Another New Recruit

[Josh '99]

He also apparently runs cross country and plays lacrosse. I wonder if the experience with Milo has changed Mike's attitude about two-sport players. It would be quite cool to see a Cornell athlete who plays D in hockey but also plays lacrosse. The last time we had one of those, we did quite well in both. ::popcorn::

Not to put a damper on everyone's two-sport enthusiasm, but is there any reason to believe he's actually going to also play lacrosse at Cornell?  It seems safe to say that every year, tens of thousands of high school two-sport or three-sport athletes pick just one to continue with in the NCAA.

[Killer]

IIRC, Mueller played basketball because the team was desperate for anyone who could play at all (I seem to recall a rash of injuries and resignations from the team (?)), so they recruited from the other Cornell squads and Bill agreed to play.  Honestly, I remember watching some of the guys on our track team horsing around on the court one day and thinking that they could probably beat the official basketball team.  Hell, with the multi-Heps triple jump champions, Jim Leonard and Jorman Granger, and Paul Baginski, a 6' 8" 275 lb discus thrower, all of whom had some b-ball skills, we probably could have put together a team that would have given them a run for their money.

[Al DeFlorio]

There was also Bob Rule in lacrosse / hockey on the 1970 championship team although Rule was mostly a desperation move to have a backup to goalie Brian Cropper. And Glen Mueller in basketball and lacrosse circa 1972. Bill Murray, sort of the Douglas Murray (size, checking ability) of the early 1970s played soccer and helped Cornell to the Final Four as well as hockey, but he gave up hockey at the strong urging of the coaching staff to concentrate on hockey his senior year, but it turned out to be a went-nowhere year on the heels of those two final four appearances.

My classmate, Bruce Cohen, was a three-time All-American attackman and subsequent Hall-of-Famer in lacrosse, and also a high-scoring attack in soccer (led the Ivy League in goals-scored twice, and they named him honorable mention All-Ivy ::screwy:: ). He played guard on the frosh basketball team, as well.

Bruce was a legitimate two-sport star.  Tough as nails, and a helluva nice guy.  Engineer, too.

[billhoward]

He also apparently runs cross country and plays lacrosse. I wonder if the experience with Milo has changed Mike's attitude about two-sport players. It would be quite cool to see a Cornell athlete who plays D in hockey but also plays lacrosse. The last time we had one of those, we did quite well in both. ::popcorn::

Not to put a damper on everyone's two-sport enthusiasm, but is there any reason to believe he's actually going to also play lacrosse at Cornell?  It seems safe to say that every year, tens of thousands of high school two-sport or three-sport athletes pick just one to continue with in the NCAA.

What's this ... injecting a note of reality into our musings? Do you recall so many of us wondering whether Matt Moulson, having finished his Cornell hockey career, might pick up a lacrosse stick his senior spring? I suspect it was just us, not Matt, thinking that.

[billhoward]

IIRC, Mueller played basketball because the team was desperate for anyone who could play at all (I seem to recall a rash of injuries and resignations from the team (?)), so they recruited from the other Cornell squads and Bill agreed to play.  Honestly, I remember watching some of the guys on our track team horsing around on the court one day and thinking that they could probably beat the official basketball team.  Hell, with the multi-Heps triple jump champions, Jim Leonard and Jorman Granger, and Paul Baginski, a 6' 8" 275 lb discus thrower, all of whom had some b-ball skills, we probably could have put together a team that would have given them a run for their money.

[Drifting here] The team was desperate for bodies; I just don't recall if Glenn (Bill? I thought Glenn) Mueller was a recruited player not a walk-on.

[Really drifting OT:] Regardless, the most (retroactively) famous hoops player of the era turned out to be Bruce Hulse '74 (same year as Christopher Reeve), who went on to a successful career in modeling. There was also some racial unrest on the football though it was localized. Barrett Rosser, an imposing NFL-size black quarterback, was relegated to backup behind a three-year white starter, and some of the players thought the coach's choice wasn't color-blind. Remember this is only 2-3-4 years after the spring fling campus shutdowns (no spring exams 3 years running!) and the takeover of the Straight. The Justin Milo flap would have been a minor flare-up in comparison.

The then hoops coach, Tony Coma, came in from mostly black Cheney State (PA) and Cornell's hopes were he could peacefully blend the black and white elements of a team that wasn't performing very well. He managed to annoy most of the black players, who up and left, and in doing so got his lifelong wish: to be written up in Sports Illustrated. Unfortunately the story was not headlined, "Cornell's Peacemaker Coach Returns Big Red to Ivy Prominence" but "Low in Cayuga's Waters." I remember talking to Frank Dolson, sports editor of the Philadelplhia Inquirer (which covered Cheney State's DIII or DII exploits) and Dolson said he couldn't believe a school like Cornell didn't dig deeper before hiring Coma. So on the one hand you have a Cornell athletic administration making brilliant hires in the 1960s (Ned Harkness, Richie Moran) and then just a few years later some dubious hires. Some critics said the long-time dean of athletics had gotten too caught up in his US Olympics role. But, heck, it's all a long time ago.

My fondest memory is the lanky center of the basketball team, Lynn Locki, recounted going back to his home in Michigan and telling his friends what was happening in Ithaca. "They'd roll on the floor laughing and say, 'Stop, Lynn, stop.'"

Personally, I kind of like the current memories of taking down Penn and Princeton in the same year and getting to the NCAAs.

[jkahn]

Perhaps Cornell's most prominent two sport athlete in the last 50 years is Bruce Arena, a lacrosse middie and soccer goalie who excelled at both on a national level.

