Lehigh - what is the recruiting vibe / reputation?

[Dark Energy]

Lehigh wrestling has a great history.  For me a good reputation.  But I’m feeling like they aren’t landing big enough fish.  
 

What is the “vibe” at the high school level?  How are the recruits thinking of them?

[H82Lose]

We were just talking about this. I thought Desmond had a silent commitment there? But I see he was at Wisconsin this past weekend? 

[PortaJohn]

Just in the last few years they've missed out on Ungar, Sasso, Kasak, Labriola, Pinto who are all in their backyard.  @Husker_Duwould know better than anyone else

Edited October 29, 2023 by PortaJohn

[bnwtwg]

Could be that most dudes aren’t interested in a middle of nowhere sausagefest engineering school if they are going to already make the sacrifices necessary to be a D1 athlete? Ersland has the same problem despite being in the premiere wrestling conference.

Sometimes people just want to attend a school with a cool atmosphere if they have multiple choices and can have a say where they get to continue competing. To other people, Lehigh (and Purdue) are the cool place to go. It’s all personal choice.

[flyingcement]

It's still an excellent school for engineering as far as I'm aware.  Bethlehem may be the middle of nowhere for many people, but it's also right in the middle of one of Pennsylvania (and the country's) wrestling hotbeds for youth wrestling.  So if you are a local wrestler who doesn't want to go far from home, you have a school on your doorstep that can give you a very respectable degree.  

 

 

[Dark Energy]

The middle of campus is freaking beautiful.  Middle of nowhere?  I have a different definition for that.  

[lu_alum]

8 hours ago, H82Lose said:

We were just talking about this. I thought Desmond had a silent commitment there? But I see he was at Wisconsin this past weekend? 

He was also at Penn State two weeks ago.  

[PortaJohn]

2 hours ago, bnwtwg said:

Could be that most dudes aren’t interested in a middle of nowhere sausagefest engineering school if they are going to already make the sacrifices necessary to be a D1 athlete? Ersland has the same problem despite being in the premiere wrestling conference.

Sometimes people just want to attend a school with a cool atmosphere if they have multiple choices and can have a say where they get to continue competing. To other people, Lehigh (and Purdue) are the cool place to go. It’s all personal choice.

Middle of nowhere?  It's  just east of Allentown, an hour 20 from center city Philadelphia and and an hour 30minutes from Manhattan.  Never heard of anyone ever describe it as the middle of nowhere.  Sausage fest engineering school on the other hand, correct. 

Edited October 29, 2023 by PortaJohn

[bnwtwg]

2 hours ago, PortaJohn said:

Middle of nowhere?  It's  just east of Allentown, an hour 20 from center city Philadelphia and and an hour 30minutes from Manhattan.  Never heard of anyone ever describe it as the middle of nowhere.  Sausage fest engineering school on the other hand, correct. 

As I was saying…

[Husker_Du]

what you were saying....

is some of the dumbest shit i've seen on here. 

middle of nowhere? sausage fest? 

what a dork. 

[bnwtwg]

10 minutes ago, Husker_Du said:

what you were saying....

is some of the dumbest shit i've seen on here. 

middle of nowhere? sausage fest? 

what a dork. 

Oh cmon we both know that just because you don’t like my opinion doesn’t mean it is anywhere near even the top 50 in the short time of this forum.

I grew up in the middle of nowhere southern Illinois. I am what I eat.

[bnwtwg]

Also please @Husker_Du be sure to enlighten us why *top recruits choose other schools over Lehigh. But since you have your ear to the high school recruiting trail you better be honest in your answer and not only give the part you like but omit the portion you dislike.

Edited October 30, 2023 by bnwtwg
Sp autocorrect

[Le duke]

Purdon’t is 57-43 male-female.

Ouch.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[bnwtwg]

7 minutes ago, Le duke said:

Purdon’t is 57-43 male-female.

Ouch.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’ll trust USN&WR for stats such as this. Lehigh is 54% male / 46% female and you can click here for the sauce (that means cited reference for the old heads).

 

[bnwtwg]

And so no one thinks I’m biased, university of Illinois is ~90 minutes from Chicago. You know why many IL recruits don’t want to go there? Because “it’s in the middle of nowhere.”

[Hillbilly Jim]

6 minutes ago, bnwtwg said:

And so no one thinks I’m biased, university of Illinois is ~90 minutes from Chicago. You know why many IL recruits don’t want to go there? Because “it’s in the middle of nowhere.”

I guess I don't see the logic in your "middle of nowhere" take.  My kids have recently been in and are currently in the wrestling recruiting mix.  So between them and our dozens upon dozens of wrestling friends being recruited right now--very rarely do I hear kids reference this as a concern or deciding factor amongst higher end programs.  I mean just look at the locations of SO MANY top programs: VA Tech (Blacksburg); Cornell (Ithaca); OK St (Stillwater); Nebraska (Lincoln); Missouri (Columbia); Iowa St (Ames).  Even Iowa City and State College are really just college towns too. 

Honestly most kids I know actually like the college town experience more.   And in case you haven't checked it out lately, I'd say Illinois has been recruiting quite well under its new head coach.  I think the HC and other factors might have a lot more to do with recruiting success than proximity to a major city.  

[1032004]

27 minutes ago, bnwtwg said:

And so no one thinks I’m biased, university of Illinois is ~90 minutes from Chicago. You know why many IL recruits don’t want to go there? Because “it’s in the middle of nowhere.”

