Duke Women's Lacrosse 2023

[75Crazie]

To some (small) degree I have gotten used to self-important fans of college revenue sports calling for cessation of employment for head coaches who know much more about coaching those sports than those fans do, but ... women's lacrosse??? Have we really reached that part of the narrative for a .500 team that just lost a game away from home?

[burnspbesq]

To some (small) degree I have gotten used to self-important fans of college revenue sports calling for cessation of employment for head coaches who know much more about coaching those sports than those fans do, but ... women's lacrosse??? Have we really reached that part of the narrative for a .500 team that just lost a game away from home?

If it’s any consolation, there aren’t many of them. Substantially more Duke fans understand that the landscape of women’s D1 lacrosse has changed dramatically over the last decade, and are willing to be patient while Duke takes the steps necessary to adapt.

[Steven43]

If it’s any consolation, there aren’t many of them. Substantially more Duke fans understand that the landscape of women’s D1 lacrosse has changed dramatically over the last decade, and are willing to be patient while Duke takes the steps necessary to adapt.

What do you mean about the landscape changing over the past decade? I haven’t been following women’s lacrosse very closely, so I’m in the dark on this one. Thanks in advance.

[burnspbesq]

What do you mean about the landscape changing over the past decade? I haven’t been following women’s lacrosse very closely, so I’m in the dark on this one. Thanks in advance.

First and foremost, the number of schools sponsoring women’s D1 lacrosse has nearly doubled since 2010. A number of P5 schools have invested substantially. Until recently, Duke didn’t find itself in recruiting battles against Stanford, USC, Florida, or (especially) Boston College. Duke wins its fair share, but it also loses more than a few. The coaching talent pool has not grown as quickly.

For a variety of reasons, a top tier of five schools—Carolina, Syracuse, BC, Maryland, and Northwestern—have achieved significant separation from the pack. Everybody else is playing catch-up. Kids see this, and it becomes self-perpetuating; the best players want to play on the biggest stage, and only a small number of programs can offer the promise of playing on Memoriao Day weekend. “Come here, and you can battle it out with Notre Dame and Virginia for fourth place in the ACC” isn’t the most compelling sales pitch.

The margins are smaller. With talent more widely dispersed, it’s difficult to build depth. A single key injury can derail a season—and this year, Duke lost its starting GK for a big chunk of time, and her primary backup for the entire season (there have also been rumors of chemistry issues, but I don’t have any special insight there, so I won’t comment further).

I’m not suggesting that Coach Kimel should be treated as having tenure. It’s entirely possible that a change at the top could have a salutary effect. But if I were Nina King, I would reflect carefully and at length before pulling the trigger. Unless she can be sure of getting a Kara Lawson-type transformational hire, the risk-reward tradeoff seems unfavorable—and to my eye, there’s only one such coach out there that she might be able to get (USC’s Lindsey Munday).

[Phredd3]

But if I were Nina King, I would reflect carefully and at length before pulling the trigger. Unless she can be sure of getting a Kara Lawson-type transformational hire, the risk-reward tradeoff seems unfavorable—and to my eye, there’s only one such coach out there that she might be able to get (USC’s Lindsey Munday).

FWIW, it isn't entirely clear yet that Kara Lawson actually is a transformational hire. She's been solid so far, but it's too early to say she's transformational. We all hope so, certainly. Truly transformational hires are very rare.

[MCFinARL]

FWIW, it isn't entirely clear yet that Kara Lawson actually is a transformational hire. She's been solid so far, but it's too early to say she's transformational. We all hope so, certainly. Truly transformational hires are very rare.

This could be a semantic issue, though. I would argue that, given where the program was when she arrived and where it is now, she has been transformational already, regardless of where it goes from here--but frankly the bar for transformation was pretty low at that point. But I agree it remains to be seen how transformational she will be in a long-term sense. Thanks to COVID, she hasn't really had a chance to fully build her own program through recruitment, and as we are seeing this year, the transfer portal works both ways. I'm hopeful the arrival of Jadyn Donovan next year will draw more top high school players to Duke.

[chrishoke]

Nice article from the Chronicle on the record setting Maddie Jenner as her Duke career is about to close.

https://www.dukechronicle.com/articl...-kerstin-kimel

[TheTrain]

First and foremost, the number of schools sponsoring women’s D1 lacrosse has nearly doubled since 2010. A number of P5 schools have invested substantially. Until recently, Duke didn’t find itself in recruiting battles against Stanford, USC, Florida, or (especially) Boston College. Duke wins its fair share, but it also loses more than a few. The coaching talent pool has not grown as quickly.

For a variety of reasons, a top tier of five schools—Carolina, Syracuse, BC, Maryland, and Northwestern—have achieved significant separation from the pack. Everybody else is playing catch-up. Kids see this, and it becomes self-perpetuating; the best players want to play on the biggest stage, and only a small number of programs can offer the promise of playing on Memoriao Day weekend. “Come here, and you can battle it out with Notre Dame and Virginia for fourth place in the ACC” isn’t the most compelling sales pitch.

The margins are smaller. With talent more widely dispersed, it’s difficult to build depth. A single key injury can derail a season—and this year, Duke lost its starting GK for a big chunk of time, and her primary backup for the entire season (there have also been rumors of chemistry issues, but I don’t have any special insight there, so I won’t comment further).

I’m not suggesting that Coach Kimel should be treated as having tenure. It’s entirely possible that a change at the top could have a salutary effect. But if I were Nina King, I would reflect carefully and at length before pulling the trigger. Unless she can be sure of getting a Kara Lawson-type transformational hire, the risk-reward tradeoff seems unfavorable—and to my eye, there’s only one such coach out there that she might be able to get (USC’s Lindsey Munday).

All coaches have a shelf life. After more than 25 years, Kimel is past the expiration date. One year out of the last 6 with a winning conference record. Kimel had a great run and deserves a lot of credit for building the program, but I think it is fair to say she is effectively where Cut was at the end

[DoubleBlue]

Duke off to a fast start, leading uNC 4-1 in 1st quarter.

[DoubleBlue]

I missed the details but the announcers were discussing the medical condition that Duke goalie Sophia LeRose has that makes her dizzy and unable to perform in games. Did anyone catch what the condition is called?

[DoubleBlue]

6-5 Duke at the half. Not hard to predict who will win. Tough season for Duke.

[Dukegrid]

6-5 Duke at the half. Not hard to predict who will win. Tough season for Duke.

11-10 Duke. I'm a big believer in any sport that a win against Carolina makes the season automatically a success.

[Dukegrid]

All coaches have a shelf life. After more than 25 years, Kimel is past the expiration date. One year out of the last 6 with a winning conference record. Kimel had a great run and deserves a lot of credit for building the program, but I think it is fair to say she is effectively where Cut was at the end

Exactly.

[DoubleBlue]

13-12 uNC is your final.

[chrishoke]

13-12 uNC is your final.

Yet another close, heart-breaking loss. Story of our season.

[burnspbesq]

Ouch. 0-5 in one-goal games.

Back to Louisville on Sunday for the first round of the ACC tournament.

[bigperm13]

Another sad loss for a sad season.

[Daddylawman]

All coaches have a shelf life. After more than 25 years, Kimel is past the expiration date. One year out of the last 6 with a winning conference record. Kimel had a great run and deserves a lot of credit for building the program, but I think it is fair to say she is effectively where Cut was at the end

Apropos of nothing - the quoted post was made at 4:20 on 4/20.

[DoubleBlue]

Apropos of nothing - the quoted post was made at 4:20 on 4/20.

The season has gone up in smoke.

[TheTrain]

Understatement