Lax 2016 Recruiting Class

[RU23]

Here's the class that insidelacrosse provides:

Brodie Gillespie, A/M, Culver Academy (Ind.)
Cameron Thompson, A, Benjamin School (Fla.)
Robert Marron, M, North Hunterdon (N.J.)
Patrick Marks, M, Trinity-Pawling School (N.Y.)
J.J. McKenna, Barnegat Township (N.J.)
Mark Schachte, A, Cardinal Gibbons (N.C.)
Matt Chase, M, Centennial (Ga.)
Kevin Barry, M, Cardinal Gibbons (N.C.)
Liam Donnelly, G, Yorktown (N.Y.)
Brendan Moreau, D, St. Joseph (N.J.)
Jevon Dunmore, LSM, Bergen Catholic (N.J.)

Would anyone in the know like to give their evaluation of the class? Any immediate impact players? I realize that the sport of lacrosse is growing rapidly and it's nice to see us recruiting nationally, but I was disappointed that of the 85 players MSGVarsity had on it's All-Metro first team, second team, and honorable mention list, just one (the goalie from Yorktown) was committed to Rutgers.

In addition only four players from NJ is surprising, with Dunmore being the only one who played on a top 20 team this year. Meanwhile the only two NY players we got were from Yorktown and Trinity-Pawling, neither of which were top 10 Long Island teams.

I'm almost certainly nitpicking and I'm interested to see how the experts feel, but I simply would've liked to see some better players from better programs in this class.

 

[zappaa]

You don't even need to ask the question, you won't compete at a high level with this class

 

[rufamily]

You are missing
Rob Sanguenetti (sp) Att from Robbinsville and Jack Thompson D from Madison (1st Team all state, 1st all Morris county).
Zappaa - I think you are wrong because they do not that many hole to fill. Bieda is a big hole but they feel that they have people already in place that can spot. At the midfield I believe that they bring their top 6 back as well as all four DM's Zikora is a loss at pole but they used Pless already and I believe that Dunmore and or Thompson will get an early look there. At defense they lose Branford rogers and that is it and Thompson could push for PT there. In the goal they lose Kris but Max was the starter until he got hurt and he is back.

The goalie is supposed to be super, Marron is a crazy athletic kid who you may see as a DM next year. Sanguentti is a big lefty who plays attack but, is athletic enough to slide to middie as well.
McKenna is a face-off kid who can handle and shoot.
Gillespie, Schachte, and Barry are supposed to be very good offensive players as both Culver academy and Cardinal Gibbons are very high profile programs.

 

[RU23]

You are missing
Rob Sanguenetti (sp) Att from Robbinsville and Jack Thompson D from Madison (1st Team all state, 1st all Morris county).
Zappaa - I think you are wrong because they do not that many hole to fill. Bieda is a big hole but they feel that they have people already in place that can spot. At the midfield I believe that they bring their top 6 back as well as all four DM's Zikora is a loss at pole but they used Pless already and I believe that Dunmore and or Thompson will get an early look there. At defense they lose Branford rogers and that is it and Thompson could push for PT there. In the goal they lose Kris but Max was the starter until he got hurt and he is back.

The goalie is supposed to be super, Marron is a crazy athletic kid who you may see as a DM next year. Sanguentti is a big lefty who plays attack but, is athletic enough to slide to middie as well.
McKenna is a face-off kid who can handle and shoot.
Gillespie, Schachte, and Barry are supposed to be very good offensive players as both Culver academy and Cardinal Gibbons are very high profile programs.

Appreciate the analysis, wonder if the goalie comes in and starts day 1.

 

[rufamily]

Max is very good and was the starter until he got hurt, I think BB found what works for him. Fast athletic tough grinder sort of kids who are flexible enough to play multiple positions

 

[zappaa]

Admi

You are missing
Rob Sanguenetti (sp) Att from Robbinsville and Jack Thompson D from Madison (1st Team all state, 1st all Morris county).
Zappaa - I think you are wrong because they do not that many hole to fill. Bieda is a big hole but they feel that they have people already in place that can spot. At the midfield I believe that they bring their top 6 back as well as all four DM's Zikora is a loss at pole but they used Pless already and I believe that Dunmore and or Thompson will get an early look there. At defense they lose Branford rogers and that is it and Thompson could push for PT there. In the goal they lose Kris but Max was the starter until he got hurt and he is back.

The goalie is supposed to be super, Marron is a crazy athletic kid who you may see as a DM next year. Sanguentti is a big lefty who plays attack but, is athletic enough to slide to middie as well.
McKenna is a face-off kid who can handle and shoot.
Gillespie, Schachte, and Barry are supposed to be very good offensive players as both Culver academy and Cardinal Gibbons are very high profile programs.

