I thought Illinois being part of the "hockey basketball double header" or whatever they called it Saturday meant maybe Whitman would drop some news, but obviously it was just coincidence.
D1 Hockey at Illinois
you feel me, dog?
- Elmhurst
Penn State should be the blueprint. Obviously, there will be some big differences (stadium ownership, capacity). But as far as the program, we should follow their roadmap. Loads of elite hockey talent nearby. We could be a legit team in ~5 years (from the debut season).
My guess is it's this simple: all the stakeholders are absolutely committed to moving forward with this, once they can find the money that isn't there.
- near Ogden & Rt 83
my take as well
behind the curtain, Whitman is likely quietly working all connections in hope he gets a major donor or two to endow the program, so to speak.
It may take some time. Our donors with big big bucks are usually more likely to give the UI money for the business or engineering schools and programs . Nothing would probably help more really, than a winning football and/or basketball team, which is not happening right now. Its also why there is nothing happening in the SEZ or East Side Stadium renovations.
Sadly, we are in one thing at a time mode, at best .
you feel me, dog?
- Elmhurst
Of course. D1 hockey at Illinois is happening. Just have to hit our funding target. PSU received a huge gift for hockey and their endowment is ~$100M, IIRC.
- Woodridge, IL
Coming Soon? Illinois hoping to make a decision on NCAA D-I program ‘in April or May’
The only thing I didn't like in that article was the possibility of eliminating a men's sport. Which sport would they eliminate?
Just doing the math, hockey is 18 scholarships. We could add women's lacrosse or field hockey for 12 scholarships and then drop men's gymnastics for 6.3?
Or drop men's track and XC for 12.6 and gymnastics for 6.3? Cutting pretty close to the bone there, but if hockey is really what the DIA wants to do...
(Adding women's hockey is the even-steven way to do it, but that's much more expensive and makes the needs for the ice facility much more complicated with locker rooms and practice rinks and all the rest of it. Penn State had the funding and the open space to do the whole mens and womens programs in five star accommodations from the ground up. We don't have those luxuries.)
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Gymnastics is one of our best sports. They are the last program to win a national title.
And they investing a lot of money in track & field facilities.
- Champaign Area
I would be in favor of adding women's lacrosse as the counter-balancing sport, if the logistics work out. B1G already has 7 women's lacrosse teams - Johns Hopkins, Maryland, Michigan, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, and Rutgers - and the sport uses can use the soon-to-be updated soccer stadium. If not lacrosse, then women's hockey.
I mean, you've gotta make the numbers work somehow. Wrestling? I thought wrestling meets were part of the programming for the new arena though.
Surely golf and tennis are safe. Baseball too.
We already sponsor a fairly low number of sports.
Is this true? Won't it already have two extra ice rinks, and if it will be hosting volleyball, wrestling and gymnastics, adequate locker rooms?
Adding both men's and women's hockey should be a no-brainer when you're building the facilities from the ground up. It demonstrates a full commitment to the sport and shows leadership in an area with serious growth potential (women's hockey.) Any plan to add a men's team without also adding a women's team requires some seriously convoluted thinking to justify. It doesn't pass the sniff test.
If Illinois is getting into hockey, go all in.
If Illinois is getting into hockey, go all in.
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Illwinsagain and KBLEE
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I'm in favor of adding additional woman sports or increasing scholarships if existing sports as a counter.
For the college hockey fans out there. What is the best way to build a competitive team? I imagine Canadian players would figure into the equation.
- Planet Earth, when not battling Ming the Merciless
After sniffing around, near as I can tell, Penn State is the only Big Ten school with a women's ice hockey program.
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chiefini
- near Ogden & Rt 83
if I had to bet, I still say we add Womens LAX and they figure out some other way to balance out Title IX regulations.
Womens LAX is a B1G administered sport and it makes way more sense to go in that direction.
Womens LAX is a B1G administered sport and it makes way more sense to go in that direction.
Likes:
ROFOIllini
- The Transfer Portal
In all honesty, we could get to "competitive" with just kids from Illinois.
Likes:
illinipioneer
- near Ogden & Rt 83
There are certain hockey heavy schools throughout the Midwest . Some of the Catholic league schools have pretty good programs and certain north shore and DuPage county high schools do as well - most are clubs in high school , but run really well .
Culver Military Academy in Indiana is a hockey factory . They are legitimately one of the top high school programs in the country and send kids to ND & lots of B1G programs . Lots of their players have Canadian backgrounds .
Culver Military Academy in Indiana is a hockey factory . They are legitimately one of the top high school programs in the country and send kids to ND & lots of B1G programs . Lots of their players have Canadian backgrounds .
you feel me, dog?
- Elmhurst
There is more than enough talent in Chicago and St. Louis to stock a D1 program.
Does adding womens hockey not make sense? Overhead would mostly be covered by the mens hocket addition too, would it not?
We're also hosting the NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships this year.
Actually, there are four: Minnesota and Wisconsin are currently ranked #1 and #2 nationally, respectively. Ohio State and Penn State are the other two. Surprisingly (to me, anyway), there are no NCAA Div. I women's hockey programs in the state of Michigan.