Alison Harbaugh checks all the boxes as USF women's lacrosse preps for first season

As USF prepares for its first-ever women’s lacrosse season, it was important for the fledgling program to acquire players with high intelligence, big-time experience, and natural leadership skills.

When head coach Mindy McCord saw Alison Harbaugh’s name in the transfer portal, it checked all three of those boxes.

High intelligence? She graduated from Notre Dame in three years. As a graduate student at USF, she is majoring in intelligence studies and plans to attend law school. Yeah, she’s got some game when it comes to the classroom.

Big-time experience? Notre Dame is an elite program with multiple NCAA tournament appearances.

Natural leadership skills? McCord could see that when Harbaugh attended high school at The Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore. Leadership comes naturally to the Harbaugh family. Her father, John Harbaugh, is the long-time head coach of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens, and Alison inherited those traits.

While her father is preparing for Sunday's playoff game at Buffalo, Alison is hard at work preparing for USF's historic first game on February 7 at Corbett Stadium.

“She knows what it's like to play at the highest level of lacrosse. She's learned habits that she's developed that she can share with our very young core of players that have never played Division One lacrosse,” McCord said.

“She's very patient, and she very much is a servant leader. She cares to help others on and off the field in anything. She has a good radar for mentorship and leadership and with a young team, I think that's been a great value that she's been able to bring. She's not a person that needs that recognition or that title. A lot of what she does is truly behind the scenes, and that's something in the era of athletics today, I can really appreciate.”

Oh, and she’s also highly competitive.

“I think she hates to lose more than she likes to win,” McCord said.

She will play the attack position for the Bulls, which seems appropriate given the way she attacks, well, everything. Let’s go back to graduating from Notre Dame in three years.

“What helped me graduate in three years was one summer I took classes just to get stuff done. I had a minor in Japanese, and we had class every single day, so the classes were worth five credits, and it was probably the hardest class has ever taken my life, because it's such a hard language,” Harbaugh said.

“But looking back on it now, I was like, oh my gosh, I am not gonna be able to use this for anything. And that might be true, but it is what helped me graduate early and put me here so God always like, has a plan. It's funny how that works.”

But why choose USF?

“I was just looking to go where I would be able to make a positive impact on the field and where I was really gonna be wanted and loved as a person and a player,” she said.

“The McCords showed that right away. They're wonderful people, and I knew that they care about us so much, just not only as players, but as individuals as well, help us grow in all aspects of our lives, our faith, our people.”

Mindy’s husband Paul is an assistant coach and is friends with Alison’s father. He is also a former assistant coach with the Ravens, although not under John Harbaugh.

So, this is it: the beginning of the end of a lacrosse journey that began many years ago in Baltimore. She may take a little time to smell the roses in the season, but not too much. There are games not to lose – remember, that’s a bigger drive than winning – and relationships to cement.

Being part of USF’s initial team is a plus as well.

“I know that I'll miss USF I'll miss all the teammates I've had and the team aspect of the competitiveness of it. I know it'll be hard like to walk away, but I'll also be ready and at peace,” she said.

“I've been praying that God is going to prepare my heart to leave, and I think I'll be definitely ready for it. I'm sure I'll have to find something competitive to do eventually. I'll get the itch again, so we'll see what that next thing is.”