For a Winning Tradition, Little Is Lost on Programs

FOXBOROUGH, Mass., May 23 -- Steven Brooks orally committed to play lacrosse for the University of Denver during his postgraduate year at Bridgton Academy in Maine in 2003. A few months later, however, Syracuse's coaches heard about Brooks, recruited him (his commitment to Denver was non-binding) and offered him a scholarship.

Brooks is a fifth-year senior and starting midfielder for Syracuse (14-2). He enters a national semifinal against Virginia (14-3) on Saturday at noon with 27 goals, a team-high for midfielders.

"When Syracuse came through I said: 'Are you kidding me? I'd love to go there,' " Brooks said. "It's an opportunity to win a national championship, it's the opportunity of a lifetime. You can't compare that."

Brooks's decision epitomizes the plight of up-and-coming programs. Denver has made the NCAA tournament twice in three years. Syracuse, however, is one of four programs that have combined to win every national title since 1992. The others are Johns Hopkins, Princeton and Virginia.

Those four have been so dominant that a first-time champion has not been crowned since Princeton won its first title in 1992.

Lacrosse at the grass-roots and high school levels continues to grow nationwide. Among the 16 teams that made the NCAA tournament were players from 26 states and the District. There also were about 15 players from Canada and one from Australia. And there is a chance another first-time champion will win this weekend: Top-ranked Duke has not won an NCAA title but is considered the best team in the nation.

Yet a title for the Blue Devils (18-1) would underscore further how hard it is to break the hold of the game's top four.

Five Duke players are taking advantage of a fifth year granted to them by the NCAA following false accusations of rape that led to the cancellation of the Blue Devils' 2006 season.

The players are leading scorer Matt Danowski; starting goalkeeper Dan Loftus; starting defenders Tony McDevitt and Nick O'Hara; and starting shortstick defender Michael Ward.

"Whether it's fortunately or unfortunately, the lacrosse culture is that some of the schools with more resources and more tradition, whether it's resources for coaching staffs or budgets or travel or the glamour of the campuses, a lot of those programs continue to flourish," Duke Coach John Danowski said.

"It's really pretty amazing and pretty unique. And a very difficult thing to crack into."

Georgetown's program has been trying to break into the upper echelon since it hired Dave Urick from Hobart College for the 1991 season. Then, the Hoyas did not have scholarships, nor a full-time assistant coach.

These days, the Hoyas have a full complement of scholarships and two full-time assistants. Their roster includes 24 high school all-Americans; by way of comparison, defending national champion Johns Hopkins has 20.

The Hoyas, however, did not make the NCAA tournament this year -- ending a run of 11 consecutive trips -- and have been to the Final Four once under Urick, in 1999.

"Success breeds success," Urick said. "Those programs are able to attract very good players. They all have facilities that are very attractive to young student-athletes and the education. You can't go wrong at any of them."

Urick also pointed to the longevity among assistant coaches at the top four programs. Each has at least one assistant who has been on the staff for multiple national championships.

Ultimately, though, players such as Brooks realize the biggest attraction of playing in college is to be part of the semifinal weekend, where the large crowds -- more than 44,000 tickets have been sold to this year's Final Four -- are a sharp contrast from early-season games in cold weather that draw several hundred fans.

Brooks was lightly recruited for soccer and lacrosse at Libertyville (Ill.) High. He played both sports at Bridgton, and initially, he missed a chance to impress Syracuse's lacrosse coaches during a series of fall scrimmages because he was playing soccer.

In the spring, Bridgton's coaches alerted Syracuse's staff to Brooks's potential. The move paid off.

This year, Brooks scored the winning goal in overtime against Johns Hopkins on March 15, tied a game against Georgetown on March 9 with a goal with two seconds left in regulation and also sent the regular season game against Virginia into overtime with a goal with 28 seconds left in regulation.

Brooks's motivation for winning a national title was more than just the obvious. He lost his mother to cancer while he was in high school and he said he gave his national championship ring from the 2004 team to his father, a retired FBI agent.

"I dedicated the game to my dad, because I told him hopefully I'd get another before I left," Brooks said. "He wears [the ring] a lot, but he takes good care of it.

"Everybody wants to go to a team that can win the national championship. And that's what drew me to Syracuse."