7th Verbal of the Class- Colin Wade out of Fla

[Caliknight]

Tape looks good. Another athlete who can get out and run.

Our overall athleticism is going to continue to be top shelf.

Commitment Analysis: What Rutgers is Getting in Colin Wade

(Photo Courtesy of Oxbridge High School Lacrosse) On Wednesday morning, Oxbridge (Fla.) defenseman announced his commitment to the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Wade is the seventh commitment in the 202…

lacrossebucket.com

 

[bigmatt718]

Both major spring sports...baseball and men's lax...love to light the scoreboard up. Makes up for football being a total dinosaur offensively.

 

[mdk01]

Looks good, but my nasty question is where are the Jersey recruits?

 

[asgot]

Looks good, but my nasty question is where are the Jersey recruits?

There are going to other schools

 

[rbled]

Lax is not a sport I’d worry about how many NJ recruits were getting. We’ll get our share but those that don’t want to come here, that’s fine. There is plenty of equal or better talent elsewhere that want to be here. Keep winning and kids that would have found every excuse to go elsewhere will be begging for a Rutgers offer. But there may not be any room at the inn because we will be recruiting nationally at that point. We are becoming a destination school.

 

[Caliknight]

Surprising we don’t have some yet but Brian loves having a geographically diverse roster.

 

[asgot]

I have heard the BB does not have a great relationship with the top HS coaches in the state. Summit, Ridgewood, Westfield, Lakes or many of the top privates. Getting kids from top privates outside of NJ is a great substitute.

 

[Caliknight]

NJ high school coaches across every sport seem like such prima donnas.

I’m not buying that though. I see kids from these schools going to play for coaches that aren’t great guys.

 

[asgot]

NJ high school coaches across every sport seem like such prima donnas.

I’m not buying that though. I see kids from these schools going to play for coaches that aren’t great guys.

They care more about their own rep then putting the kid in the beat spot for the kid. Happens in club ball alot as well.

 

[mdk01]

I have heard the BB does not have a great relationship with the top HS coaches in the state. Summit, Ridgewood, Westfield, Lakes or many of the top privates. Getting kids from top privates outside of NJ is a great substitute.

These days that would be Deerfield (Mass.), though it's by no means the only option. But they have a high PG contingent, which goes back to the HS coaches.

 

[mdk01]

I have heard the BB does not have a great relationship with the top HS coaches in the state. Summit, Ridgewood, Westfield, Lakes or many of the top privates. Getting kids from top privates outside of NJ is a great substitute.

Those schools have parents whose first look is privates. And the coaches know it. Ivies, Syracuse, Hopkins, Lehigh, Villanova, Georgetown.

 

[asgot]

These days that would be Deerfield (Mass.), though it's by no means the only option. But they have a high PG contingent, which goes back to the HS coaches.

There are plenty of other top privates that are not in NJ. Brunswick, Taft, Avon Old Farms among many others.

 

[mdk01]

There are plenty of other top privates that are not in NJ. Brunswick, Taft, Avon Old Farms among many others.

As I said, by no means the only option. I could add 7-8 to your list.

 

[Caliknight]

Baltimore and DC have 15 of them alone.

 

[jreinsdorf]

I could be wrong here but it SEEMS to me that RU lax has a similar dilemma as RU football when it comes to being a second or third option to in-state privates/parochials . The difference, I THINK, is that the lax program has positioned itself to appeal to a lager portion of the top HS talent located out of state. RU lax is a reputable name now in lax and the system is fun. Another tourney run in 22-23 would really cement the brand imo. The football program has not been able to become the same draw relative to its football peers.

 

[rufeelinit]

I could be wrong here but it SEEMS to me that RU lax has a similar dilemma as RU football when it comes to being a second or third option to in-state privates/parochials . The difference, I THINK, is that the lax program has positioned itself to appeal to a lager portion of the top HS talent located out of state. RU lax is a reputable name now in lax and the system is fun. Another tourney run in 22-23 would really cement the brand imo. The football program has not been able to become the same draw relative to its football peers.

I think a better comp is with our wrestling program where the in state privates and parochials definitely seem to target Ivy League and other highly regarded out of state private and public schools and view RU as a fall back. Can’t say I blame them. If you can leverage expertise in a sport that has minimal post graduate earnings capabilities into an Ivy League education that makes sense to me as a parent.

