Fall 2014 NJ Boys Lacrosse Commitments

[Mr_Twister]

Link with list of Fall signing day 2014 NJ boys lacrosse commitments. These to Rutgers:


Jack Ayre, Watchung Hills Adam Graham, Clearview Paul Rasimowicz, Immaculata

Fall 2014 NJ Boys Lacrosse Commitments

 

[RUMountie]

I like Coach Brecht's recruiting strategy of going outside the region to get excellent student-athletes.
But in looking the signing list on NJ.com there were several players from the elite Private school programs
like Delbarton who are going to Duke, Syracuse, etc.

Will we ever get kids from Delbarton and schools like that?

It seems kids from those types of schools come from families
that don't see Rutgers as worthy of their resources, but maybe that could change if we start to win consistently?

With lax expanding so quickly maybe recruiting these elite prep schools will become less important?

 

[Caliknight]

Once we start winning big, those kids will want to be part of it. No question that with the expansion of lacrosse, especially to emerging areas, those schools are becoming less and less important to grab kids from.

We have been doing very well with kids from some of these areas, and will continue to do so. There are a number of verbals both from NJ outside of, that are going to help get us where we want to be. That is happening with or without the Delbarton kids.

 

[rufamily]

You missed Ryan Cunningham from Watchung Hills as well big athletic Middie who is also the running back on their football team

 

[e5fdny]

Originally posted by Caliknight:


Once we start winning big, those kids will want to be part of it. * No question that with the expansion of lacrosse, especially to emerging areas, those schools are becoming less and less important to grab kids from.

We have been doing very well with kids from some of these areas, and will continue to do so. There are a number of verbals both from NJ outside of, that are going to help get us where we want to be. That is happening with or without the Delbarton kids.

* No doubt.

And +1 on the winning thing. As Cali has pointed out in the past, BB coaches the game the way the kids today want to play it.

When we start to win, and we will, if kids from "those" schools want to be a part of it...cool. If not, we'll get somebody else.

 

[Caliknight]

Originally posted by rufamily:
You missed Ryan Cunningham from Watchung Hills as well big athletic Middie who is also the running back on their football team

I am sure you have seen a lot more of him than I could find online. What I did see reminds of those Uva type of athletic midfielders that is great in unsettled situations and gets to the hoop. Right in Brian's wheelhouse as to how he wants to play.

 

[e5fdny]

Originally posted by Caliknight:

Originally posted by rufamily:
You missed Ryan Cunningham from Watchung Hills as well big athletic Middie who is also the running back on their football team

I am sure you have seen a lot more of him than I could find online. What I did see reminds of those Uva type of athletic midfielders that is great in unsettled situations and gets to the hoop. Right in Brian's wheelhouse as to how he wants to play.

Would you say that is the S or smaller LB type equivalant?

I am seeing more of that in Monmouth County now. FB and hockey guys who might not have the played before are giving LAX a shot for their Spring sport..

 

[Caliknight]

Originally posted by e5fdny:

Originally posted by Caliknight:

Originally posted by rufamily:
You missed Ryan Cunningham from Watchung Hills as well big athletic Middie who is also the running back on their football team

I am sure you have seen a lot more of him than I could find online. What I did see reminds of those Uva type of athletic midfielders that is great in unsettled situations and gets to the hoop. Right in Brian's wheelhouse as to how he wants to play.

Would you say that is the S or smaller LB type equivalant?

I am seeing more of that in Monmouth County now. FB and hockey guys who might not have the played before are giving LAX a shot for their Spring sport..

Probably more of a safety type. Lax is great for football/hockey guys. They aren't afraid of contact and get the speed of the game.

I once heard Uva's coach say he had a team full of 1AA football players. If you watch them play, you get why. He has had some D1A guys who played football at Uva sprinkled in. We are getting there. Current number 3 on our roster was getting looks by some SEC schools. Heard he had an offer from one. Our team is getting bigger and faster, that is for sure.

