SHSU Lacrosse » Recruiting

18 New Players Commit to Bearkat Lacrosse!

jfritts — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:44:25 +0000

In just his first year of recruiting Coach Fritts has 18 new faces coming to practice on September 1st! That’s equal to the total players last season! The Bearkats lost just four to graduation and will come back in 2010 with 30! Fritts had this to say… “Back in 1980 we recruited kids that couldn’t play their respective sport at the collegiate level. Today, 18 new faces are coming and they have all played competitive lacrosse at the high school level. The process (recruiting) is much more time consuming than ever imagined. From getting the kids excited about the school and lacrosse program to their parents feeling ‘Okay’ with their son coming to play for you to all the conversation/email with their high school coaches. Getting a new class in like this makes all the standing at tournaments and high school games well worth it!”

2009 – 2010 Recruits

Chris D’Auria – Commack (NY); Zac Fry (New London, CT) – Taylor; Brendan Gawronski – Keller; Logan Holmes – Fort Meade (MD); Greg Kremen – Cinco Ranch; Sam Lockett – Kingwood; Randy McMinn – Keller; Will McNutt – South Lake Carroll; Donny Meyer – Cy-Fair; Zach Montanari – Cedar Park (transfer from Lees-McRae); Wil Nielsen – Kingwood; Mike Ritchie – Plano West; Alex Rivas – Woodlands; Forrest Schmidt – Keller; Ryan Sudduth – Westside; Tyler Tyson – Woodlands; Andrew Wilks – Kingwood and Nick Williams – Kingwood

Four come to Sam Houston from major lacrosse markets… D’Auria (Long Island), Fry (Connecticut), Holmes (Maryland) and Zach Montanari (North Carolina). “Obviously, we are going to look for a lot from these four. They should take the least amount of coaching and are expected to have an immediate impact,” Fritts said. Donny Meyer (Cy-Fair) has the honor of being the first to commit to Sam Houston and Wil Nielsen (Kingwood) was the first to officially receive an offer under the new scholarship program. Fritts added “I watched Wil play at the Cy-Fair tournament and happened to be next to his parents (Gerry & Kathie) who grew up just 30 minutes from me on Long Island. Wil is so fluid and has a tremendous Lacrosse IQ. I just went ‘full court press’ on the kid and am ecstatic that he selected Sam Houston.” Mix and mesh some of these in with the four returning All Conference players (Badour, Cottle, Flores & Messer) and one 1st Team All American (Mann), and Sam Houston is going to spell trouble for many opponents.

Look for BIG things from Sam Houston in 2010! Even bigger when the team goes up to Division I of the MCLA in 2011. “This program is finally headed in the right direction. 18 recruits in 9 months and a Championship appearance. No one, myself included, ever thought the turn would be so quick” said Doug Sarant… a former player for Fritts back in the 80′s and current Goalie Coach at Sam Houston.

Recruits… Recruits… Recruits…

jfritts — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:36:13 +0000

Keeping a program running and in competition for conference championships requires fresh recruits every year. This coming Fall, Coach Fritts has received commitments from all over the state along with an out of state player or two! The team count has risen from 17 last Spring to 26 for this Fall! “I’m beside myself to see numbers like these in the first year of recruiting” said Fritts. He also added “All the scouting at high school tournaments and regular season games is really paying off. I never imagined it would be this intense and competitive. We still have a few boys out there who are on the fence about coming to Sam. Hopefully we’ll know with in the next month or two.”

August 1, 2009 is the cut-off date for the Fall semester. At that time coach will announce the final 2009 recruiting class here and on laxpower.com and collegelax.us.

Playoffs Are Set… Kats #3

jfritts — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:54:15 +0000

With their convincing win over rival SFA, the Bearkats secured the #3 spot in the Semi Final playoff format and will face St. Edward’s on Saturday, April 25th, in Austin. Southwestern University comes in #1 and will face #4 SFA. The Kats lost a tough one to St. Edward’s at Home this year by a score of 10-8. The team is focused and ready for the re-match!

The winners of the two games play on Sunday for the Lone Star Alliance, Division II Championship. Below is the format and location.

