The Mesa State Experiment

by Jac Coyne | Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff | Coyne Archive

The blueprint for establishing an NCAA Division II program in the western part of the country is established: find a private school in a metropolitan area, provide a little seed money and hope for the best. Notre Dame de Namur, Dominican (Calif.) and Grand Canyon on the men's side and Regis (Colo.) on the women's have followed this model.

The results have been predictable.

Facing the challenge of enticing high-end recruits to non-traditional locales with schedules that often lean on games against D-III and club programs, the ‘Westies' have been bit players in the division. The lone exception was during NDNU's brief appearance in the poll a couple of years back after a decent showing against a respectable schedule. Since then, however, there has been a backslide.

Starting in 2011, we'll have a new paradigm.

At first glance, the decision by Mesa State, located in Grand Junction, Colo., to add both men's and women's programs seems curious. It bucks just about every trend set for western states varsity lacrosse.

First of all, check out where Grand Junction is located.

The mid-point of the eight-hour drive from Denver to Salt Lake City, Mesa State isn't within smelling distance of any kind of metroplex. While Grand Junction is the 15th-largest city in Colorado (pop. 53,662), it is nothing like the Bay Area, Phoenix or Denver. On the bright side, there are very few traffic jams in cattle country.

Second, it's a public school.

With most states implementing hiring freezes, if not trying to avert outright bankruptcy, rare are the public institutions adding sports these days when Title IX doesn't mandate it (assumably Mesa State is in compliance since they are adding both genders of lacrosse). And even if things are solvent at this point, the prospect of affixing a large-budget sport (travel costs will be a bear at Mesa State) heading into the teeth of an inflationary market would strike many as unwise.

But here we have the Mavericks, blissfully entering the world of Division II lacrosse. It begs the question: what exactly are they growing out behind the barn?

Believe it or not, they might be sowing the seeds of burgeoning powerhouse.

While the aforementioned disadvantages for Mesa State are self-evident, you have to dig a little deeper to find the keys for a potential success story. There are three big pluses in the Mavs' favor.

1. The Tuition
Simply put, Mesa State is a bargain for in-state students or those from outside. Because the school isn't desperate to fill beds (there's actually a waiting list for the dorms), it isn't trying to make up any kind of budget shortfall on the backs of out-of-staters. As such, it's a pretty darn good deal.

"You can go to Mesa State for less than you can go to Cortland State if you're from New York," said A.J. Stevens, the new men's head coach and Director of Lacrosse. "With cost being level, I've got a shot if a kid wants to be a little adventurous and get off the Island for four years."

The same is true for many of the state systems in the East. Add on the school's decision to give "reciprocity" - or treating applicants essentially as in-state students - to almost every state west of Indiana and Mesa State has a pretty good hook for those wanting to play lacrosse at a decent school for a reasonable price.

"It gives us a fighting chance," said Stevens.

This is why even though Mesa State is located in the center of some relatively fertile recruiting grounds in Denver, Salt Lake and Phoenix, most of his interest is coming from New York, New England, Canada, California and Oregon. Due to an institutional decision, Stevens won't have any scholarship money to spread around, but at roughly $14,000 for room, board and books, it has critical numbers in its favor to pique prep interest.

As further incentive, Mesa State has an affiliation with Colorado-Boulder for its engineering students, meaning you can pay in-state tuition, play lacrosse for an NCAA Division II program, and graduate with a degree from Colorado-Boulder, which boasts a reputable engineering curriculum, according to Stevens.

2. The Facilities
In a stroke of pure luck, Mesa State finished off the massive renovations to its athletic complex and has money stored up to make additions in the near future.

Just before the economy went sour, the school finished a turf field dedicated strictly to soccer and lacrosse; it completed a $32M renovation of the athletic facilities, including new offices, locker rooms and weight room for varsity teams; it fully funded a strength and conditioning coach; and lured the lead exercise physiologist from the U.S. Olympic program to start a clinic.

3. The Coach
I have a great respect for the coaches who have led the westerly D-II teams at the outset. I think Joe Romano, NDNU's first coach, was made for the position and would have had the Argos flying high at this point. With that said, Mesa State is starting with a coach whose resume will impress any prospective student-athlete.

Stevens has coached at the NCAA Division III level (Roger Williams), the NCAA Division I level (Dartmouth), the MCLA Division I level (Illinois, Claremont) and at the professional level (assistant and director of lacrosse operations for the MLL's Chicago Machine).

When I spoke with Stevens several months ago about possible coaching opportunities that were out there, he said he always had his eye open - when his wife, an attorney, saw that the State of California was handing out IOUs instead of paychecks, any attachment to Arnold's utopia was severed - but he was only going to jump at the right program.

Part of that choice included lacrosse not being a vehicle to populate the student body.

"I interviewed with the president of the school, who is a big fan of lacrosse and has two sons playing, and when I realized what he wanted to do, I was very excited," said Stevens about Mesa State's top Mav. "They are adding lacrosse because they want to be competitive, not to fill beds."

Will Mesa State be challenging C.W. Post in either men's or women's lacrosse anytime soon? Likely not, but there's a lot to like about the original blueprint the Mavs are using to build their program.

So what's with the shill job for Mesa State?

If the Mavs succeed, it could give D-II - the most anemic of the NCAA divisions - a much needed influx of teams.

Waiting on the sidelines watching Mesa State's fate is a host of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference institutions who are rumored to be toying with the idea of adding our sport. Fort Lewis and Adams State, which has women's D-II lacrosse and will be adding it soon, respectively, are natural possibilities for the men's game while Metropolitan State and Western State are two candidates for both genders.

Mesa State is a public school in the wilds of Colorado looking to build a national D-II contender. If it succeeds, the western paradigm completely shifts.

The West's Regional Question
The prospect that a host of new western D-II teams are comtemplating joining the party is undoubtedly exciting from a growth standpoint, but from a realistic tournament perspective, the Westies are light years away from even sniffing a bid. The current quality of the teams plays a large part in that, but even further daunting is any upstart from the west must try to grab a bid out of the Central region.

There is some good news: the Central has sent two teams to the four-team MD2 tourney in five of the last seven years. The obvious bad news is any western team hoping to get in on the multiple bids would have to play - and beat - at least four of the East Coast Conference teams that comprise the basis of the Central region.

That's a pretty tall order, and it adds to the importance of more teams in the west coming on board.

Currently in MD2, there are 11 teams in the North region, 11 teams in the Central and 12 teams in the South. If all the potential western programs arrived, it would mean the Central would have eight teams and a potential "West" region would have seven. Is that viable? Only if the extra four teams triggered an expansion of the tournament, which is always a possibility.

Bottom line: more teams = expansion = the common D2 good.