BOTC - US Lacrosse Community Forum Forums NORTHEAST LACROSSE BOTC MAIN FORUM (LI, CT, WC) Boys 2025-11th Grade Fall 2023/Summer 2024

Clock ticking. I think the dead period starts August 15th.

No dead period or clock for D3, which is where most opportunities are at this point.

If that were completely true, there wouldn't have been so many D1 coaches at 2025 games the past few weeks. There are plenty of programs with slots to fill.

True but they are being very specific. Meaning they are looking for a single position and it won’t be middie or attack. It will be a goalie or defender or fogo.

A 2025 on my son's club team just committed yesterday. He's a middie. It's still happening. Smithtown attack kid just committed recently too.

Yes but my point is that these players were at the very bottom of the coaches’ lists and the odds of them seeing the field is usually very low.

A lot of good talent left. Better than some of the ones commited almost a year ago.Some needed more help with athletic or academic money and schools waited to see what they had left before offering.

Agree but most of these late summer 2025 commits indicate a lack of major interest from the coach and they will have a lot to prove if they want to earn time.

Pig. This still goes on in senior year. Smh

Why can't we just be happy that these kids are happy and finding places to play college lacrosse and be a part of teams?

Congratulations to all of them.

Because we’re parents and we have to ruin it!

This is a terrible take, and just a bad ideology. Once you get to college it is a whole other world. You don't show up and think since you were an early recruit you have a better chance of playing. In college you have two evaluation periods. Fall Ball and Early Spring ball. That is when playing time is decided, not if you jump into a commitment in September or if you get committed a year later.

Keep dreaming, College Coaches have team picked out already. They know who is talent. Yes, the occasionally player gets to top, that is very rare.
Most college teams have very little unknowns do anything,,,

Good luck all. I am sure this thread will close down shortly.

There is a reason some kids are recruited in September of junior year and some are recruited as they start their senior year. These coaches already have their future lineups in mind. Maybe not written in pen, but they know. Don't delude yourself.

You guys should listen to the recruiting podcasts on IL. They interview top D1 head coaches specifically about recruiting. All of the coaches acknowledge that many of their top prospects over the years were late commitments. You'll note than many of the top programs don't fill out their entire recuiting class in Sept/Oct because they know that there will be late bloomers that slip through the cracks and they want the flexbility to grab them later.

Exactly. That was from todays episode with John Tillman

Late bloomer case I am not buying. Everything is transfer portal.

Late bloomers are gold kidding me? Every sport knows this but coaches just cannot put their finger on it. If a kid is small and is pretty good what happens when that kid grows and actually gets as big or bigger than other kids? Kids that develop late get shafted on front end of recruiting but that can work for them. They get a chip on their shoulder, work harder and surpass other kids athletically which is why they end being so good. If you go through any pro sport so many of the players were late bloomers. Problem is a lot of kids quit or give up when they do not have same testosterone as other kids but the ones that grind through it take this biggest jumps once they grow. College Lacrosse the athletes do best. Everyone is good at lacrosse but who can really get better in college. Who has room to develop more? It is the late bloomers they have not hit their ceiling yet and are the bigger stronger athletes a lot of the times.

All of these coaches are trying to FIND the late bloomers or later bloomers. I heard one coach say last September "A lot of these boys still have braces. I'm projecting what I think they WILL be when they get on campus."

I wouldn't listen to anything Tillman says though. He's a snake and is ALL transfer portal. So many LI boys have gone there, hated him/it and transferred elsewhere. Even if my kid were good enough to play at Maryland, I'd never have sent him there.

If your kid is good enough to play at Maryland he most likely has interest from a better academic school.

He said that his son isn't good enough to play at Maryland.

Speaking of late bloomers. I’m a Dad of a middle school boy. Wondering if any Dads of the 2025 class regret not reclassing their kid in 8th grade after seeing the 2026’s get recruited now? Did it work for all of the former 2025’s who reclassed to 2026? Did staying on grade work out for your kid?

If your kid can’t play his grade he shouldn’t be on the field!

I would never put lacrosse above all else like that. My son still has a D1 scholarship waiting for him in the fall without the bs of reclassing.

Tillman could care less about recruits,,, He obviously goes after good players, if he gets great, if not , he cares less.
He has plenty coming there as recruits.

He is a transfer portal coach now. He gets top players from the portal at expense of recruits, Been that way for a few years now. Snake oil salesman to recruits.

In 2025 class locally had fewer holdbacks if I remember it correctly. but for 2026 the No 1 recruit is a reclass and No 2 is not... different strokes for different folks I suppose. CoachC has 6 of his 26 players in the top 100 and 3 are holdbacks and 3 are not. But it's safe to say the held back kids did better than they would have on grade. You have to decide for yourself if it's worth it. My 2025 son is going solid D1 and flat out refused when offered as a 26.

Portal is drying up post Covid, there is a reason to move for PT in football, but as we know in Lax there is no professional league pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

There were almost no 2025 holdbacks on the island. It seems like something that is happening more and more though.

My son laughed in my face when I suggested he add another year of high school. He got a solid D1 scholarship too.

Not entirely true

Portal is not drying up, actually there is more and more players entering it due to not getting what they want or wanting a better team. It is happening across all sports. Obviously money sports are seeing it on steroids, but portal is here to stay in lacrosse, and the coaches are using it just like any other hammerhead to get players. Over 100 players in portal I saw awhile ago.

I personally dont like it at all as it goes against the traditional way we see college sport athletics,

I guess I will accept it or stop watching.

What ??? No Holdbacks more and more.. LOL... Come on, that is so 1980's. The truth is that holdbacks are a big part of lacrosse recruits . Even on the Island. It started gaining steam around 10 years ago and has been getting bigger every year. I do think it getting to a plateau now as portal and new rules have done a number on recruiting.

"done a number on recruiting"

What? If you're a good lacrosse player you'll still get recruited. It's so lame how everyone acts like the portal and reclasses make it impossible.

It's only impossible if you're not really good enough.

Look at the top rated college lacrosse players now. JS fur example. How many of them were actually on age when they were recruited? The holdbacks had an advantage if a couple more years of development! College's do not care about age they just want to win! They love holdbacks

Except some coaches are realizing that the juniors they recruited/offered only looked good because they were playing against kids a year or two younger than them. They get to campus and don't have that advantage anymore.

JS and his age were jokes his entire career. Everyone knew he was older. He's the exception in that he's actually a great player.

You answered your question. Yes, JS is a great player. That is due to extra years playing and always getting playing time on better teams. If JS wasnt a holdback, he would still be a good player, just not a great player, and may not even see field due to some other bigger stronger holdback ahead of him.

Being a Holdback works, of course it doesnt for some. But if you want the odds, Hold them back,,,