8 months ago
Mercer University will add men's NCAA D-I lacrosse to its intercollegiate athletic program during the 2010-2011 academic year and will add a Division I women's team in 2011-2012, athletics director Bobby Pope announced today.
Mercer is the first NCAA Division I institution in the state to announce the addition of lacrosse to its athletic program.
"Lacrosse is becoming a very popular sport in the Southeast," Pope said. "We will be the first NCAA Division I program in Georgia, so this will be a great opportunity for Mercer to set the bar high for the sport in our state."
The University added men's lacrosse as a club sport in 2007-2008 and plans to add women's club lacrosse for 2010-2011.
The teams will then make the transition to Division I status in 2010-2011 and 2011-2012, respectively.
Mercer will be one of the few universities in the Southeast to compete in NCAA Division I lacrosse, joining Duke, North Carolina, Presbyterian and Jacksonville. Currently, there are 64 NCAA Division I men's lacrosse programs and 89 Division I women's programs in the nation.
Pope said that the university plans to hire its first full-time lacrosse coach later this year to begin recruiting student-athletes for the teams.