Considering my knowledge of Lax, it was an admittedly uninformed statement.
My bad!!

 

[80RU]

Admi

Considering my knowledge of Lax, it was an admittedly uninformed statement.
My bad!!

So how about making up for your "bad" by giving the readers of the board some analysis on where the baseball program is going, including the incoming class.

 

[gef21]

You are missing
Rob Sanguenetti (sp) Att from Robbinsville and Jack Thompson D from Madison (1st Team all state, 1st all Morris county).
Zappaa - I think you are wrong because they do not that many hole to fill. Bieda is a big hole but they feel that they have people already in place that can spot. At the midfield I believe that they bring their top 6 back as well as all four DM's Zikora is a loss at pole but they used Pless already and I believe that Dunmore and or Thompson will get an early look there. At defense they lose Branford rogers and that is it and Thompson could push for PT there. In the goal they lose Kris but Max was the starter until he got hurt and he is back.

The goalie is supposed to be super, Marron is a crazy athletic kid who you may see as a DM next year. Sanguentti is a big lefty who plays attack but, is athletic enough to slide to middie as well.
McKenna is a face-off kid who can handle and shoot.
Gillespie, Schachte, and Barry are supposed to be very good offensive players as both Culver academy and Cardinal Gibbons are very high profile programs.

mike sanguinetti, He is legit,. Player of the year for his area and conference. I coached against him this year. He is going to reclassify as a senior and prep for a year though before coming to Rutgers.

 

[rufamily]

No worries, It would be like me commenting on baseball. I just hope I am right.

 

[rufamily]

Where is he Prepping gef? We played him last year in the playoffs and I saw him this year against NP good player. Coming in with the 17 class he is coming with Anastasio from BR and Dougherty from KN very athletic start.

 

[RUMountie]

Admi

Considering my knowledge of Lax, it was an admittedly uninformed statement.
My bad!!

We are talking about the RU Lax program coach by Brecht and his staff?
The program that was ranked 16 at the end of the season?
The program that beat a 10th ranked Johns Hopkins teams twice this season (home and away and they hadn't beat JH in almost 30 years)?
The program that made it to the B1G Finals?
I think Coach Brecht knows what he is doing and who to recruit. Newsflash RU Men's lax suffers from the same
malady that Football and Basketball experience which is almost all of the top NJ players think they are too good
for Rutgers and prefer to go elsewhere. Despite that Coach Brecht has built the program into a legit top 20
program in part by getting many very talented players from everywhere else but NJ (and some NJ guys) who fit his system.
Also his team's style of lacrosse is exactly what many of the football posters have called for the football team to employ
(run and gun great use of space and tempo) including you Zappa so you should be happy with the current and future efforts/results of RU Lax.
I am gonna let Jevon Dunmore know there are some folks who question him and his fellow recruits abilities and I am sure
some players from RU's opponents will pay for it in the near future.

 

[Caliknight]

I can tell you the staff is very high on this class. As well as next years.

There isn't a sport out there more cloudy as it relates to player rankings than lacrosse. The game has exploded, and the amount of scouting that gets done by these services isn't nearly keeping pace. Outside of the very top of the rankings list, the best measurement is who else recruited these kids, which even then has kids fall through the cracks on a regular basis. Almost all of the kids in the class were recruited by peer schools at the moment, like Villanova, Umass, etc. There are a few kids in this class and next who were recruited by Syracuse and Maryland. Also not listed is an attackman who flipped from Furman, I think from Georgia. Clearly a steal who will contribute, early from I saw.

I have watched video on all of these kids. They fit in with what is already in the program. Fast, athletic kids who can all run. And the proof is on the field. Look at Hopkins. The have a roster filled with kids who were ranked in the top 5, including the number 1 class two years ago. They were missing a couple of athletic middies, but did anyone watch those games thinking we were undermanned from a talent or athletic perspective? Tells you how far these rankings have to go to be more accurate.

It will be interesting to see if we land any transfers. Gotta think our style and exposure will have some interested kids.

 

[zappaa]

We are talking about the RU Lax program coach by Brecht and his staff?
The program that was ranked 16 at the end of the season?
The program that beat a 10th ranked Johns Hopkins teams twice this season (home and away and they hadn't beat JH in almost 30 years)?
The program that made it to the B1G Finals?
I think Coach Brecht knows what he is doing and who to recruit. Newsflash RU Men's lax suffers from the same
malady that Football and Basketball experience which is almost all of the top NJ players think they are too good
for Rutgers and prefer to go elsewhere. Despite that Coach Brecht has built the program into a legit top 20
program in part by getting many very talented players from everywhere else but NJ (and some NJ guys) who fit his system.
Also his team's style of lacrosse is exactly what many of the football posters have called for the football team to employ
(run and gun great use of space and tempo) including you Zappa so you should be happy with the current and future efforts/results of RU Lax.
I am gonna let Jevon Dunmore know there are some folks who question him and his fellow recruits abilities and I am sure
some players from RU's opponents will pay for it in the near future.

