US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums NORTHEAST LACROSSE BOTC MAIN FORUM (LI, CT, WC) Early Recruiting

Great article..How many kids went on to play 4 years of college ball..based on the usual rate I would say 30% transfereed and 20% went on to play for 4 years..sad but most kids are burnt after HS because they keep getting pushed by their parents and are just fried by the time they get to college..Kids please play at minimum 2 sports in HS so you don't get burnt out..If your an athlete you can play more then one sport and enjoy HS. Don't let your parents run your life. I know from experience it happened to me. NOT BITTER .Just have some regrets that I can't get those years back.

8th and 9th graders that verbal are the ones who transfer the most because their parents help push the initial choice. Then when they get to college sometimes 5 years later, their ability level might not be what it once was and they find themselves on the bench for the first time in their lives and they don't like it so they transfer and start a new.

11th graders that commit have the most success (even if they don't get then most money). Almost fully mature. KNow what they want to go to school for and its easier to judge their ability to kids currently on the college team

Evidence please? While I agree that perfect world choosing later is better for a kid for the reasons outlined and I hope the NCAA changes the rule, I know plenty of kids who have committed freshman or sophomore year and are very happy where they are.

I understand your point, but a kid who commits to Duke or Hopkins is doing so at that age because of what they do in lacrosse it has nothing to do with the education part. They don't know what to major in . It's like being told you can play for the Patriots . You are going there because you where their hat. No idea if it's a good fit ..only dad knows. Think about it How does a kid transfer schools before he finishes 9th grade? Dad tells him to not the kid. Why commit to the first school.It doesn't make any sense

If you think the any HS team, even the ones loaded with 20 year old seniors would have a shot against a top 100 D3 team, you are out of your mind.
Son plays on a top 35 D3 team. Conference championship team and NCAA tournament team. These are men. 5 of the starters on his team are either D1 transfers, or kids that passed on D1. You have no idea how big, strong and fast these guys are. Would blow the doors off any HS team.
Oh BTW, D1 snob, I'd put money on the top 20 D3 programs beating the bottom 20 D1 programs on any given day!!! Some might even beat the bottom 30 or 40...

The sense part lies in the opportunity to gain admission to an elite level school that might be unattainable purely on academics. When these teenagers play 2 or 3 sports, can you reasonably expect them to get 1450 on the boards and have a 4.2 gap??? Very difficult to say ''thanks but I'm gonna sit this out a while and take my chances later.. does it work out in every case?? Probably not. But life is like that right?

Take the school, not the lax. Who cares about a sport with no future past NCAA. If you can get a Duke or ND education because of lax jump on it. So what if you sat on the bench. Put the team picture up in your office when that Duke education gets you a great job and lie to everyone who sees it and tell them how great you were. Game the system folks, don't let the system game you!

So even if the school is. Not a fit for you, go there for 4 years anyway. Makes no sense.I assume every kid that graduates from these schools becomes a CEO. What does the kid do when he fails out.. Blame it on the University? . There are two sides to every story and you are telling the parents side and not the kid. Let them make the choice and not the parents who. Not saying all cases but definitely some. A kid may like the North east but have been told to go down to Carolina .

Hate to be your son, go to a school and sit on the bench, if you are good enough to make one of those rosters, then you should be able to find a school with good education and play,

Guys, please, if you have the chance to go to Duke go. You're right the school should be a great fit, but my point is lacrosse is not the be all end all. Would you rather graduate from Syracuse because you could play or Duke and not? Don't take everything on BOTC so literal. My point is lacrosse is not the end, it's the beginning. That's all. Enjoy the game, Go Pats! Hope Brady gets another if Eli can't

Go Ivy League before you go Duke ...That would make the most sense . Go where your kid thinks he would fit in education wise not where Mom or Dad think he should fit it. Let the kid be happy and don't force him. . Go falcons . At least their are some LI ties there:)

Patriots have the lax connection! Hogan

Use lax to get into your son's academic reach schools as #1 priority.
Coaches come and go, programs are up and down.

1st of all - there is ONLY the SLIGHTEST chance that anyone on this forum, has a son with both the grades and athleticism, to have the choice between IVY and Duke...

...more realistic choice choice is between Tampa, and Cortland.
It is super competitive!!

Ok, mr Cortland - not 1 of their players even resemble the same athletes being recruited by ACC and IVY - this is not football (so the college physical maturity won't make up the difference)

Watch Chaminade/Anthony's this year... And you will immediately realize you are watching a much higher level lacrosse than Cortland...

If anything, women's ... Big schools like Clemson, Miami and FL State, are happy to have (good club programs)... Lacrosse is way too expensive , since title 9 requires an additional 12.6 scholarships to women's sports

...Richmond was an exception by recently adding lacrosse, but dropping soccer.

Tampa over Cortland...layup. That being said..Cortland would dismantle insert any hs name here... you clearly did not play in college and have NO idea what you are talking about

There are plenty of D III schools with equal or better academic pedigrees AND with lacrosse programs that rival D I programs outside the very top group.

