Of no surprise, the PSAC had none in the Top 10 of this sites ranking. Some of those were pretty insane for the D2 level. Very nice.
Ours, unfortunately, have fallen way, way behind. Obviously, in the current state of our schools, updating football stadiums is probably so far down the list that it's actually off the list.
League-wide, I'm not sure we have a stadium that is nicer than many in the upper-tier of the WPIAL (Pine-Richland, Upper Saint Clair, North Allegheny, etc.). Shepherd, my opinion, is far and away the nicest stadium in the PSAC. Had that list gone Top 20, Rams Stadium probably makes it.
Does it matter? That's up for debate, I suppose. Facilities go an awful long way in recruiting today's kids. Many visit our schools' facilities and they are a downgrade from what they have in high school. Most kids have never heard of D2 schools to begin with and when the recruiting process begins the first thing they do is look online at the stadiums, etc.
IUP certainly has a bottom-half stadium and very out-dated football facilities (lockers, weight room, etc.). Intangibles have kept IUP winning over the years -- money, big campus, etc. With the exception of 2017, IUP Football hasn't been a legit national-level player in a very long time. Same with Slippery Rock.
I'm not talking about recruiting a good WPIAL class but to attract the truly top transfer recruits, etc., ... having top-notch facilities goes a real long way. Joe Lombardi's basketball program is Exhibit A.
Then again, I'm not sure it's really the goal of many in the PSAC to be a national-level football program. A few, sure, but most seem to like having a team and whatever happens ... happens.
Ours, unfortunately, have fallen way, way behind. Obviously, in the current state of our schools, updating football stadiums is probably so far down the list that it's actually off the list.
League-wide, I'm not sure we have a stadium that is nicer than many in the upper-tier of the WPIAL (Pine-Richland, Upper Saint Clair, North Allegheny, etc.). Shepherd, my opinion, is far and away the nicest stadium in the PSAC. Had that list gone Top 20, Rams Stadium probably makes it.
Does it matter? That's up for debate, I suppose. Facilities go an awful long way in recruiting today's kids. Many visit our schools' facilities and they are a downgrade from what they have in high school. Most kids have never heard of D2 schools to begin with and when the recruiting process begins the first thing they do is look online at the stadiums, etc.
IUP certainly has a bottom-half stadium and very out-dated football facilities (lockers, weight room, etc.). Intangibles have kept IUP winning over the years -- money, big campus, etc. With the exception of 2017, IUP Football hasn't been a legit national-level player in a very long time. Same with Slippery Rock.
I'm not talking about recruiting a good WPIAL class but to attract the truly top transfer recruits, etc., ... having top-notch facilities goes a real long way. Joe Lombardi's basketball program is Exhibit A.
Then again, I'm not sure it's really the goal of many in the PSAC to be a national-level football program. A few, sure, but most seem to like having a team and whatever happens ... happens.
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