Lacrosse-Rob Pannell Status

[Chris '03]

You're young, you've got the rest of your life to make money, so why not play MLL a couple seasons and see how good you are at the next level.

What's the point when you can see how good you are at the highest exposure level?  Because making $15000 a year when you aren't in school is a pretty miserable existence? You're young, and you're in college, with a school giving you more in a scholarship/aid than you could make in a pro league.

If you can name one...*ONE* single player to not max out their NCAA eligibility in lacrosse (i.e. leave early for the pros), I'll edit my post and replace it with the words to Princeton's alma mater.  It doesn't happen. The NCAA is the top level, much like college football was MUCH more highly regarded in the 1920s and 30s than the NFL.

Though I totally agree with you, I'll take that challenge:

UHa player leaves early for NLL: http://www.knighthawks.net/node/989

[Swampy]

Here you can get it from the horse's mouth, so to speak:

ESPN's Quint Kessenich hits on the biggest storyline in college lacrosse as he talks to injured attackman Rob Pannell, the reigning Enners Award winner from Cornell who hasn't played since March 3.

[/url]

[RichH]

You're young, you've got the rest of your life to make money, so why not play MLL a couple seasons and see how good you are at the next level.

What's the point when you can see how good you are at the highest exposure level?  Because making $15000 a year when you aren't in school is a pretty miserable existence? You're young, and you're in college, with a school giving you more in a scholarship/aid than you could make in a pro league.

If you can name one...*ONE* single player to not max out their NCAA eligibility in lacrosse (i.e. leave early for the pros), I'll edit my post and replace it with the words to Princeton's alma mater.  It doesn't happen. The NCAA is the top level, much like college football was MUCH more highly regarded in the 1920s and 30s than the NFL.

Though I totally agree with you, I'll take that challenge:

UHa player leaves early for NLL: http://www.knighthawks.net/node/989

And that's why I made the "prize" easy to fulfill, as distasteful as it is...I figured there had to be someone.  Interesting that Glaves went #2 in the entry draft. I wonder what the "uncertainty" was at UHart, and what specifically the reasons were that he didn't transfer.  The last paragraph notes that he's currently working to complete a degree.

[jtn27]

Tune every heart and every voice,
Bid every care withdraw;
Let all with one accord rejoice,
In praise of Old Nassau.
In praise of Old Nassau we sing,
Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!
Our hearts will give while we shall live,
Three cheers for Old Nassau.

Thank you Princeton for cheering on my home county on Long Island.  We appreciate it very much.

[Swampy]

Here's a link to an article about Pannell's return.

Along with all other Big Red fans whose hearts are breaking because of Pannell's injury, we should never forget that Pannell is the one Big Red fan whose heart has broken the most. The young man is a real class act. We should all be proud; he should be proud most of all.

[Swampy]

Inside Lacrosse says

One notable absence among the young group [on the Long Island Lizards] is the No. 1 overall pick, Cornell's Rob Pannell. While the status of his foot injury rehab from earlier in the collegiate season is unclear, Spallina [the new coach of the Long Island Lizards] said that Pannell is waiting to hear from the NCAA about possible additional eligibility. If granted, Pannell may choose to forgo the MLL season and re-enter the college ranks next year.

I think a coach in this situation is a pretty reliable source. Now if Pannell wants to play for Cornell next year, all he'd have to do to preserve undergraduate status is take enough Incompletes not to graduate. If the NCAA turns his request down (doubtful), he could finish by the end of summer.

The BIG issue is the Ivy League. I think the league would be utterly stupid to stand in Pannell's way if he wants to play the extra year. What future athlete would choose an Ivy if Pannell becomes the poster boy for broken dreams due to Ivy rules? It's not as if he was some trumped up "medical" redshirt as a freshman who some coach schemed to have later, when he was bigger and stronger. By all accounts, he's a serious student and a fine young man.

What purpose is served if Pannell decides to play an extra year, but the Ivies turn him down, and he goes somewhere else?

[semsox]

The BIG issue is the Ivy League. I think the league would be utterly stupid to stand in Pannell's way if he wants to play the extra year. What future athlete would choose an Ivy if Pannell becomes the poster boy for broken dreams due to Ivy rules? It's not as if he was some trumped up "medical" redshirt as a freshman who some coach schemed to have later, when he was bigger and stronger. By all accounts, he's a serious student and a fine young man.

What purpose is served if Pannell decides to play an extra year, but the Ivies turn him down, and he goes somewhere else?

I think this is one of the more interesting cases the Ivy League has probably had put before it.  Pannell is probably one of the, if not the most, high profile athlete to come up for this type of review (in a sport that the Ivies are still nationally relevant no less).  That being said, in the truest sense of Ivy League standards and putting academics first, one would think the League would frown on a second semester senior on track to graduate purposefully putting off graduation during the last semester in order to maintain athletic eligibility.  The only thing giving me pause is the fact that he's a senior, as I think the red-shirt would have been a slam dunk in any of his first three years.