 

[RUMountie]

Originally posted by Caliknight:

Originally posted by e5fdny:

Originally posted by Caliknight:

Originally posted by rufamily:
You missed Ryan Cunningham from Watchung Hills as well big athletic Middie who is also the running back on their football team

I am sure you have seen a lot more of him than I could find online. What I did see reminds of those Uva type of athletic midfielders that is great in unsettled situations and gets to the hoop. Right in Brian's wheelhouse as to how he wants to play.

Would you say that is the S or smaller LB type equivalant?

I am seeing more of that in Monmouth County now. FB and hockey guys who might not have the played before are giving LAX a shot for their Spring sport..

Probably more of a safety type. Lax is great for football/hockey guys. They aren't afraid of contact and get the speed of the game.

I once heard Uva's coach say he had a team full of 1AA football players. If you watch them play, you get why. He has had some D1A guys who played football at Uva sprinkled in. We are getting there. Current number 3 on our roster was getting looks by some SEC schools. Heard he had an offer from one. Our team is getting bigger and faster, that is for sure.

I have seen this evolution on the youth level here in Montclair where my son plays. He and all of his football buddies have been playing lacrosse for the last couple of seasons. They crushed teams from Chatham, Summit, Westfield and Glen Ridge because they are much more athletic and physical due to the football influence. Lacrosse and Football perfect together!

 

[e5fdny]

Originally posted by Caliknight:

Originally posted by e5fdny:

Originally posted by Caliknight:

Originally posted by rufamily:
You missed Ryan Cunningham from Watchung Hills as well big athletic Middie who is also the running back on their football team

I am sure you have seen a lot more of him than I could find online. What I did see reminds of those Uva type of athletic midfielders that is great in unsettled situations and gets to the hoop. Right in Brian's wheelhouse as to how he wants to play.

Would you say that is the S or smaller LB type equivalant?

I am seeing more of that in Monmouth County now. FB and hockey guys who might not have the played before are giving LAX a shot for their Spring sport..

Probably more of a safety type. Lax is great for football/hockey guys. They aren't afraid of contact and get the speed of the game.

I once heard Uva's coach say he had a team full of 1AA football players. If you watch them play, you get why. He has had some D1A guys who played football at Uva sprinkled in. We are getting there. Current number 3 on our roster was getting looks by some SEC schools. Heard he had an offer from one. Our team is getting bigger and faster, that is for sure.

I remember that comment too, which is why I asked for the example when you mentioned UVA.

Saw some t-shirts at a tourney last year...

Lacrosse...football with a weapon

Lacrosse...football weaponized

 

[Caliknight]

Originally posted by RUMountie:

Originally posted by Caliknight:

Originally posted by e5fdny:

Originally posted by Caliknight:

Originally posted by rufamily:
You missed Ryan Cunningham from Watchung Hills as well big athletic Middie who is also the running back on their football team

I am sure you have seen a lot more of him than I could find online. What I did see reminds of those Uva type of athletic midfielders that is great in unsettled situations and gets to the hoop. Right in Brian's wheelhouse as to how he wants to play.

Would you say that is the S or smaller LB type equivalant?

I am seeing more of that in Monmouth County now. FB and hockey guys who might not have the played before are giving LAX a shot for their Spring sport..

Probably more of a safety type. Lax is great for football/hockey guys. They aren't afraid of contact and get the speed of the game.

I once heard Uva's coach say he had a team full of 1AA football players. If you watch them play, you get why. He has had some D1A guys who played football at Uva sprinkled in. We are getting there. Current number 3 on our roster was getting looks by some SEC schools. Heard he had an offer from one. Our team is getting bigger and faster, that is for sure.

I have seen this evolution on the youth level here in Montclair where my son plays. He and all of his football buddies have been playing lacrosse for the last couple of seasons. They crushed teams from Chatham, Summit, Westfield and Glen Ridge because they are much more athletic and physical due to the football influence. Lacrosse and Football perfect together!

If you are a skill player, especially. Though it helps with every position. Given the quick start and stop nature of lacrosse in terms of cutting and and dodging, it really helps with fitness and quickness. I am all for kids playing multiple sports. Hockey seems to produce really good attackmen. Being around the cage, they seem to be extra crafty having the added ability to hold on to the ball. I wish they would change the stupid no dive rule in college. It is much more exciting that way.