 

[Caliknight]

Just keep winning.

Maryland had this same issue for many years. They were never the choice of higher profile kids from the state.

That's changing now, but they were able to recruit with the best of them even when no big Maryland kids were going there.

The same thing in NJ is being done. We are bringing in good players from everywhere. We have a system and recruit to it. There will be Jersey kids in the class when all is said and done.

We've also been bringing in kids from NJ in the previous classes that were some of the best players in the state.

Brian is always going to have a geographically diverse roster. It's very much by design. It will never be all Jersey kids like they seem to aspire to in football.

 

[mdk01]

Just keep winning.

Maryland had this same issue for many years. They were never the choice of higher profile kids from the state.

That's changing now, but they were able to recruit with the best of them even when no big Maryland kids were going there.

The same thing in NJ is being done. We are bringing in good players from everywhere. We have a system and recruit to it. There will be Jersey kids in the class when all is said and done.

We've also been bringing in kids from NJ in the previous classes that were some of the best players in the state.

Brian is always going to have a geographically diverse roster. It's very much by design. It will never be all Jersey kids like they seem to aspire to in football.

Funny. Way back when, when that happened Buddy Beardmore went out and recruited Jersey kids to supplement the Maryland kids he did get. NJ didn't have the rep back then like Oregon and Utah don't now. It was the shock of the 1970 warm up to the North-South game when a group of New Jersey players assembled at the last minute (NY HS governing board nixed a Nassau County All Star team's eligibility) beat a Towson County All Star team that started to wake people up. On the field after the game Beardmore made scholarship offers and got kids from Montclair, Maplewood and Fair Lawn (which was a power back then).

 

[Caliknight]

Jersey used to be very underrated. That's obviously changed in the years since.

NJ has it all now. Great top end talent and depth, along with a thriving club scene.

If it used to be an emerging area, it's no longer considered that. It's arrived.

Keep an eye on Colin Kurdyla at BW this year. He's starting to get a lot of chatter behind the scenes. Not just the best middie in NJ. He's one of the best in the country.

He was a huge recruiting win. Could have quite literally gone anywhere.

 

[rufamily]

Jersey used to be very underrated. That's obviously changed in the years since.

NJ has it all now. Great top end talent and depth, along with a thriving club scene.

If it used to be an emerging area, it's no longer considered that. It's arrived.

Keep an eye on Colin Kurdyla at BW this year. He's starting to get a lot of chatter behind the scenes. Not just the best middie in NJ. He's one of the best in the country.

He was a huge recruiting win. Could have quite literally gone anywhere.

Colin is one of the best middies in the country. he has size and speed and shoots with both hands, he is BR's best ssdm, best wing player and best offensive player. I don't think there is a better player in NJ than him. Do not be surprised if he is a day-one starter at Rutgers

 

[gef21]

NJ high school coaches across every sport seem like such prima donnas.

I’m not buying that though. I see kids from these schools going to play for coaches that aren’t great guys.

I love him. We have not had a kid go to Rutgers in a while (many other D1 schools) but I am very happy with my relationship with Rutgers and lacrosse.

 

[gef21]

Colin is one of the best middies in the country. he has size and speed and shoots with both hands, he is BR's best ssdm, best wing player and best offensive player. I don't think there is a better player in NJ than him. Do not be surprised if he is a day-one starter at Rutgers

I can not wait to see him at Rutgers....for many reasons haha.

 

[asgot]

I love him. We have not had a kid go to Rutgers in a while (many other D1 schools) but I am very happy with my relationship with Rutgers and lacrosse.

Do you coach at a school that produces high level players. I think there is a big difference between Rutgers and a school like Manhattan or Wagner

 

[gef21]

Do you coach at a school that produces high level players. I think there is a big difference between Rutgers and a school like Manhattan or Wagner

Massive difference between the top 25 and the others. I have players going to all levels of D1, D2, and D3 schools from the school I coach at, and club.

 

[mdk01]

IL just released ratings on about 400 more '24s. All the Mass. players listed as 3 stars.

 

[DowntownT_Brown]

Do you have a sense to what the recruit ratings were for our '22 team? I would guess we built our FF team on 3 star kids but I haven't put much stock in lax ratings so have not paid attention.

 

[mdk01]

Do you have a sense to what the recruit ratings were for our '22 team? I would guess we built our FF team on 3 star kids but I haven't put much stock in lax ratings so have not paid attention.

