My son plays for a lower level club. Team was at Prime Time's tournament this year though. I literally saw with my own eyes the hustle and effort the prime time coaches/directors (really just people with PT golf shirts from my point of view) had with college coaches from all over.
Also keep in mind that announced commits don't always mean a lot. Many of these kids come from families with money, and there is not a lot of scholarship money available for lax anyway. All D1 teams have absolutely huge rosters, and if your lax playing son wants to go to a certain school, the school will take him. Just like the school will take anyone who applies and gets in. All of these commits are subject to admission anyway. Whether or not the kid ever plays is not something the school really cares about. The best players will play, whoever they are or wherever they come from. By way of example, I know of a kid who never played a meaningful minute in HS, only played at the lowest of the lowest levels for club, and at the town level was basically the worst kid on the team. He committed to a D-3 program with all the typical instagram fan fair. He will never step on the field while a game is still contested. I get that kids at Prime Time, Two Way, etc are not this, but there is a bit of "so what" to the commit game. Without a doubt, some of these commits will never see the field at a meaningful time in a game. But if the kid is going to the school he wants to go to, does well academically, and is happy, so what.
I agree with a lot of this except strongly disagree that any school will take anyone and never play them. There are only so many slots despite the hugs roster size. There are plenty of lacrosse kids who get in academically but don’t get a walk on slot. That is more the norm. These schools don’t just take anyone, even if they have the academics + money
Never play vs never play in a meaningful part of the game are two different things. I qualified my statement to include only the later. It is absolutely true that some of these 2025 already announced D1 commits will not see the field at a meaningful time in a game. A certain number of those in this category will transfer somewhere, where they may or may not get meaningful time, while others will stay on the team or just stay at the school.
The programs mentioned in recent posts push D1, and have kids who want D1. These kids are all exceptional players to varying degrees, and they all have the potential to be contributors at the D1 level. If scholarship money is used up on players deemed better by the coaches, and the kid can get admitted and pay on his own, nearly all, if not all, D1 programs will take a kid with a Prime Time, Eclipse, etc pedigree. And if the coach is a good guy, and I think most of them are, it will come with a disclaimer such as "as of now you are not projected to get meaningful playing time, but if you work hard, practice well, and earn time, you will get it"
Don’t disagree that the bottom of the roster has a bunch of kids who will never or rarely see the field. My disagreement is that these schools and/or teams will take anyone just because you applied. Any even if you are fortunate enough to get in, not all walk ons make the team. In fact it’s quite the opposite.
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