 

[rufamily]

Sorry for missing to conversation last night, (20th wedding anny) Ryan would probably be a LB at our school but he is much more of a safety type player. He loves to play down hill. He played most of the year last year either at Middie our on the left side as an attack man, most because they did not have a good lefty option. What that did was make him very comfortable with his left hand. If you get a chance to watch his highlight video there is one goal where the defender from HCHS has his left hand tide up and he still gets the shot off and scores. He is very strong and faster than people think. The best part about this kid is that he is a GREAT person from an awesome family. He will be a great representative of our school and exactly the type of hard working kid that will get us back to where we want to be.

 

[Caliknight]

20 years...congrats!!

 

[DowntownT_Brown]

When I played back in the era of middies playing both offense and defense, lacrosse attracted soccer players. I would say my high school team was comprised primarily of kids playing both lax/soccer and then kids who only played lacrosse and then sprinkled in some lax/football guys. No crossovers from tennis, swimming, hockey, basketball, etc.

Times have changed.

 

[Skull83]

The football - lacrosse connection is not new by any means, witness RU's own Albert Ray in the early 80's and, going back even further, the great Jim Brown at Syracuse in the 50's.

 

[rudad02]

In my day collegiate days of the early 60's, the lax/football connection was very common. We played Brown & Syracuse in the mid to late 50's. From what I was told, it wasn't pretty[for us].

 

[Caliknight]

Saw Jim Brown hitting golf balls in Sherman Oaks a month or so ago. He is broken down. Had to use a ball grabber to put the ball on the carpet. Hit the same shot every time. Zero flexibility, but could get the head on the ball every time.

Talked to him a bit, and through the years I had always heard that he loved lax more than football. I asked him if he would have played pro lacrosse before pro football, all things being equal. His respose was, "yes, I probably would have".

 

[Skull83]

Cali, that's pretty amazing when you consider that some consider him to be the greatest football player of all time.

 

[Caliknight]

As good as he was in football, legend has it he may have been better in lacrosse.

For a guy his size, speed, and power, you have to think playing lacrosse was a lot of fun for him. Bottom line, it is a great game, especially when played with tempo. I hope college lacrosse gets back to the 90's style.

 

[e5fdny]

Originally posted by Caliknight:


As good as he was in football, legend has it he may have been better in lacrosse.

For a guy his size, speed, and power, you have to think playing lacrosse was a lot of fun for him. Bottom line, it is a great game, especially when played with tempo. I hope college lacrosse gets back to the 90's style.

From reading from what some other legends of the game have said about his play, I believe it.

 

[rufamily]

I met Jim Brown a couple of years ago in DC. I brought my son and introduced him as the greatest lacrosse player in college history. He asked my son if he played football and he said "no he played lacrosse." Mr. Brown smiled and said that some of his favorite memories were from playing lacrosse. He was a very gracious man. Cali- Thanks, it crazy to think that anyone would stay around me for 20 years. Just as an update I have seen the kid from Lata play a lot. he is good and with the addition of the freshman FO kid and he has another one in the hopper, they will be good at the face-off X. I saw Rasimowicz lose about 2 face-off's this past summer while playing on not a great club team.

 

[mikefla]

when I was a kid I saw Jim Brown play in the Cuse spring football pre season game and he was MVP...then change into his lax uniform and dominate some sort of lax game/scrimmage...........

he had unlimited energy back then

 

[rufamily]

Just another update 2017 Mid Nick Attanasio commits to Rutgers. Nick is a BR kid so his ties to RU run deep. He is a very talented and fast two middie. Routers beat out some very good teams for him including Cuse. I believe that this a BB first recruit of the 2017 class and if that is true it is a very good way to start.

 

[e5fdny]

Originally posted by rufamily:
Just another update 2017 Mid Nick Attanasio commits to Rutgers. Nick is a BR kid so his ties to RU run deep. He is a very talented and fast two middie. Rutgers beat out some very good teams for him including Cuse. I believe that this a BB first recruit of the 2017 class and if that is true it is a very good way to start.

Niiice!

First time I was exposed to the Bridgewater program I was amazed how many teams they had at the rec level.

Maybe it's not this big but seemed they had an A thru D team for each grade.