Hah, good luck with that new ride!
Both posts make a ton of sense. My guys has multiple offers at his position, one with a mid range D1 and the others with top tier D3 and we are gearing more towards the D3 schools. He will get to play, have a life and really focus on his education which is what it is about. One of his coaches played and won a D3 championship. It doesn't matter what it says on the trophy except championship and i think that makes the most sense. To many dad's on here living through their kids are forgetting that.

if your kid isn't a top 1 percenter, D3 could offer lots of playing time and a great school, lax, social balance. Still playing, still lots of friends and still lax (just not 6 hours a day of it)!

even at the D3 level you need to earn P.T. and it may take a couple of years to get there.
don't assume anything.

Great Post, and Advice about 2 sport athletes in HS (as long as you can)!!
Avoid Mental fatigue and inevitable burn out.
Early Recruiting puts way too much pressure on 14-16 year old kids

...So you take a HS stocked w highest level D1 lax Athletes, vs your Average D3 Lacrosse team (Sorry if I offended using Cortland as specific), and, you think college maturity makes up he difference?? thats like saying; HS McDonalds All American Basket team wouldn't beat (insert D3- Hoops team)... (not the brown vs Alabama analogy)

St. Anthony's and Chaminade over Cortlans, says the guy who doesn't know how to buckle up a helmet, because he NEVER wore one. What a dopey comment.

...early recruiting, does provide D3 with opportunities to recruit high potential late bloomers... but these D1 coaches are finding superior athletes from all over the country...

as opposed to Mr Cortland, walking on 25 years ago, to help fill a lacrosse roster.

what an idiot. McDonalds all Americans are an all star team . what, do you think your h.s. team is some sort of national all star collection? how's that Chaminade kool aid taste?
Any NESCAC team would handle those two teams. even last place like Ct. college.

I played at Cornell. I'm not defending Cortland specifically, but any top 20 D3 team would beat any high school team. I'm sure at the bottom of the ladder a D3 team would lose to the top High School teams though. The spread from the elite hoop player to the average is much wider than the spread from the elite lax player to the mediocre when it comes to lacrosse.

the very bottom of D3 is worse than club lacrosse .

It is exactly the Browns v Alabama analogy. THe size physical maturity and experience means ALOT. first there are many DIII players that either wer mid range DI that opted for a more balanced college experience, as well as DI players who transferred to DIII programs so the talent gap btween your DI recruit laden HS team and the DIII team isn't as big as your think. Second The physical size and conditioning of the DIII athletes vs the HS team is not even close. I would put an Average DIII program against the UA HS Sr. Team and still pick the DIII team

It was only a scrimmage but...The Hill Academy beat Vermont a week and a half ago:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10156052122159852&set=o.360766160613820&type=3

How does that fit into the top HS vs. College debate?

Hill "Holdback" Acadamy? That is basically a D1college team. Varsity players are 20 years old!

Not a good one. Top D1 College Freshman playing against Vermont.

Nobody claimed a high school team would beat a NESCAC. NESCAC is top-to-bottom the strongest conference in D3. Last year's last place team (Colby) still ended up in the top 50 nationwide according to LP.



If you knew anything about lacrosse (or played in high school or college) you wouldn't have named Cortland as a team that any high school team could beat.

But Chaminade in a good year (or Ward Melville, or Boys' Latin, or any other traditionally strong high school program) would almost certainly beat most D3 teams outside of the top ~100 or so (there are more than 200 D3 lacrosse programs).

(I'm the one who introduced the "high school vs. D3" topic.)

Here's how to get the answer to this idiotic debate, ask your sons high school coach which college team he think they would beat. I double dog dare you! He will laugh in your face and walk away shaking his head. On a side note, a Tiger can totally beat a Lion, but a Liger will totally beat both of them. Pretty sure my brothers and I had this conversation when we were in 2nd grade.

Everyone looking at the bottom of the heap. I like to look at the top of the heap which I think would have the top D2 schools ranked around #40-50 in D1 and the top D3 schools ranked about 70. The bottom of D1 on the girls side plays terrible lax

top D3 probably better than top D2.

hill academy hold backs are born in 1998 meaning they turn 19 this year. There are no 20 year olds in that program some people just have such a hard time with Math.

The comparison might be more appropriate than you think. Here's some additional information about The Hill Academy Varsity team...
One player is 19 and the rest are 18 or 17.
Their list of commitments to top programs probably pales in comparison to Chaminade and St. Anthony's. Here's a rough list of Hill commits:
Bellarmine-2
Denver-2
Ohio State-2
Robert Morris-2
Syracuse-2
Villanova-2
One each to Penn, Quinnipiac, High Point, Sacred Heart, Marquette, Cornell, Michigan
One each to D2 Lynn and Tampa
The rest of the roster is currently uncommitted.

They are a legitimate high school aged team, especially in comparison to the boarding schools. It is an example of what a team can accomplish with dedicated student-athletes and professional coaching.

I've posted this before but here is a good overview courtesy of si.com:
http://www.si.com/edge/2016/05/04/the-hill-academy-lacrosse-canada-high-school-brodie-merrill

Uh, scrimmage, nuff said

The Hill Academy is a D1 program disguised as a HS. After reading that article, which was very informative, so thanks, that team is insane.