Google maps right now says 2 hours 7 minutes from University of Illinois to Chicago (140 miles), and 1 hour 4 minutes from Lehigh to Philadelphia (59 miles).  Pretty big difference

[bnwtwg]

1 minute ago, Hillbilly Jim said:

I guess I don't see the logic in your "middle of nowhere" take.  My kids have recently been in and are currently in the wrestling recruiting mix.  So between them and our dozens upon dozens of wrestling friends being recruited right now--very rarely do I hear kids reference this as a concern or deciding factor amongst higher end programs.  I mean just look at the locations of SO MANY top programs: VA Tech (Blacksburg); Cornell (Ithaca); OK St (Stillwater); Nebraska (Lincoln); Missouri (Columbia); Iowa St (Ames).  Even Iowa City and State College are really just college towns too. 

Honestly most kids I know actually like the college town experience more.   And in case you haven't checked it out lately, I'd say Illinois has been recruiting quite well under its new head coach.  I think the HC and other factors might have a lot more to do with recruiting success than proximity to a major city.  

1) Illini homer here! Very glad Poeta et al is righting the ship.

2) With regards to proximity, it was a response to @PortaJohn’s reply concerning distance to major cities.

3) Lehigh, unlike the majority of all schools whether tiny D3 or gigantic D1, is an engineering sausage fest. I hope I’m not crossing boundaries too woke for even my libcuck standards by directly inferring what that means.

[PortaJohn]

17 minutes ago, 1032004 said:

Google maps right now says 2 hours 7 minutes from University of Illinois to Chicago (140 miles), and 1 hour 4 minutes from Lehigh to Philadelphia (59 miles).  Pretty big difference

And Lehigh is only 85 miles from Manhattan and is part of the Allentown Metro area that is a population of just over 800k.  @bnwtwg literally does not know what he is talking about.  

[Hillbilly Jim]

11 minutes ago, bnwtwg said:

1) Illini homer here! Very glad Poeta et al is righting the ship.

2) With regards to proximity, it was a response to @PortaJohn’s reply concerning distance to major cities.

3) Lehigh, unlike the majority of all schools whether tiny D3 or gigantic D1, is an engineering sausage fest. I hope I’m not crossing boundaries too woke for even my libcuck standards by directly inferring what that means.

Well if you read my post I did not comment on your engineering sausage fest point--not sure why you bring it up again other than to try and deflect or re-frame your "middle of nowhere" point. 

And umm...for the record, you were the one who initially brought up middle of nowhere comment--not @PortaJohn when you said "Could be that most dudes aren’t interested in a middle of nowhere sausagefest engineering school if they are going to already make the sacrifices necessary to be a D1 athlete?"  But whatever man.....

[bnwtwg]

I concede. Done fighting.

Edited October 30, 2023 by bnwtwg

[Hillbilly Jim]

5 minutes ago, bnwtwg said:

Now ask me how many Lehigh grads I have employed under my division that has nothing to do with traditional engineering. I’ll give you a hint: it’s greater than 4% which for a global company is a metric shit-ton if you exclude Ivy.

Its okay to not agree with my take, that’s what makes conversation fun. But also recognize I’m not just speaking from a place of herp derp dumb***duck duck goose**ery.

OK good--I mean with your references to sausage fest, metric shit-ton and herp derp dumb***duck duck goose**ery, I figured your take was legit and coming from an educated perspective.

So in the spirit of making the conversation fun as you suggest--just respond directly to my point where said I don't see the logic in your take that it could be that most dudes aren't interested in middle of nowhere schools.  Because a quick look at the top programs suggests otherwise.

[bnwtwg]

32 minutes ago, Hillbilly Jim said:

OK good--I mean with your references to sausage fest, metric shit-ton and herp derp dumb***duck duck goose**ery, I figured your take was legit and coming from an educated perspective.

So in the spirit of making the conversation fun as you suggest--just respond directly to my point where said I don't see the logic in your take that it could be that most dudes aren't interested in middle of nowhere schools.  Because a quick look at the top programs suggests otherwise.

Last one and then done, since you are going after my points but then talk about smaller college towns.

Lehigh is like putting a school in Joliet, IL. It is what it is, but it was never a slight regarding location but some of you certainly took it that way without removing the rose-tinted glasses.

Glad to see I struck a sore spot with PA folks. Should have just remained logged out on this one and stuck to freestyle & heavyweights. Keep fighting Lehigh and sorry for answering a question honestly with recent anecdotal evidence.

[1032004]

8 hours ago, bnwtwg said:

1) Illini homer here! Very glad Poeta et al is righting the ship.

2) With regards to proximity, it was a response to @PortaJohn’s reply concerning distance to major cities.

3) Lehigh, unlike the majority of all schools whether tiny D3 or gigantic D1, is an engineering sausage fest. I hope I’m not crossing boundaries too woke for even my libcuck standards by directly inferring what that means.

It doesn’t seem there was as much pushback on the “sausagefest” comment.  Just be careful promoting heterosexism, there are some UNC professors that don’t appreciate that.

[Jim L]

The rise of the Ivies over the the past decades seemed to have hurt Lehigh's standing where it was the place where you can get a highly rated education and still compete for a national title.  Cornell and now Princeton have bested Lehigh fin both areas.