IL has 3 4 stars in the '22 class.

A few things you have to be careful about with lacrosse rankings. Outside of the Northeast Corridor there isn't a whole lot of analysis. And that goes double for a kid who doesn't play for a club. And IMHO while Baltimore and LI clearly produce the most talent, I think there is also a tendency to overate based on reputation.

 

[Caliknight]

Lacrosse recruiting ranking are almost meaningless. There are a couple of can't miss kids every class.

Neither Ross Scott nor Shane Knobloch were listed in the top 100 in their class. The examples are endless.

That said, our recruit rankings have been steadily climbing. Our classes were often listed in the low 20's. Classes that went to the FF.

Brian and staff can evaluate talent 100x better than the guy who works for IL.

I think the increased visibility of our classes is due to the success on the field. They simply couldn't continue to unrank our kids. It was making them look like morons.

 

[mdk01]

Lacrosse recruiting ranking are almost meaningless. There are a couple of can't miss kids every class.

Neither Ross Scott nor Shane Knobloch were listed in the top 100 in their class. The examples are endless.

That said, our recruit rankings have been steadily climbing. Our classes were often listed in the low 20's. Classes that went to the FF.

Brian and staff can evaluate talent 100x better than the guy who works for IL.

I think the increased visibility of our classes is due to the success on the field. They simply couldn't continue to unrank our kids. It was making them look like morons.

Scott is a classic case of who IL misses. Oregon is anything but a hot bed and he's not a Bartolo sized player. Can't say that about Knobloch. Perhaps a miss because he didn't go ACC.

 

[Caliknight]

Ross lit up the camp circuit on the east coast. . He was seen. They just don’t know what they are looking at.

 

[jreinsdorf]

Rankings are interesting but I'd like to learn more about scouting from a programs perspective. How would you guys say the scouting of HS players takes place with respects to:

Junior year most important?

Do you feel the majority of scouting takes place at the AA level tournaments and above even for D2 and D3 programs? Or does an A level tournament provide any visibility to D2/3?

 

[rufamily]

Rankings are interesting but I'd like to learn more about scouting from a programs perspective. How would you guys say the scouting of HS players takes place with respects to:

Junior year most important?

Do you feel the majority of scouting takes place at the AA level tournaments and above even for D2 and D3 programs? Or does an A level tournament provide any visibility to D2/3?

Top teams are looking at kids in their freshman and soph. years and if their program is good they are reaching out to make sure that coaches have eyes on them early.

recruiting takes place at every tournament, and with so many players out there, there will be plenty of misses. The player has to advocate for themselves by contacting coaches at schools he is interested in, telling them his schedule of events, and maybe going to a prospect day at a school he is interested in, (not too many of these). We had a rule about prospect events, that my son would not attend an event unless he was invited to them by the staff. I am not sure that this still happens.

He should talk to his HS school and/or club coach about contacting coaches and a realistic list of schools.

sign up and try out for UnderArmor, the event has fallen off but coaches still go to the tryouts.

make the UA or Nike teams in your area.

 

[jreinsdorf]

Top teams are looking at kids in their freshman and soph. years and if their program is good they are reaching out to make sure that coaches have eyes on them early.

recruiting takes place at every tournament, and with so many players out there, there will be plenty of misses. The player has to advocate for themselves by contacting coaches at schools he is interested in, telling them his schedule of events, and maybe going to a prospect day at a school he is interested in, (not too many of these). We had a rule about prospect events, that my son would not attend an event unless he was invited to them by the staff. I am not sure that this still happens.

He should talk to his HS school and/or club coach about contacting coaches and a realistic list of schools.

sign up and try out for UnderArmor, the event has fallen off but coaches still go to the tryouts.

make the UA or Nike teams in your area.

This is in line with what i have been hearing and what I suspected. Your point about how many players are out there is spot on. We were just at Mercer County park for a fall ball tournament and it's just crazy how many kids are at these and its even crazier how many have similar skillsets after the very select few who "pop."

 

[Caliknight]

It really forces staffs to trust their strategy and process. With so many kids, it can be tough. I've heard Brian say many x that he wants the best fits, not the first fits.

We seem to have a little different strategy around recruiting. The staff isn't too quick to jump on kids right out of the gates. They want to really see them prove it.

