Q:
HOW DOES EARLY RECRUITING AFFECT DEVELOPMENT AT THE YOUTH AND HIGH SCHOOL LEVELS?
Danielle Gallagher: Geno Auriemma made a statement this weekend. He said AAU basketball programs are playing 50 games this summer and maybe having five practices. The fundamentals are gone. The fundamentals are gone in our game. You try to teach someone how to catch and throw in traffic, how to catch and have your hands ready to shoot or pass? I’m recruited. What the hell do you know? My comment used to be, “A lot of the blue-chip athletes are getting recruited early.” I eat my words now. Because college coaches are jumping on kids that aren’t developmentally ready.
Dom Starsia: We’re all biased by the way we grew up, but to me, the fundamentals and lacrosse IQ are strengthened on the football fields, the basketball courts, the soccer fields and the hockey rinks of our youth. Families are missing out on that. You want a kid with real lacrosse IQ? Then he played football. He played soccer or basketball. He knows how to move without the ball. Kids now think they need to be playing lacrosse all the time. Club guys are guilty of telling the kids, “You can’t play football, because you need to be playing with me in the fall.” That’s a mistake.
40 LACROSSE MAGAZINE » May 2016
THE FIRST FOUR J
ack Reilly has a little secret buried at the bottom of his drawer. It’s a pair of Duke lacrosse shorts.
“I got them in seventh grade,” Reilly said. “They still fit. I haven’t worn them since high school started — at least not outside of my house.” Reilly verbally committed to play at Virginia during his freshman year at Conestoga High School in Pennsylvania. The defenseman was one of the first four boys in 2012 to commit as freshmen. He followed Forry Smith, the Haverford School (Pa.) attackman who committed to Johns Hopkins, and was joined by commitments from Gonzaga (D.C.) midfielder Sam Offutt to Virginia and Salesianum (Del.) defenseman Patrick Lyons to North Carolina. “I can remember it pretty vividly,” said Offutt, who committed as a freshman at Landon before transferring to Gonzaga after his sophomore season. “It was pretty exciting.”
All four players are focused now on making the most of their senior seasons, and their college lives start just a few months later. “It’s amazing how fast it’s gone, but also how far it feels away,” Lyons said. “Coming in as a freshman and committing that early, people were excited about it and other people thought college recruiting was coming so early. Those people didn’t realize a lot of those guys that committed were playing up against juniors and seniors where a lot of these ACC coaches were watching us.” Reilly remembers it evolving quickly, from surprise initially when he heard college coaches were at his club game, to sitting in Virginia coach Dom Starsia’s office. Reilly’s grandparents live in Virginia, and in most pictures taken after fifth grade, Reilly is wearing Cavaliers legend Steele Stanwick’s shirt. Especially inviting was Starsia’s promise not to drop him if he got injured or had a bad game.
“If I didn’t take that spot, someone else would have taken it,” Reilly said. “But he said I could take as much time as I wanted. I was not rushed at all.” He’s not alone in finding his dream school. Virginia is a short drive for
Offutt. Lyons’ sister and father went to North Carolina (though his brothers went to Virginia). Smith always considered Hopkins his first choice. “We were comfortable, we were happy with the decision and we felt like we’d be up front and open with everybody about it,” Smith said. “After that it kind of faded away and I was able to just focus on Haverford.” The first four from the Class of 2016 committed having never played a high school game, and that drew attention – not all of it positive or welcoming. “There was mixed reactions,” Lyons said. “There were some older guys that hadn’t committed yet, so there was a jealousy factor.” Eighth-grader Brennan O’Neill of Bay Shore, N.Y., committed to Penn State on March 17. Smith can offer some advice to the 13-year-old. “Keep your head up,” Smith said. “There’s always going to be people that
support you and people that want to bash you and bash the whole process. He’s obviously a very talented kid and has a lot of potential, so do your thing and just try to get better every day. I’m sure that’s what the college is looking for from him — to try to get better and be the player you can be.” Committing early provides a target for opponents and teammates, but it gave the quartet of 2012 freshmen motivation when their practices began. “A lot of people say you don’t have to prove anything, but I think the opposite of that,” said Lyons, who recalled being nervous his first practice. “When you have something like a scholarship to UNC, it means something, and I think you need to go out and prove why you have it every day.” Coach John Nostrant had known Smith with clubs Mesa Fresh and Philadelphia Fever, but it didn’t change how he treated him. Smith had to work his way up to a starting role after not seeing varsity time as a freshman.
A Publication of US Lacrosse
How the Class of 2016 early birds panned out By Justin Feil
STARSIA
GALLAGHER
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