(and I mentioned this before, my guy as an 8th grader scored the only goal for his team last year in a tournament against one of those A teams - so let a dad's pride show a little

)

 

[rufamily]

BR has some other really good kids that RU is looking at coming up, but, Rutgers has several coaches now in the state that are HC including, BR, Watchung, North, Madison and a few in South Jersey. BB works really hard to make connections with the player and the coaches.

 

[Caliknight]

That is great news. We won't get every kid, but hopefully we get to the point where we are cherry picking the best of NJ, with filling in gaps from other areas. Unlike football, Coach Brecht will never try to implement an exclusive NJ roster. He really sees the benefit of melting different types of skill sets together, which different regions are really starting to produce.

Also like that he is recruiting kids who have excelled at other sports. Always saw that being good at sports like football, basketball and hockey translate very well to the lacrosse field. Most of the kids we have coming or are on the roster already fit this mold. Simply put, they are athletes, and athletes can excel in lacrosse.

Going to be an interesting time on The Banks. Not sure if this is the year it comes together or not, but you have to be excited with what is being built. Good timing too, because we are swimming in the adult pool now.

Still need to work on a few structural things, in order:

1) Full out of state tuition scholarship allotment (I know this is priority number 1 and is being addressed)
2) Coaching positions added, specifically a Video Coordinator and a Director of Operations. Both full time
3) Facilities. Lacrosse needs its own space, including stadium, weightroom, lockerroom, etc.

 

[RU23]

Ayy another Bridgewater kid to RU. Love it! I don't think we'll get anyone from BR for 2015 (a bit of a down year with only 3 D1 kids committed to UPenn, Army and Monmouth), but the 2016 and 2017 classes at BR are absolutely loaded. One 2016 kid is already committed to Marquette and he might not even be a top 5 player in his grade. 2017 will be very good as well, with the headliner being Attanasio who I believe was the only freshman that played varsity for the Panthers. Gotta keep the pipeline going!

I didn't find any lacrosse highlights of Attanasio, but I found this pretty impressive freshman football highlight video. I know it's just freshman football, but the kid plays like Manziel did in his college days. Lightning quick.

Nick Attanasio

 

[rufamily]

The defender committed to Marquette may be the best guy at his position in the state, (really wanted him at RU) and he is certainly the best or second best kid in that grade at his school and may be in the top 2-3 on that team. I think the attack man is better but that about it. Nick is not the first to play as a freshman Alex Eaton played his entire freshman year. BJ Grill played as a freshman. Saying that Nick is a special player and will be great this year and for Rutgers.

 

[RU23]

Yeah it was definitely an exaggeration to say he's not top 5 in his grade, but three sophomore attacks put up double-digit goals for them last year and all three are absolute studs.

 

[rufamily]

What three? they have 2 good attack men and 2 very good middie but, not three attackmen. Maybe you meant 3 offensive players.

 

[RU23]

Kaden, Christensen, and Kolen are all attacks I believe, no?

 

[rufamily]

Nope Christensen is a middie but, they are all good you do have that right, look out for Eckert he is developing very quickly and I think will push for time.

 

[RU23]

Ah, my bad. And yeah, Eckert is another 2016 kid that started getting some solid playing time toward the end of last year. They should be very good this year.

 

[Caliknight]

How is RU looking for some of these other BR kids? Would be nice to continue the strong pipeline.

 

[RU23]

Originally posted by Caliknight:
How is RU looking for some of these other BR kids? Would be nice to continue the strong pipeline.

I'm sure rufamily knows way more than I do, but Grill is following his older brother to Marquette, and Kaden has an older brother that currently plays at Bryant so he might be thinking of doing the same. Christensen I heard visited Ohio St. and I believe UNC so he might be looking to get away. Attanasio is their best player for 2017 so with him committed so early hopefully he can influence some others to join him at RU.

 

[rufamily]

Sorry have been away. Missing on Nick Grill was big we were right their with his brother at Marquette and Amplo looking like he will stay long term he went that way. The other kids are good but, may not be on RU's radar right now, there are a couple of reasons for this none of which I will go into suffice to say that BB knows about all of them and is keeping an eye on them.