Rumor: SMU adding men’s & Women’s Lacrosse
Lot of chatter on the ground in Texas, SMU will add men’s and women’s lacrosse in next couple of years. Athletic Director (former Maryland AD) was asked about it last week and was coy but didn’t deny it.
Core of the rumor:
Why? SMU has the bare minimum D1 men’s sports to be D1. Supposedly, ACC told them when they joined they had to add a men’s team sport.
Adding lacrosse helps solidify ties to existing ACC programs.
Several deep pocket alumni have fallen in love with the sport through kids and grandkids & are infatuated with being the only D1 program in Texas.
Lacrosse is very “on brand” for SMU.
They delay at this point is school is telling alumni the programs must be fully underwritten before announcement.
Why lacrosse and not baseball? SMU is landlocked and does not have space for a baseball, much less a baseball and softball complex, & a land acquisition would be in 10s of millions, if even available.
SMU already has a dedicated turf lacrosse field that can be used for practice. There is a brand new soccer and track stadium with 2,500 seating capacity & a grass field.
Belief is it would not take long to be competitive.