Talented players stack USU men’s lacrosse team
When John Atwood took over as Utah State men’s lacrosse coach in January, he gutted the program. The former player and his assistants scrambled to field a team and find success similar to what Atwood had in his nine years coaching at Sky View High School.
“They brought us in to a team that was not going to exist unless they hired a new coach,” Atwood said. “Long story short, we threw that team together in about three weeks.”
In the process, the team had to disassociate with the university. The team played eight scrimmages last year, but, with the chaos of the coaching change, the Aggies had to drop out of the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference.
“We didn’t want our players to lose eligibility because we weren’t in a conference,” Atwood said.
Eight months later, Atwood is settled in and looking ahead to the future of Aggie lacrosse. He built Sky View lacrosse from the ground up, leading the Bobcats to a Division II state championship during his time with the team, and now Aggie lacrosse is back in the RMLC.
Atwood said he’s rebuilding the program with a relatively small budget, compared to other schools in the state. The Aggies have raised their dues, but it’s still just a small pittance to play the game they love. Atwood said it’s all a numbers game.
“If you play lacrosse at the University of Utah, it is $2,500,” said Atwood. “If you play for BYU, it’s $3,000, but they’re national champions, so they can do that.”
With those amounts, USU’s dues of $1,050 per player is just a drop in the bucket. The necessary increase has caused a drop in team members.
“Our numbers are down because we’re trying to change the paradigm of Utah State lacrosse, or at least Utah State students who are lacrosse players,” Atwood said.
The Aggies held a low-key scrimmage Wednesday, and there was no lack of talent.
“We’ve got freshmen here who are First-Team All-State from all around the country,” Atwood said. “We’ve got All-Americans at Utah State who have transferred from other schools.”
It’s this type of player, the ones who didn’t come to Utah State to play lacrosse, Atwood said he wants to reach out to.
“There’s so much great talent on our team,” Atwood said. “And talent not on our team that we want on our team.”
Atwood says the scrimmage gives the Aggies a strong starting point, heading into a new season. The talent he saw is definitely something to be happy about.
“Just the fact that we had the numbers we had,” Atwood said, “it’s a great place to start, right now.”
Aside from participation, the Aggies are excited about their level of play thus far. During the scrimmage, USU controlled the ball well, offensively. That kind of progress sits well with Atwood, who saw the opportunity as an encouraging springboard for improvement.
“There’s a lot of to be happy about,” Atwood said. “But there’s a lot of work to be done as well.”
The Aggie offensive players weren’t the only ones in on the action. USU’s defense only recorded one failed clear on 20 attempts. While the team as a whole is impressive, Atwood declined to name specific players who are standing out.
“Right now we’re just focusing on team everything,” Atwood said. “We’re rotating every player through positions and everyone’s getting playing time.”
Utah State will see its first game action of the fall Oct. 7 when the team travels to Boise, Idaho, for the Gem State Invitational. The Aggies expect to play a minimum of four games in the tournament, hosted by Boise State University.
– meredith.kinney@aggiemail.usu.edu