📈 BIG 12 ADDS WLAX

Less than a month after lacrosse was officially added to the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, a major college conference now plans to sponsor the sport. On Thursday, the Big 12 Conference announced that it will add Women’s Lacrosse starting in 2024-25.

This is exciting news for the growth of the game, as it could soon lead to some new Division I teams on the women’s side. Here’s the full list of current/future schools set to compete in the Big 12 during the 2024-25 academic year:

• Arizona

• Arizona State*

• Baylor

• BYU

• UCF

• Cincinnati*

• Colorado*

• Houston

• Iowa State

• Kansas

• Kansas State

• Oklahoma State

• TCU

• Texas Tech

• Utah

• West Virginia

As of today, Arizona State, Cincinnati and Colorado are the only schools on this list that have women’s lacrosse programs at the Division I level. More schools could join them before the Big 12 officially launches the sport.

Chris Jastrzembski shared a potential 2025 D1 landscape for women’s lacrosse on Twitter/X. He predicts that Denver, San Diego State and UC Davis join the Big 12.

The NCAA currently lists 126 Division I women’s lacrosse programs on its website (with a few more expected to join by 2025). By comparison, there are only 76 Division I programs listed on the men’s side.

With the recent formation of ELEVATE28 and the established goal of doubling the United States’ yearly lacrosse participation by LA28, the sport seems to be on a meteoric rise. Women’s lacrosse, in particular, is doing a lot to help drive that growth.

👏 Brian Phipps Retires

After 13 MLL/PLL seasons with the Bayhawks, Machine and Whipsnakes, veteran goalie Brian Phipps has announced his retirement from professional lacrosse. He was on the Bayhawks team that won the MLL Championship in 2019 and made three career All-Star Games (2011, 2016, 2017).

Phipps was mostly a backup with the Whipsnakes, but he did see extensive time in net during the 2023 Championship Series. He made 32 saves in four games before sharing a now-infamous photo of his bruised leg on social media.

While in college at Maryland from 2007-10, Phipps was an All-ACC performer. Coming out of high school in Annapolis, Maryland, Inside Lacrosse ranked him as the No. 1 goalie recruit in the country.

Phipps was considered one of the most cerebral defensive players in the game, so he has potential to come back as a PLL coach in the future.

“Lacrosse will definitely be in my life,” Phipps said, per Whipsnakes beat writer Adam Lamberti. “Talking with Coach Stagnitta and potentially helping out with [the Whipsnakes] or kind of down the road seeing myself hopefully getting back in the PLL on the sideline.”

🎢 NEC Adds Two Teams

The Northeast Conference shuffle continued this week, with the announcement that Cleveland State and Robert Morris will be joining as associate members for Men’s Lacrosse in 2025.

NEC Men’s Lacrosse is currently on a hiatus, but last month the conference announced that it will return with seven teams in 2025. Two of those teams — Sacred Heart and Merrimack — have since established plans to join the MAAC, according to Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports.

After a month of shuffling teams, here’s the list of schools set to play men’s lacrosse in the NEC starting in 2025:

• LIU

• Wagner

• Detroit Mercy

• VMI

• Le Moyne

• Cleveland State

• Rober Morris

Conferences must have at least six teams to get an automatic qualifier in the NCAA Tournament. The NEC, which projects to have seven teams at the moment, is teetering on that threshold.

✍️ Class of 2024 Signing Day

National Signing Day came and went on Wednesday of this week. There weren’t any last-minute surprises, but plenty of high-profile recruits in the Class of 2024 officially signed their letters of intent.

The Virginia Cavaliers, for example, welcomed another loaded recruiting class that included the No. 1 ranked player in the country — attackman Ryan Duenkel out of St. Johns College High School in Washington, D.C.

Another notable signing was goalie Caden Kirst, who is the youngest of five Kirst brothers. He’s following in the footsteps of his older brothers, Connor (Whipsnakes) and Colin (Cannons), with his decision to play for Rutgers.

All the athletes who signed to play at the next level have one more spring to light it up with their high school teams. Then, we get to watch the next generation of stars shine on the college stage. 

📍 PLL Home Cities Loading…

The PLL has been teasing home cities for months, and fans have been eager to find out where each team is heading. On Monday, the league assured social media users that the final announcement will come in November.

Keep it locked at TLN for when that news officially drops.