lacrosse - since we all bout crootin
Just saw a tweet from one of the guys who covers lacrosse recruiting about a top Maryland commit who switched to Michigan. So went to check on where Michigan's classes stand. This is good right?
http://recruitingrundown.com/commitment-center/2018-commitments/
So many of the non-rev sports recruit so early. Softball (hasn't seemed to hurt Hutch), soccer, field hockey, lacrosse...
January 21st, 2016 at 4:46 PM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
January 21st, 2016 at 4:49 PM ^
Six of the top 40? That's tied for second with Duke & Johns Hopkins. Only North Carolina has more. Glad to see that lax is capatalizing on their upward momentum.
January 21st, 2016 at 4:52 PM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
January 21st, 2016 at 4:53 PM ^
If it's comparable to JHU, it's great.
January 21st, 2016 at 4:57 PM ^
The class you posted is the current high school sophomores (Class of 2018). I bumped around that site and found a listing of the Top 100 high school seniors (Class of 2016).
Looks like we got a couple:
20. Avery Myers, M, Gonzaga (D.C.) – MICHIGAN
82. Henry Adams, A, Cherry Creek (Colo.)
85. Christian Ford, M, Bishop’s (Calif.) – MICHIGAN |
86. John Michael Priddy, LSM/D, Dallas Jesuit (Tex.) – MICHIGAN
100. Curtis Alexander, D, Deerfield (Mass.) – MICHIGAN
January 21st, 2016 at 5:06 PM ^
http://recruitingrundown.com/player-rankings/juniors/
13. Alex Buckanavage, A, Brunswick (Conn.) – MICHIGAN | 2014: #62
Sneaky and opportunistic off-ball, Buckanavage broke out during his sophomore season by notching 31 goals and 25 assists for the Bruins. Despite being just 5’9 or so, the lefty scorer has to be accounted at all times around the crease, as he’s great at finding seams in the defense and finishing with soft hands. Buckanavage has also shown that he’s relentless in the riding game and is part of a terrific class for Michigan.
19. Ben Cirella, LSM, Manhasset (N.Y.) – MICHIGAN | 2014: #35
A manchild with a mean streak, Cirella’s the type of player who empties his tank every game, giving a full effort on wings, between the lines on defense and in transition. Not many LSM’s at this age are able to effectively shut down a midfielder of any type (fast, big, small), however Cirella already fits that mold. He’s incredibly disruptive and simply works his tail off.
20. Zion DeChesere, G, Coronado (Nev.) – MICHIGAN | 2014: #38
As athletic and active as they come, the Las Vegas native may have cemented his status as the No. 1 goalie in the country this summer, standing on his head for the Starz with insane reflexes and shot-stopping ability. On top of that, he’s a noticeably charismatic kid who loves the spotlight and to be challenged, evidenced by his 105 mph shot at Nike’s ‘The Ride’.
January 21st, 2016 at 4:57 PM ^
Big lacrosse fan, hoping we start to see serious winning in the next year or 2. We were understandably out of our league when we took a club roster and threw them into varsity without any gap time, but with a new stadium coming I want to see us contend at the B1G championship level.
January 21st, 2016 at 5:14 PM ^
Looking at these classes compared to the programs they have to compete against (Hopkins, Maryland, etc) in order to achieve "serious winning" I'd say the 2018 class is the first one that gets the talent here that is comparable. They will need a few of those classes at Michigan to be even. So probably another 4 or 5 years. If you can take a program from club to varsity and be competing with the big boys (Hopkins has like 50 national championships or something ridiculous) in only 9 or 10 years, that's pretty good.
I think it's impressive they are getting these kinds of commitments without even having facilities yet. I've been in the trailer where the lacrosse offices are. Yes it's Michigan, a lot of lacrosse people doubted they would be stealing east coast kids from the established powers so fast.
January 21st, 2016 at 5:37 PM ^
Given the state of early recruiting in Lax (yes, completely ridiculous) it was going to take a few years for Michigan to even get a chance to compete for elite talent. But it was only a matter of time.
I am just thrilled that I am going to get to see my Jays play M in the Big House this year! Nicest thing about JHU joining the B1G is that the JHU-Michigan game is now played in the actual Spring season as opposed to being an early season February game.
