7/1 and 7/16, some games 5 days apart. No real rhyme or reason to it, especially starting before the college season is over. I didn't know anyone really cared about pro lacrosse compared to the 50,000 that watch college final four. I think a lot of these guys work in finance and barely get paid to play. I heard Rutgers was going to offer Matt an assistants job and that was one of the perks for luring John Danowski, guess they could do that since Rutgers is close to Long Island? I would think a lot of MLL players coach too, so if they were in the final four they'd be excused from showing up until their team was eliminated. I don't know, but I would think Matt plays for the national team and can certainly get practice in with the Duke players.

Even if it's not Matt, Duke should definitely have as many assistants as all its rival programs. I could have sworn there were only 2 assistants according to goduke as recently as last week. Now there seems to have been a volunteer assistant recently added with no clickable bio, maybe that was part of Danowski's new deal? Even with him though, Duke would still be behind all its ACC peers and others in not having at least 3 full time assistants in addition to a volunteer assistant and even others. UNC seems to have a whole bunch of guys on their staff. Maybe that's why UNC is inexplicably reeling in #1 recruiting classes every year lately while being at the bottom of the ACC. UNC has supposedly also reeled in superstar transfers Jack McBride from Princeton and Davey Emala from Georgetown, could they be as corrupt as their football program? Anyway Duke needs to catch up with its recruiting, they should have just enough depth if the really promising recruits all pan out and there are no big injuries. But UVA supposedly had enough talent to field 2 top 10 teams and UNC has twice as many amazing attackmen then they know what to do with.

UNC gets highly ranked recruiting classes every year--but what have they done with them? As good as Nicky Galasso was this year for them, overall our freshman class (Jordan Wolf, Christian Walsh, Chris Hipps, Luke Duprey, Josh Dionne, etc.) saw more playing time and accomplished more than UNC's--and beat them head to head. And we have a very solid class coming in next year as well. Obviously, recruiting is important, but overall, I think Duke's recruiting is going fairly well.

I'm also curious about the source of your Jack McBride report, as the most recent source I can find online (from last week) has him possibly going to Denver, Duke, or Georgetown.

laxbluedevil
06-09-2011, 09:19 PM
I think the Denver, Duke, Georgetown article was just an opinion piece based on what the author thought would be best for McBride. Multiple UNC and lax message boards and posts to articles, say McBride and Emala are transferring to UNC. They're both star attackmen that had huge Zach Howell type numbers but want to transfer to a team that already has plenty of star attackmen and more star attack recruits coming? Duke's rivals seem to have more top recruits coming than they know what to do with. Matt Danowski and Quinzani were superstars like Galasso recruited by Pressler, I hope Danowski can get enough talent to keep dominating. The #1 senior and #1 junior are going to Maryland and UNC.

I think Danowski's a superior strategist but it may be hopeful to think he can keep beating teams that have twice as many bluechips every year. Didn't Duke's field hockey coach from Princeton Bozman go to 4 straight final fours with the previous coach's recruits then things went downhill fast before she was replaced a few months ago? Not saying that will happen with lax but Duke should cover its bases by having as many recruiters as its rivals. Then I'll feel good about final fours and national title hopes every year.

AtlBluRew
06-09-2011, 09:55 PM
I'm really glad he;s staying. Thank you, Coach Danowski, for all you've done and will do.

MCFinARL
06-09-2011, 09:56 PM
I think the Denver, Duke, Georgetown article was just an opinion piece based on what the author thought would be best for McBride. Multiple UNC and lax message boards and posts to articles, say McBride and Emala are transferring to UNC. They're both star attackmen that had huge Zach Howell type numbers but want to transfer to a team that already has plenty of star attackmen and more star attack recruits coming? Duke's rivals seem to have more top recruits coming than they know what to do with. Matt Danowski and Quinzani were superstars like Galasso recruited by Pressler, I hope Danowski can get enough talent to keep dominating. The #1 senior and #1 junior are going to Maryland and UNC.

I think Danowski's a superior strategist but it may be hopeful to think he can keep beating teams that have twice as many bluechips every year. Didn't Duke's field hockey coach from Princeton Bozman go to 4 straight final fours with the previous coach's recruits then things went downhill fast before she was replaced a few months ago? Not saying that will happen with lax but Duke should cover its bases by having as many recruiters as its rivals. Then I'll feel good about final fours and national title hopes every year.

Don't know anything about Emala, but in McBride's case there may be other factors in play, as I believe he is a college graduate looking for a new program because the Ivy League does not permit redshirts. So his decision may have as much to do with a good fit for a graduate program as with lacrosse.