Location
Eanes ISD Westlake Stadium
562 Camp Craft Rd.
Austin, TX 78746
Format as follows:

Saturday – April 25
9:00 AM Division II Playoff game #2 against #3
11:30 AM Division II Playoff game #1 against #4
2:00 PM High School Playoff game #1
4:30 PM Division I Playoff game North #1 against #2/3 from South
7:00 PM Division I Playoff game South #1 against #2/3 from North

Sunday – April 26
11:30 AM Division II Championship
2:00 PM Division I Championship
4:30 PM High School Playoff game #2

Bearkats Down SFA 19-6 on Senior Day!

jfritts — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 23:11:26 +0000

Seniors Robert Bailey, Baron Copeland, Joe Cox, Robbie Hollingsworth and Lance Mitchell will all graduate knowing they won their last Home game and have bragging rights over long time rival, SFA for the next year!

Nine players for the Kats contributed the 50 shot fire power! Freshman Michael Mann led all scorers with 5 goals and 5 assists. Seniors Lance Mitchell (4g/3a), Baron Copeland (3g/3a), Joe Cox (2g) and Robert Bailey (1g) contributed a total of 10 goals towards their last game at Pritchett! Finishing up the scoring were Neal Thompson (3g) and Alex Badour (1g/1a). Travis Cottle assited on two goals while Austin Atwood had one. Goalie sensation Avery Flores just had to make 7 saves to keep the Lumberjacks in check.

With this win, the LSA Division II playoffs are set with the Kats going in as #3 and playing a revenge game against #2 seat, St. Edward’s. Sam Houston lost a close one earlier in the season to the Gents 10-8. Southwestern University is the team everyone is trying to dethrone. They’ll be in action against #4, SFA.

With his 10 point day, Mann is now tied at #2 for the most points in MCLA Division II. Badour and Mann both dominated SFA in faceoffs with each taking 9 of 11!

The last regular season game is this coming Saturday at TCU.

SFA Game on April 4 Changed To Pritchett

jfritts — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 20:08:27 +0000

We were originally scheduled to travel to Stephen F Austin for this Saturday’s game. However, due to some conflicts in Nacogdoches the league has asked us to host the game.

Game time is 4:30PM at Pritchett Field.

See you then… come out and support the Men’s Lacrosse Team as they play a very old rival school!

Playoff Bound!

jfritts — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 16:40:00 +0000

With their win over Trinity, the Bearkats improved their conference record to 3-1 and are now mathematically in the playoffs! The Lone Star Alliance playoff system has #1 vs #4 and #2 vs #3 in the semi finals on Saturday, April 25th with the winners meeting the next day for the championship. The playoffs are being held in Austin, Texas.

Depending on the outcome of the next two conference games, the Kats could end up seated #1 for the first time in 26 years!

Sam Houston to Offer Scholarships!

jfritts — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 14:22:06 +0000

The Sam Houston State University Men’s Lacrosse program, in conjunction with Recreational Sports and the Office of Development, is proud to announce that financial aid (scholarships) will be offered this Spring for the upcoming Fall 2009 and 2010 Spring semesters! This is a new and exciting avenue for the lacrosse program and it will only grow from here.

With this new program and the future artificial surface at Pritchett Field, new talent will come to Sam Houston. Our goal is to play one more season (2010) in Division II of the Lone Star Alliance (LSA) and then move back to Division I where the program was originally started.

Coaches, please send your players to the “Recruiting” tab so they can submit their contact information directly to Coach Fritts.

Sam Houston State University

ekeown — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 23:42:31 +0000

Since 1984 when Coach Fritts graduated, the school has gone through some remarkable changes! The student population has grown from 12,000 to over 16,000! There are new buildings mixed in with the old that make the campus very unique. And while unique, it’s simply a beautiful school to be a part of.

The Criminal Justice (CJ) and Elementary Education majors are thriving more than ever and continue to rank amoungst the nations best. Forensic studies are being added to the CJ curriculum along with a cooperative pre-med curriculum. Please contact the Visitors Center to set up a tour and notify Coach Fritts on your time and date. He will be happy to join you and your parents at any time.

Welcome

ekeown — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 23:41:26 +0000

Welcome to Sam Houston State University Men’s Lacrosse!

Our program is almost 29 years old and back under the direction of its original founder, Joe Fritts!

There is some exciting news for the current team as well as all future teams!

For the current players… they’re winning! After going 0-8 last season, the team is 3-1 overall and holds a 2-1 record in Conference! The playoffs are just a game away!

For the future… we are getting ready to announce the first ever lacrosse scholarship program!

Come join us in Huntsville, Texas for a great educational experience and the opportunity to play ball all year round!