[Swampy]

The BIG issue is the Ivy League. I think the league would be utterly stupid to stand in Pannell's way if he wants to play the extra year. What future athlete would choose an Ivy if Pannell becomes the poster boy for broken dreams due to Ivy rules? It's not as if he was some trumped up "medical" redshirt as a freshman who some coach schemed to have later, when he was bigger and stronger. By all accounts, he's a serious student and a fine young man.

What purpose is served if Pannell decides to play an extra year, but the Ivies turn him down, and he goes somewhere else?

I think this is one of the more interesting cases the Ivy League has probably had put before it.  Pannell is probably one of the, if not the most, high profile athlete to come up for this type of review (in a sport that the Ivies are still nationally relevant no less).  That being said, in the truest sense of Ivy League standards and putting academics first, one would think the League would frown on a second semester senior on track to graduate purposefully putting off graduation during the last semester in order to maintain athletic eligibility.  The only thing giving me pause is the fact that he's a senior, as I think the red-shirt would have been a slam dunk in any of his first three years.

You're probably right about the first three years. But the only reason he'd put off graduation now is to qualify under Ivy League rules by not being a graduate student. As far as the NCAA is concerned, he can play as a graduate student if they grant him another year of eligibility. So instead of him manipulating Ivy rules, the rules would be the reason he put off graduation.

It seems to me that each petition for medical red shirt status has to be judged individually. Especially in the Ivies, there just aren't that many of them, and each case is almost by definition unique.

Suppose you had a kid who skipped a grade or two before being admitted to an Ivy and then asked for another year after they sat out a year due to injury; suppose further, that this kid majored in theoretical physics and was going to use the extra year to start on a doctorate in the subject. I'm the first to put academics above all else (see my rants earlier this year about the betrayal of A.D. White's legacy), but I don't see how giving the kid an extra year in a situation like this makes any sacrifice of academic quality.

I know Pannell already played a PG year at Deerfield, so his situation is not analogous. But what I'm saying is that his case should be treated on its own merits rather than according to some one-size-fits-all rule. If his academic record and academic plan are of serious quality, that should be enough. I believe he's a business major. Suppose he enrolled next year in the MBA program. Given the quality of Cornell's B-School, I don't see how this would be detrimental to academics.

[jkahn]

Inside Lacrosse says

One notable absence among the young group [on the Long Island Lizards] is the No. 1 overall pick, Cornell's Rob Pannell. While the status of his foot injury rehab from earlier in the collegiate season is unclear, Spallina [the new coach of the Long Island Lizards] said that Pannell is waiting to hear from the NCAA about possible additional eligibility. If granted, Pannell may choose to forgo the MLL season and re-enter the college ranks next year.

I think a coach in this situation is a pretty reliable source. Now if Pannell wants to play for Cornell next year, all he'd have to do to preserve undergraduate status is take enough Incompletes not to graduate. If the NCAA turns his request down (doubtful), he could finish by the end of summer.

The BIG issue is the Ivy League. I think the league would be utterly stupid to stand in Pannell's way if he wants to play the extra year. What future athlete would choose an Ivy if Pannell becomes the poster boy for broken dreams due to Ivy rules? It's not as if he was some trumped up "medical" redshirt as a freshman who some coach schemed to have later, when he was bigger and stronger. By all accounts, he's a serious student and a fine young man.

What purpose is served if Pannell decides to play an extra year, but the Ivies turn him down, and he goes somewhere else?

But unfortunately, if Rob wants to graduate now, "re-enter the college ranks" refers to a non-Ivy future, unless his situation causes an immediate change in Ivy regulations.

[jtn27]

It's probably too late for him to take an incomplete. Finals are over. If he hadn't already made the decision not to graduate before finals, I think he has to graduate.

[billhoward]

It's probably too late for him to take an incomplete. Finals are over. If he hadn't already made the decision not to graduate before finals, I think he has to graduate.

Don't pay the library fines. That's a worse offense than plagiarism.

[Robb]

It's probably too late for him to take an incomplete. Finals are over. If he hadn't already made the decision not to graduate before finals, I think he has to graduate.

Don't pay the library fines. That's a worse offense than plagiarism.

Or get a parking ticket - easier than having to actually trek to the library.

[marty]

It's probably too late for him to take an incomplete. Finals are over. If he hadn't already made the decision not to graduate before finals, I think he has to graduate.

Don't pay the library fines. That's a worse offense than plagiarism.

Does anyone else from the early 70's remember the douche that took out a reserve book from Uris and kept it out for most of the term in order to screw his fellow classmates?  His defense to the action was that he asked the librarian if there was any penalty beyond a fine for keeping the book past its due date.

If I remember correctly he never had the opportunity to graduate.

[Weder]

It's probably too late for him to take an incomplete. Finals are over. If he hadn't already made the decision not to graduate before finals, I think he has to graduate.

Don't pay the library fines. That's a worse offense than plagiarism.

Or get a parking ticket - easier than having to actually trek to the library.

Maybe he hasn't taken his swim test?

(EDIT: One of my friends racked up enough parking tickets that he was sent a letter saying that his car would be towed on sight even if it was parked legally.)

[billhoward]

Don't freak out if you say Pannell in the procession. It doesn't mean he's actually graduating. Though I guess it means his foot is working.