Northwestern University Athletics
Murphy's Mark: Lacrosse Team Just Keeps Rolling
4/21/2005 12:00:00 AM | General
April 21, 2005
No. 1 vs. No. 2 Matchup
On Sunday, April 10, the entire lacrosse community focused its attention on Evanston. Our women's lacrosse team, ranked No. 1 in the country for the last month, was hosting perennial power and No. 2-ranked Duke. There were well over 1,000 fans at the game and the atmosphere on the lakefront was electric. Adding to the excitement, just before the start of the game, a plane flew over the field with a banner stating "Go 'Cats ... Beat Duke." Duke got off to a fast start, taking an early 6-2 lead, but our team didn't panic, and quickly took control of the game. Our 16-11 win was the biggest win in the program's history and sent a strong message that our program is a legitimate candidate to win a national championship. The team followed up the emotional win over Duke with an impressive 14-6 win over No. 8 Penn State on Friday. Penn State had already beaten two No. 1-ranked teams this year -- Virginia and Princeton.
If our team finishes the season strong, it is likely that we will be a top-four seed in the NCAA tournament and host the first two rounds. Best of luck to the team as they head into postseason action. Congratulations to Courtney Koester, Lindsey Munday and Kristen Kjellman, who were recently named three of the 18 finalists for the National Player of the Year Award. This is a real tribute to them and an indication of the respect our program has earned nationally.
T.J. Parker
We received some surprising news recently when T.J. Parker, junior point guard on the men's basketball team and a three-year starter, decided to turn professional. Since T.J. is a French citizen, there is a very good chance he will be able to play professionally in Europe (teams place limits on the number of Americans on each team). Many schools have faced this situation in recent years, with players deciding to turn pro early as the salaries in the NBA have skyrocketed. This decision was surprising, though, since T.J. will not likely be drafted and there is not a big risk that his opportunity in Europe would not be there after his senior year.
The challenge for T.J. will be to finish his degree while he is playing professionally. My experience in working with NFL players in similar situations is that his best chance to get a degree is to start taking courses as early in his career as possible. The longer athletes are away from college, the more difficult it is for them to be motivated to take classes. We wish T.J. the best in his career.
Luis Castillo
I was very disappointed to learn that senior football player Luis Castillo tested positive for steroids at the NFL Combine in February. Luis has been a model student-athlete here -- an outstanding economics student who earned Academic All-America honors while also excelling on the field. He never tested positive during his career here. In fact, we have not had a player test positive for steroids during Randy Walker's tenure here. I truly believe that this was a one-time event for Luis. He was recovering from an elbow injury and was afraid that he would not be healthy enough to participate in the combine. It does give you a sense of the pressure that these athletes feel as they prepare for the draft and their NFL careers that a person as bright and thoughtful as Luis would make such a foolish decision. All indications are, though, that this will not affect his status in the draft (he is likely to be selected in the second round).
To his credit, Luis has handled this situation forthrightly -- he wrote a letter to all NFL teams admitting his mistake and stating that he will forfeit his entire signing bonus if he ever tests positive again during his career. There is no doubt in my mind that Luis will have a long and successful career in the NFL. More importantly, though, I am confident that he will learn from this situation and become a better person as a result.
