On Feb. 9, 2007, an improvised explosive device detonated near Regan’s vehicle while he was on patrol in northern Iraq. News of his death reached the Duke lacrosse team just as it was picking up the pieces from the false rape allegations that capsized the program and drew white-hot national media attention the previous spring. While most players wouldn’t be blamed for recoiling after hearing about the death of someone who once wore their colors, Carroll’s reaction was different. He wanted to wear Regan’s uniform. “It was probably within moments of hearing about Jimmy getting killed, that I said ‘This is it,’” Carroll said. “As far as we saw, he was the toughest guy in the world. He’s a guy that we all looked up to, whether guys knew of him personally or just knew of his story. I felt that that would be a really great way to honor his memory, and do my military service. I set out to try to follow in his footsteps.” Carroll’s, whose 2006 season ended with a knee injury a month before the rape scandal started, and teammates spent
52 LACROSSE MAGAZINE April 2014>>
that spring on a campus inundated with strangers looking to pounce and dispense opinion on any shred of new information. It was infuriating.
The coach that recruited Carroll, Mike Pressler, was fired. The allegations against David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann turned out to be unfounded.
But the stigma and stereotypes about college lacrosse players, especially at Duke, stuck.
Little did people know Carroll, now a wiry 6-foot, 182-pound man, did not fit into their broad brushstrokes. A former athlete of the year Baldwin (N.Y.) High — where he also played quarterback and often matched up in lacrosse against current Blue Devils assistant Matt Danowski of Farmingdale High — Carroll rehabbed and played in all 20 games of the 2007 season. Duke fashioned a nearly perfect comeback story, losing by a goal to Johns Hopkins in the NCAA final, for the second time in three years. Carroll was a first-team All- American defenseman. He had another year of eligibility, but Carroll made
up his mind: He would no longer be a Blue Devil. He would become a Ranger. Carroll never personally knew Regan, whose framed No. 10 jersey now hangs outside the Duke locker room. But prior to his senior season, Carroll got Regan’s contact information from then-assistant coach Kevin Cassese. Carroll intended to speak to Regan about the Rangers, but Regan left the country for his fourth deployment before they could talk.
CARROLL SOON FOUND OUT HOW HARD IT WAS TO BECOME A RANGER. First there was basic training. Then Airborne School, basic paratrooper training at Fort Benning, Ga., followed by a four- week program then called the Ranger Indoctrination Program. (It’s now the Ranger Assessment and Selection Program and lasts eight weeks).
The process is crafted to weed out those who are not capable of sustaining the rigors of Ranger duty. Often in stifling heat and humidity, trainees are pushed to physical and mental limits. According to various public
Carroll (above, left) followed the path of the late Jimmy Regan and became an U.S. Army Ranger.
accounts, there’s a combat water test, ruck marches up to 12 miles and things called smoke sessions in which privates are told to do pushups and flutter kicks indefinitely. You might have to hold a 45-pound rucksack over your head until your muscles fail. There’s “Cole Range,” a four-day experience of little sleep and mental exhaustion comparable to the Navy’s “Hell Week” for SEALs. If you pass all of the tests, you may have the choice to select which battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment you join. In Carroll’s case, friends of Regan still serving in the 3rd Battalion were proactive. They helped recruit Carroll to their group. He ended up in the identical battalion, company and platoon — a group of about 40 soldiers — in which Regan served. Carroll deployed to Iraq in
2008.
“It was a pretty special thing,” he said. “I kind of realized the moment I got there, ‘Holy crap, I might have bit off more than I can
A Publication of US Lacrosse
©COREY MCLAUGHLIN; ©DUKE
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