[Josh '99]

He also apparently runs cross country and plays lacrosse. I wonder if the experience with Milo has changed Mike's attitude about two-sport players. It would be quite cool to see a Cornell athlete who plays D in hockey but also plays lacrosse. The last time we had one of those, we did quite well in both. ::popcorn::

Not to put a damper on everyone's two-sport enthusiasm, but is there any reason to believe he's actually going to also play lacrosse at Cornell?  It seems safe to say that every year, tens of thousands of high school two-sport or three-sport athletes pick just one to continue with in the NCAA.

What's this ... injecting a note of reality into our musings? Do you recall so many of us wondering whether Matt Moulson, having finished his Cornell hockey career, might pick up a lacrosse stick his senior spring? I suspect it was just us, not Matt, thinking that.

Not really?  It was a terrible idea, if we actually wondered that, given that he was an NHL draftee with a potential future career as a professional hockey player and no sense risking that future with another team that he would be joining mid-season.  It might've been just you, not "us", thinking that.

[Al DeFlorio]

Perhaps Cornell's most prominent two sport athlete in the last 50 years is Bruce Arena, a lacrosse middie and soccer goalie who excelled at both on a national level.

Most recent star two-sport athlete is probably Jeomi Maduka, several-time All-American in track and Ivy basketball player of the year.

[munchkin]

Perhaps Cornell's most prominent two sport athlete in the last 50 years is Bruce Arena, a lacrosse middie and soccer goalie who excelled at both on a national level.

Most recent star two-sport athlete is probably Jeomi Maduka, several-time All-American in track and Ivy basketball player of the year.

She didn't play Basketball her senior year to completely focus on track.  Here's my question, how many of the multi-sport athletes actually played both sports all 4 years?

[Al DeFlorio]

Perhaps Cornell's most prominent two sport athlete in the last 50 years is Bruce Arena, a lacrosse middie and soccer goalie who excelled at both on a national level.

Most recent star two-sport athlete is probably Jeomi Maduka, several-time All-American in track and Ivy basketball player of the year.

She didn't play Basketball her senior year to completely focus on track.  Here's my question, how many of the multi-sport athletes actually played both sports all 4 years?

Well, none did when freshmen were ineligible for varsity teams.  Bruce Cohen played both lacrosse and soccer all three years he was eligible.  He missed one season of lacrosse with an injury, but stuck around to get a five-year undergraduate engineering degree and played lacrosse that spring, making first-team All-America.

It was not unusual in the 1960s for someone to play both lacrosse and football.  Ting Vanneman '67 was an All-East second team offensive tackle in football and captain of the 1967 lacrosse team as a defenseman.  Our own TimV also played both lacrosse and football, and still threatens to suit up when the game gets close.::woot::

[TimV]

No size, no speed, no chance.

[Swampy]

Perhaps Cornell's most prominent two sport athlete in the last 50 years is Bruce Arena, a lacrosse middie and soccer goalie who excelled at both on a national level.

Most recent star two-sport athlete is probably Jeomi Maduka, several-time All-American in track and Ivy basketball player of the year.

She didn't play Basketball her senior year to completely focus on track.  Here's my question, how many of the multi-sport athletes actually played both sports all 4 years?

Well, none did when freshmen were ineligible for varsity teams.  Bruce Cohen played both lacrosse and soccer all three years he was eligible.  He missed one season of lacrosse with an injury, but stuck around to get a five-year undergraduate engineering degree and played lacrosse that spring, making first-team All-America.

It was not unusual in the 1960s for someone to play both lacrosse and football.  Ting Vanneman '67 was an All-East second team offensive tackle in football and captain of the 1967 lacrosse team as a defenseman.  Our own TimV also played both lacrosse and football, and still threatens to suit up when the game gets close.::woot::

Not to drift too far, but what the hey. "Jim Brown," need I say more?

[ugarte]

Perhaps Cornell's most prominent two sport athlete in the last 50 years is Bruce Arena, a lacrosse middie and soccer goalie who excelled at both on a national level.

Most recent star two-sport athlete is probably Jeomi Maduka, several-time All-American in track and Ivy basketball player of the year.

She didn't play Basketball her senior year to completely focus on track.  Here's my question, how many of the multi-sport athletes actually played both sports all 4 years?

Well, none did when freshmen were ineligible for varsity teams.  Bruce Cohen played both lacrosse and soccer all three years he was eligible.  He missed one season of lacrosse with an injury, but stuck around to get a five-year undergraduate engineering degree and played lacrosse that spring, making first-team All-America.

It was not unusual in the 1960s for someone to play both lacrosse and football.  Ting Vanneman '67 was an All-East second team offensive tackle in football and captain of the 1967 lacrosse team as a defenseman.  Our own TimV also played both lacrosse and football, and still threatens to suit up when the game gets close.::woot::

Not to drift too far, but what the hey. "Jim Brown," need I say more?

Other non-Cornell two-sport stars in recent years include Charlie Ward, Julius Peppers and Ron Curry, all of whom were basketball/football. Antonio Gates could have been a two-sport star but his first college coach (Nick Saban) wouldn't let him and he preferred basketball ... so he bailed on Michigan State and didn't play any college football(!). There are plenty of football/track two-sport athletes in college, mostly WR/sprinters.

[Bahnstorm]

Here's my question, how many of the multi-sport athletes actually played both sports all 4 years?

Here's one:
Jaimee Reynolds '02 Lacrosse and Volleyball, All American, Ivy POTY, NCAA Woman of the year finalist.

[Al DeFlorio]

There are plenty of football/track two-sport athletes in college, mostly WR/sprinters.

Bo Roberson at Cornell in the 50s.  Brian Westfield in the early 60s.

Another football/lacrosse star that requires mention is Eamon.