Lax recruiting seeing a change in the wind...

Submitted by phjhu89 on

So, I was checking the offseason happenings at Insidelacrosse.com, and it so happened that one of the lead pieces today regarded 2015 commitments to my Alma Mater,  and Maize& Blue Wahoo's as well.

(yes, in the lacrosse world classes start filling up that early - suffice it to say that those who are recruited that early tend to be the elite of the elite, committing to the elite)

No, Michigan didn't have a commitment in that list of 2015 recruits (did have one in the 2014 update, however.)  What is interesting is that of the 4 rising sophomores listed as committing this week, 3 of them had Michigan on their interest list.  When you look at who they committed to, and who else they were considering, this is very good company!

If you look at the 2014 and 2013 lists, comparatively few were even considering Michigan. A sign of good things to come?  Michigan recruiting a year or two from the next level?   

weasel3216

July 30th, 2012 at 10:16 PM ^

Michigan, this early one, is a great opportunity for elite players to start immediately rather than waiting for there time to play at UNC,John Hopkins, Duke, Virginia, etc...  I know i would give serious consideration to a new D1 school if i was being recruited on early playing time.   

This is also not saying that Michigan won't be elite, i am just saying it is still going to take 5-7 years to get to that level of the previous mentioned teams. 

Yo_Blue

July 30th, 2012 at 10:27 PM ^

you had to flap your mouth on the subject.  Move on - nothing for you to see here.  For the rest of us who follow and root for Michigan sports, we will read any topic, especially one as relevant at this.

Sorry - this was meant for Marvin.  I'm fighting my cat for desk space and she is winning.

Lac55

July 30th, 2012 at 10:38 PM ^

Per scout Laquan visiting Florida. He connected with some FLA commits at the Gridiron Kings and talked with FLA coaches yesterday and today.

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

July 30th, 2012 at 10:38 PM ^

Michigan recruiting a year or two from the next level?

I think M will build the program by beating out the Stony Brooks and Lehighs and such for recruits, but it'll take a couple attention-grabbing wins before recruits will choose Michigan over the UVAs and Hopkinses of the world.  I don't think said wins have to actually be over the best of the best, but when Michigan proves it can knock off a program with a solid reputation like Penn State, that might be the tipping point.

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

July 30th, 2012 at 11:15 PM ^

That'll only get us so far, however.  LaxPower rates Brother Rice in the top 70 or so programs in the country, and Brother Rice doesn't send its best players to the elite programs.  If Michigan can cherry pick the best players from Brother Rice, it still means only competing for recruits with mid-level programs.

Plus, it's only one school - and it's about all the state has to offer, other than the occasional player from a U-D or a Pioneer or something.  Can't rely on Midwestern recruiting.....M has to compete on the East Coast and in Canada.  Fortunately, the school has a pretty good name out there.

bacon1431

July 30th, 2012 at 10:59 PM ^

Sheesh, someone went negbang crazy in this thread.

Good news. At least we're in the minds of kids. I don't think we'll win many, if any of these battles for the top flight kids, but it seems that they're at least taking us seriously. That Michigan education sure speaks volumes (although it seems that many Lax programs are also among the best academic institutions as well). Future looks bright, even if it'll take a while to become a contender.

laxalum

July 31st, 2012 at 12:07 PM ^

...but Michigan actually does have one 2015 commit already.  Gunner Garn a goalie out of California.  I agree that a lot of these top kids having Michigan on their "strongly considered" list is a good sign.  The program is barely a year old with no dedicated facilities, going against powerhouse programs over a hundred years old often with great lacrosse facilities and often at similar academic levels (Ivy League, UVA, Hopkins, UNC, Duke, ND, etc).  Not to mention that many of those schools are physically embedded in the middle of most of the best lacrosse players, while Michigan is in the lacrosse outback.  It's still going to take awhile, but they are obviously getting interest from a lot of the right kids.  Matter of time.

Side note...no sport seems to get more negative chirping on here than lacrosse.  Why?  Lacrosse has a big, rapidly expanding fan base, and most people seem to find it entertaining to watch once they are introduced to it.  So it makes sense that it is covered occasionally on mgoblog and espn and other media sources that used to ignore it.  I understand the stereotype that it's played by entitled, rich, prep school kids, but as the sport has grown it has certainly come a long way toward leaving that behind.  Where I'm from it's a public school sport that is made up of athletes who generally play football in the spring and maybe basketball or hockey in the winter.

chatster

July 31st, 2012 at 1:05 PM ^

Besides recruiting for the future, LAX programs occasionally recruit for the present by considering transfers from the top programs who find themselves lower on the depth chart than they'd like to be or are graduate students with a year of NCAA eligibility left.  The Ivy League schools, Georgetown, Duke, UVA, Johns Hopkins, UNC and Notre Dame might be places to look for those players.

Michigan LAX fans will have to be patient while waiting for a winning program.  It will take time, but it will happen.

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

July 31st, 2012 at 1:47 PM ^

Eh, transfers tend to be pretty rare.  At least compared to basketball and such.  Connor English transferred and that was kind of a big deal.

The place to look for transfers is the Ivy League.  The Ivies don't let grad students play, and they're also really insistent on graduating in four years, so redshirted players who end up as fifth-year seniors can't play anymore, and transfer elsewhere.  Michigan should be a prime destination for that sort of player.

MaizeNBlu628

July 31st, 2012 at 2:43 PM ^

I'm from the lax hotbed state of Maryland, and I can tell you that people from MD think extremely highly of UofM. If UofM lax can start to recruit the prep schools around DC area (Georgetown Prep, Landon) and around Baltimore, we're sure to get some top recruits.