DevilWearsPrada
06-10-2011, 01:03 AM
Thank goodness! I was so hoping Coach Danowski would stay at Duke, until he retires. He has been such a god send to the mens Lacrosse team and at Duke. I am sure Coach D weighed out his options and it was a difficult decision.

Coach Danowski has been a great coach, and taken our young team very deep into the tournament this season with the Final 4.

Thank you for choosing to stay at Duke! :D

TheTrain
06-11-2011, 09:37 PM
Duke is not exactly a go-to place for Gilman lacrosse players.....very few players ever end up there and there are always several on UNC's roster. Why???? Well for one....Willie Scroggs used to teach and coach at Gilman....the current HC at Gilman (Brooks Matthews) is a former UNC lax starter.

Now I spoke with Brooks a few weeks ago and Danowski is working very hard to change that and make inroads into what is arguably the nation's preeminent HS program....Gilman is to lacrosse what DeMatha is to HS basketball. Justin George is headed to Duke next year becoming the first former Hound to play at Duke since Ed Douglas under Pressler.

Gilman just won the MIAA again this year...and will be loaded for the next several years....their JV and F/S only lost once combined IIRC

burnspbesq
06-11-2011, 10:14 PM
Duke is not exactly a go-to place for Gilman lacrosse players.....

Which hurts Duke exactly not at all. In case you missed it, Duke won the national championship in 2010 without a single Baltimore-area player on the team, and we had starters this year from New Hampshire and Texas. As long as we continue to recruit successfully on Long Island and in New England, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the DC area, we'll be fine.

Denver's roster, with players from 17 states and three Canadian provinces, is the future of the sport. Get used to it.

TheTrain
06-11-2011, 10:30 PM
Which hurts Duke exactly not at all. In case you missed it, Duke won the national championship in 2010 without a single Baltimore-area player on the team, and we had starters this year from New Hampshire and Texas. As long as we continue to recruit successfully on Long Island and in New England, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the DC area, we'll be fine.


Denver's roster, with players from 17 states and three Canadian provinces, is the future of the sport. Get used to it.

I was merely pointing out why it was not surprising that Emala ended up at UNC.

Not sure that Denver's roster is the short-term future of the sport or for that program for that matter.....most of their top recruits among their freshmen class were from the MIAA and the IAC...Tierney has strong ties to the Baltimore/DC lacrosse community and I expect a lot of kids to continue to travel there.

I would not want to hitch the long-term success of the program to recruiting kids from the far reaches while ignoring Baltimore....Danowski knows this and that is precisely why he is spending time visiting Gilman these days

TheTrain
06-14-2011, 12:28 PM
Danowski has already landed 9 HS juniors including 6 of the top-33 in the Inside Lacrosse rankings (the superstar in that class is Case Matheis the #2 ranked player in the USA from Darien, CT).

burnspbesq
06-14-2011, 02:24 PM
Matheis is facing knee surgery this summer. He tore a meniscus in the quarterfinals of the state tournament.

On the women's side, Coach Kimel was probably smiling on Saturday. Duke commit Kelci Smesko, a junior, had four goals and two assists in Ridgewood's victory over Moorestown in the NJ championship game. Smesko broke former Duke All-American Leigh Jester's RHS career scoring record midway through her junior year.

MCFinARL
06-14-2011, 02:28 PM
Matheis is facing knee surgery this summer. He tore a meniscus in the quarterfinals of the state tournament.

On the women's side, Coach Kimel was probably smiling on Saturday. Duke commit Kelci Smesko, a junior, had four goals and two assists in Ridgewood's victory over Moorestown in the NJ championship game. Smesko broke former Duke All-American Leigh Jester's RHS career scoring record midway through her junior year.

Unfortunate--although a meniscus tear is usually a pretty recoverable injury--a lot better than, say, an ACL problem. Unless it is a very bad one, he should be more than ready to go in time for his senior season.

burnspbesq
06-16-2011, 10:02 PM
Wolf and Duprey were named to the first team, while Hipps was named to the second team. On the women's side, Mollie Quirke and Taylor Virden were named to the first team.

Congrats to our outstanding first-year players.

MCFinARL
06-17-2011, 11:10 AM
Wolf and Duprey were named to the first team, while Hipps was named to the second team. On the women's side, Mollie Quirke and Taylor Virden were named to the first team.

Congrats to our outstanding first-year players.

I was surprised Christian Walsh did not also earn a spot, but perhaps the IL folks wanted to spread things around a bit.

PS--should we rename this thread "Duke Lacrosse Offseason Thread," since that is what it is turning into?