The chants of "Lafayette Sucks" from Easton have died down; Lafayette's time in the FCS playoffs are done after this weekend; Lehigh's fall sports season is coming to a close; and the temptation is to put away the talk about Lehigh football for another year. Although I'm thinking about talking about other Lehigh sports in this space (though with the Lady Hawks basketball team sitting at 2-3 losing to the Lady Dragons of Drexel, and the men's basketball team sitting at an incredibly disappointing 2-6 after losing to Notre Dame last night), the truth is this blog is about Lehigh football, first and foremost. And although the 2006 season is over, recruiting for 2007 is very much underway already and in two short months we'll have an idea about how far Lehigh is in regards to getting another Patriot League title and FCS playoff bid in the future.
With the FCS playoffs not even over yet, rumors are flying. Will a former Patriot League freshman of the week be willing to sit out a year in order to transfer to Lehigh? Will a certain I-A star, recovering from shoulder surgery while falling behind on the QB depth chart, transfer to Lehigh? Where are the Mountain Hawks concentrating their recruiting - California? Louisiana? Texas? All good questions; all juicy unconfirmed rumors; all fascinating. But the answers aren't here yet.
There's even talk about the Ivy League - are they outrecruiting us? Could it be true that the Ivies are actually accepting athletes with a lower academic index (or AI) than Patriot League schools? If this is true, it would explain a lot about the sudden resurgence of talent overall in the Ivy League in the past couple of years vis-a-vis the Patriot League, especially concerning NFL-caliber players - which are present on every Ivy team in recent years, even lowly Columbia. Who thought that the Patriot League would have to be *more* selective than the Ivies?
The NEC, once a limited grant-in-aid conference, is also flexing its muscles with the possibility of offering up to 30 full (or split into more partial) scholarships which also has the effect of affecting the recruiting landscape. NEC schools can offer a very good education at a fraction of the price of a Lehigh. Although I feel like a Lehigh (or any Patriot League) education is more than worth the money, the truth is Patriot League schools could be getting squeezed further by NEC schools getting that "not eligible for grant-in-aid's but not made of money" recruit.
We still have the biggest carrot of all to offer - that coveted FCS autobid. The Ivies won't let their teams compete for it, and the NEC still yet has to have a team qualify for an at-large bid. But the landscape has changed where Lehigh coaches could just show up with pictures of seniors who have never lost in the Lehigh/Lafayette rivalry and get recruits. It's harder than ever.
If the "elephant in the room" is true - the possible transfer of a big-time I-A QB from a BCS school to Bethlehem - it could be a huge shot in the arm for recruiting. It would be a signal that Lehigh isn't fooling around - they want to win championships and win an FCS championship.
The wait on solid information continues.
Comments
student athletes that didn't fit the Ivies' academic profiles. The Patriot League Football landscape has changed over the last few years. The Ivies still outrecruit the athlete that is qualified, because they are the Ivies and to a good student that's the gold ring, not a new stadium. With the Ivy League band system, they now can admit a few athletes that may be getting offers from 1A schools. These same athletes would also be admitted to Lehigh, but wouldn't necessarily be interested in giving up a scholarship unless it was for an Ivy degree. Harvard now has an endowment of over 27 billion dollars... any student, athlete or non, goes for free if their family earns under $60,000. That's tough to compete with. The schools that were beatable a few years ago are now offering scholarships and have advanced sharply in a short time. Attending a $40,000 plus a yaer school is no longer the decision of the student athlete...it's now the family's and the financial aid award. When I attended it was my decision...but then again, college cost $6,000 a year.
So LU in NJ, Please let it go!
I would love to see Bednarik come to lehigh but I believe Lafayette has the inside track.
10:44 PM \\\\
You mean Bednarik couldn't get above an 800 on his SAT's?
yea lafayette sucks why would he go there?