Quote from: Ron Boerger on Today at 12:56:09 PMOn Monday, Southwestern announced its schedule.  Non-conference opponents will be McMurry, TLU, and Schreiner.  The new on-campus stadium is not ready so the first two home games - McMurry (Sep 5) and Trinity (Oct 10) will be held at the high school stadium that has hosted the Pirates since they resumed playing football.  The grand opening of the new "multi-purpose" stadium is scheduled for October 24, construction progress permitting.  It's been raining a lot this spring so if that continues into the summer the date could be at risk.

"Multi-purpose" in quotes because the only other sport besides football to possibly play there is lacrosse, and they will (per the release above) use the new facility as a backup.  There's no track.

Southwestern returns ten offensive and five defensive starters this year, so should be more competitive than last season's 4-6/2-5 SAA.

Will the new venue not host soccer?

Someone who is in the portal has released from their previous school. They're a free agent. Insisting on some form of gentleman's agreement seems a little excessive, and a conference rule probably would not hold up if someone chose to challenge it.

Glad that in your penultimate sentence you did admit the differentiator that is pretty prominent in the story:

He's also thinking about life after he's done playing. Green is an economics major, and has hopes to one day work in an NFL front office. In that regard, there might not be a better institution in America for that career path. Currently, JCU has more than 40 individuals either coaching or in a front-office role in the NFL that graduated from JCU or was associated with the football program.

Quote from: Patrick Coleman on Today at 11:05:36 AMCurious as to why you want to assign the term "poach" to this.

Yes, he was in the portal, yes, he was looking to transfer, but in the same way every school can reach out, they also have the option not to reach out. As I said, most of the schools within the NCAC are very similar in makeup, and so hypothetically, someone could just decide to swap around schools until they found the right place to play and that seems against the spirit of being a teammate, if not against the rules.

I can't say why he's transferring, but it doesn't seem to be academically related, as Dennison has economics same as JCU does. It seems almost entirely football based, and I think that's what bugs me. I get that athletics are a part of many students lives, but I want to think that you do your diligence and check out all your options, and especially if you're paying for it, find the school that is the right fit for you the first time. It wasn't like he wasn't playing, he was, so it wasn't a looking for playing time situation.

It's super possible I'm just off base, but I don't love seeing what seem to be solely athletically motivated decisions in D3, because as a division, I think we've shown that's not really what it's about. I think of it as "poaching" because he's going up the win/loss ladder, a good team getting better and also making a conference rival worse, there isn't a term for that, but it feels like "poaching".

So, sure, let's not call it "poaching", but at the same time, I would love to see schools in the same conference try not to make approaching players in the portal the norm, at least before they've graduated. We know that the transfer portal is as much about seeing what kind of offers you can get as it is about actually being unhappy where you are.

It just rubs me the wrong way, and potentially I'm the only one, but it just doesn't feel right. Possibly I'm just old fashioned in that I think it's weird to transfer to a conference rival. The article mentions wanting to work in football, but also why not go to JCU to begin with? I can't really say.

Maybe it's a me problem but I don't like it.

Looks like Quentin Pridgen was heading back to Clark until HC Tyler Simms left for Bucknell. He has re-entered the portal

Westfield State University Men's Basketball is looking for 1 team for the Rick Martin Tournament 2026.
Location: Westfield State University (577 Western Avenue, Westfield, MA. 01085)

Friday, November 13, 2026, and Saturday, November 14, 2026

5 Complimentary Hotel Rooms available close to the school
Pizza is available after Friday's games
Shootaround available for Saturday mornings

For more information, please contact:
Rich Sutter (Head Coach) rsutter@westfield.ma.edu
Wesley Jackson wjackson@westfield.ma.edu (413)433-0733

On Monday, Southwestern announced its schedule.  Non-conference opponents will be McMurry, TLU, and Schreiner.  The new on-campus stadium is not ready so the first two home games - McMurry (Sep 5) and Trinity (Oct 10) will be held at the high school stadium that has hosted the Pirates since they resumed playing football.  The grand opening of the new "multi-purpose" stadium is scheduled for October 24, construction progress permitting.  It's been raining a lot this spring so if that continues into the summer the date could be at risk.

"Multi-purpose" in quotes because the only other sport besides football to possibly play there is lacrosse, and they will (per the release above) use the new facility as a backup.  There's no track.

Southwestern returns ten offensive and five defensive starters this year, so should be more competitive than last season's 4-6/2-5 SAA.

Westfield State University is looking for games. Flexible with open dates. Please contact:
Rich Sutter
rsutter@westfield.ma.edu

Wesley Jackson
wjackson@westfield.ma.edu
413-433-0733

1. Ryan - Chapman - SCIAC
2. Nescac1 - Williams - NESCAC
3. FCGG - Connecticut College - NESCAC
4. NCF - Nebraska Wesleyan - ARC
5. Ronk - Scranton - LAND
6. Greek - Oswego St - SUNYAC

Round 2
7. Greek - Hardin-Simmons - ASC
8. Ronk - Colby - NESCAC
9. NCF - Oshkosh - WIAC
10. FCGG - Hampden-Sydney - ODAC
11. Nescac1 - Elmhurst - CCIW
12. Ryan - Union - LL

Round 3
13. Ryan - Carthage - CCIW
14. Nescac1 - Trine - MIAA
15. FCGG - Drew - Land
16. NCF - Wheaton - CCIW
17. Ronk - Farmingdale St - Sky
18. Greek - RPI - LL

Round 4
19. Greek - Denison - NCAC
20. Ronk - Monmouth - MWC
21. NCF - Rowan - NJAC
22. FCGG - Stockton - NJAC
23. Nescac1 - Saint John's - MIAC
24. Ryan - DePauw - NCAC

Round 5
25. Ryan - Maryville - SAA
26. Nescac1
27. FCGG
28. NCF
29. Ronk
30. Greek

Maybe I am crazy, but prior to the pandemic, I think the Director's Cup league standings would have mostly had the NESCAC and WIAC as 1 and 2.

Quote from: Kuiper on Today at 11:13:12 AM

Quote from: NEPAFAN on Today at 10:57:46 AMAppreciate the effort to post a picture, but can't expand on it/zoom in  at all.

Sorry about that.  I realized it afterward and posted a link to the original source. If you click on the highlighted part of the post, you can see it better.

Got it, thanks.