January 21st, 2016 at 6:13 PM ^
I disagree, I think we're far enough away from the club days now that that shouldn't be a problem. Michigan has had more than enough time at this point- winning and competing shouldn't be 4 or 5 years away. Other new programs have already put together successful seasons and even made the tournament. Michigan has had talent on campus for a while now and they've had recruiting classes, but I think the coaching isn't getting the most out of it.
January 21st, 2016 at 10:19 PM ^
The fact that 2017 and 2018 classes are looking this good speaks volumes about this staff and their commitment to this program. It can't be easy to brag a kid out of NY or Connecticut where lacrosse is their heritage sport.
I think the progress they have made is good, not great but good. They tend to play a weak schedule to help with the wins. I think once they have a signature win as well as the stadium and facilities competed the program will really take off.
January 22nd, 2016 at 2:00 PM ^
Agree with all except the weak schedule part. SOS has been very high all of the first few years. MUCH higher than any of the other newer programs. The wins have mostly come against lower ranked opponents, and there are no big name wins yet, but the losses have mostly come against very good teams.
January 22nd, 2016 at 11:20 AM ^
Those other new programs would not have made the NCAA tournament had they competed in the same league as Michigan. It is purely a product of having played in one of the 2 worst conferences, and still getting an auto-bid. They are on par with Michigan (give or take), and certainly not out of Michigan's league at this point
January 21st, 2016 at 5:08 PM ^
The Hobart Statesmen look fucking loaded.
January 21st, 2016 at 5:27 PM ^
January 21st, 2016 at 5:25 PM ^
I, for one, am excited for John John Lombardi
January 21st, 2016 at 6:15 PM ^
Even better, watch this. His freshman year football highlights.
January 21st, 2016 at 5:54 PM ^
They gotta start putting it together on the field now. They've had talent on campus for a while now. I think they've had trouble retaining some of them and turning others into the top players theyre supposed to be.
January 21st, 2016 at 6:08 PM ^
They've only been around 4 years, so define "awhile." Until this year, they still had club guys on the roster. This is the first year with four recruiting classes, and none of those classes was considered elite by anyone. They have one guy (King) that was considered a top 50 kind of player out of high school. They have developed guys like Schlosser, Jackson and Logan, none of whom were on any recruiting lists. They still haven't had anyone make any better than honrable mention all-conference. And who has left? I can't think of anyone.
Last year they came a goal away from making the Big Ten tournament against teams that have been around forever. The year before they made the ECAC tournament with half of the roster being club guys. I'd say they are tracking pretty well, and this level of recruiting coming in the future bodes really well.
January 21st, 2016 at 7:00 PM ^
That Matt Graham kid from Long Island was touted as the program's first Under All-American recruit a few years ago. He showed up to school but was mysteriously gone before the season started and never played a second for U of M. Transferred to Brown where he plays legit minutes on a team that made the tournament last year, he'll probably play a lot more as a senior this year.
He's the one I always think of. Gaughan was top 50 as well, he redshirted and is still coming along I guess. Some goalies were top 50-100 (why does Mich have so many top goalies?)
Michigan also had a bunch of transfers that came in, making up some of the ground it would've lost in recruiting. One of them played a lot his freshman year for a Div 1 team and came to Michigan who sat him on the bench for the remainder of his career.
There's definitely progress but its been slow. They were a goal away from the Big 10 last year, but the conference was weak and they finished 5-8 with a bad loss to Drexel and a horrible loss to Jacksonville. Richmond and Marquette have fielded better teams and they don't typically land top recruits. I think this is the year they flip those Drexel/Jax type losses though. But, if they don't, we'll have to stop looking at the roster and start looking at the coaching.
January 21st, 2016 at 11:23 PM ^
January 21st, 2016 at 5:56 PM ^
January 21st, 2016 at 6:03 PM ^
I played and coached at the collegiate level and can tell you that lacrosse recruiting is in its own world. Kids are committing going into their 8th or 9th grade of High School, a buddy of mine is a coach at Virginia and they have had their classes for the next few years filled for awhile. So take the rankings you see right now (2018-2020) with a grain of salt, they will change a lot over the next few years. Nonetheless Michigan's classes the next few years are very solid and Coach Paul and staff have done a great job getting talented players.
January 21st, 2016 at 10:24 PM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
January 21st, 2016 at 10:39 PM ^
I believe lacrosse teams only have 13 scholarships for 40 players, so I am assuming Mich offered more scholarship money. Could also be because of the academics or because college park is kind of a shit hole.