I think we lose some kids because of it and sometimes we don't get kids as fast as our peers, but at the end of the day, we seem to get more hits than we do misses.

 

[jreinsdorf]

Ive been following football recruiting for so long on two sites I feel like I could comfortably guide a teenager through the entire process and wind up with the proper fit...which to me ....is what it should be about. For lax, I know much less about the process. My son is 14 and whether he winds up at Brookdale Community College or a D2 school isn't something I worry about but it's nice to have some knowledge of the process.

 

[rufamily]

Ive been following football recruiting for so long on two sites I feel like I could comfortably guide a teenager through the entire process and wind up with the proper fit...which to me ....is what it should be about. For lax, I know much less about the process. My son is 14 and whether he winds up at Brookdale Community College or a D2 school isn't something I worry about but it's nice to have some knowledge of the process.

If I could give you one piece of advice, it would be to have your son take AP classes, if he has a particular subject that he likes he should try and take those classes. They help in boosting his GPA and will allow him to be more competitive with other athletes.

So many people fail to realize that many of these schools still have academic standards that the students have to meet. If he is already in Honors level courses that is great but be selective about the APs he takes, i.e. if he likes math but not history, I would have him take a math AP.

Maybe one a year (my son took 1, and my daughter took 5 junior and 4 senior years.) he does not have to take the test to take the class. It is a full-letter grade boost and helps students maintain a higher GPA

 

[mdk01]

If I could give you one piece of advice, it would be to have your son take AP classes, if he has a particular subject that he likes he should try and take those classes. They help in boosting his GPA and will allow him to be more competitive with other athletes.

So many people fail to realize that many of these schools still have academic standards that the students have to meet. If he is already in Honors level courses that is great but be selective about the APs he takes, i.e. if he likes math but not history, I would have him take a math AP.

Maybe one a year (my son took 1, and my daughter took 5 junior and 4 senior years.) he does not have to take the test to take the class. It is a full-letter grade boost and helps students maintain a higher GPA

One minor addition. Check and see what the various school's policies are about giving college credits for AP exams. Used to be routine for them to accept them if you got a 4 or 5, but I believe it is less common today. I was on the quarter system rather than semester and actually skipped a quarter because of that with the resultant cost savings.

 

[rufamily]

One minor addition. Check and see what the various school's policies are about giving college credits for AP exams. Used to be routine for them to accept them if you got a 4 or 5, but I believe it is less common today. I was on the quarter system rather than semester and actually skipped a quarter because of that with the resultant cost savings.

I would argue against taking the test unless they are really good in the subject area. any student would need a 5 to have a reasonable chance for most colleges to accept the score few high academic schools take anything below a 4 and some require 5's if it is in their major field. the grade is the key as is the fact that they took the AP class. I know a current 2023 that was not admitted to a school with a near 4.0 but because he did not take any AP classes. I academic part of this is very competitive and any advantage you can get is helpful.

 

[jreinsdorf]

If I could give you one piece of advice, it would be to have your son take AP classes, if he has a particular subject that he likes he should try and take those classes. They help in boosting his GPA and will allow him to be more competitive with other athletes.

So many people fail to realize that many of these schools still have academic standards that the students have to meet. If he is already in Honors level courses that is great but be selective about the APs he takes, i.e. if he likes math but not history, I would have him take a math AP.

Maybe one a year (my son took 1, and my daughter took 5 junior and 4 senior years.) he does not have to take the test to take the class. It is a full-letter grade boost and helps students maintain a higher GPA

Yeah he is in all Honors classes across the board as a freshman so we will see in a year or so which AP courses will be options.

 

[mdk01]

I would argue against taking the test unless they are really good in the subject area. any student would need a 5 to have a reasonable chance for most colleges to accept the score few high academic schools take anything below a 4 and some require 5's if it is in their major field. the grade is the key as is the fact that they took the AP class. I know a current 2023 that was not admitted to a school with a near 4.0 but because he did not take any AP classes. I academic part of this is very competitive and any advantage you can get is helpful.

Do they still give the tests in the spring after acceptance letters are set out? I can't see a 3 jeopardizing someone's admission. If they get a 1 or a 2 my guess would be their grade in the course would also be problematic. I just remember my Dad's "Jesus Christ $50 per exam!" followed 3 1/2 later when I landed a spot working Building and Grounds for the fall quarter my saying "Yo Dad, remember those $50 tests?"