I agree, and agree more so after reading from people who know the game....I'll say it again, my bad.

 

[zappaa]

So how about making up for your "bad" by giving the readers of the board some analysis on where the baseball program is going, including the incoming class.

We will always field a representive team of position players, NJ breeds good athletes.
However we have to develop pitching unless we get lucky. Having the luxury of an incoming class with two or three pitchers throwing over 90 every year in high school is one we don't have.

 

[rufamily]

Cali is right if you worry about ranking you need to stop the best player in NJ as ranked by the coaches, the star ledger and the CN in Nick Grill from BR and he is going to Marquette. If you look at IL they have Kevin qugley as the top rated kid in NJ and he was not even the Midfielder of the year in NJ it was Matt Stagnitta (yes, his son). The attack man of the Year is going to Gettysburg so rankings are stupid and based on people who no nothing about lacrosse in NJ. Most of them are based in Maryland and look at who the kid was recruited by and have never seen the kids play live in person. This team is solid and balanced and I think that Dunmore and Thompson bot have a chance to play early. It is going to be harder for the offensive guys as we have so much returning.

 

[Mr_Twister]

We will always field a representive team of position players, NJ breeds good athletes.
However we have to develop pitching unless we get lucky. Having the luxury of an incoming class with two or three pitchers throwing over 90 every year in high school is one we don't have.

Items that need to change:

• An inbred Rutgers-only coaching staff
• Recruiting the local area, only
• Little or no use of JUCO players
• Players/coaches not competing/participating in Cape Cod Baseball League

 

[RU23]

Items that need to change:

• An inbred Rutgers-only coaching staff
• Recruiting the local area, only
• Little or no use of JUCO players
• Players/coaches not competing/participating in Cape Cod Baseball League

Wow, just looked at the roster. We have 3 guys on the entire roster not from New Jersey (out of 37). 2 are from PA (one is from Lansdale which is less than an hour and a half from campus) and one from Florida (Jawuan Harris who is primarily here for football). That is staggering. We complain about not keeping NJ kids home in other sports, but this is kind of going overboard.

 

[Caliknight]

We landed a couple of late additions to the class, including Keiran Mullins, a stud from Long Island who was slated to go to Army after a prep year. Family is right, going to be tough for some of these young guns to make it on the field super early with all that we have coming back. Sign of a program going places. Most successful programs don't rely on freshman coming in.

Even so, there is some talent on the way. One area if I was a midfield athlete I would look to make an impact is on the rope unit. With the freedom and offensive allowance given to those guys on our team, it would be a fun position to play.

 

[rufamily]

The kids Mullins sounds like a great pickup for us I know that BB is working on another late addition, who would also be a really good late pickup

 

[gef21]

Where is he Prepping gef? We played him last year in the playoffs and I saw him this year against NP good player. Coming in with the 17 class he is coming with Anastasio from BR and Dougherty from KN very athletic start.

The school he is going to is escaping me but he was told they would only accept him as a 2018 kid. He is a stud and a year at the elite prep level will really help him elevate his game. Really nice kid too.

 

[JeepGuy999]

......I know that BB is working on another late addition, who would also be a really good late pickup

I know of one kid he's working as well, wonder if it's the same?

 

[rufamily]

Is he a jersey kid from a non traditional power?

 

[JeepGuy999]

Is he a jersey kid from a non traditional power?

Yes. He was committed to a SUNY school until recently?

 

[rufamily]

Same Kid, have you heard anything about it?

 

[JeepGuy999]

Same Kid, have you heard anything about it?

Email me jeepguy999 at hotmail dot com

 

[rufamily]

Done deal

 

[bsh75]

Based on this past season's results and some of the comments in this thread, the program seems to be moving forward at a nice pace. The team had a winning record though against a schedule that overall was not consistently strong. Some big wins (2 against Hopkins) some bad losses (Princeton, Ohio St) and 3 losses versus top teams ( first Maryland loss was close, the other two not so much)
My questions is what are the missing pieces to becoming a top 8 and then a top 4 program.
Is it facilities? significant talent upgrade? Development/experience of the current roster and recruits? Better faceoff results?

 

[JeepGuy999]

Done deal

Extremely excited about this (on a personal level.)

 

[AdamsGarden]

Based on this past season's results and some of the comments in this thread, the program seems to be moving forward at a nice pace. The team had a winning record though against a schedule that overall was not consistently strong. Some big wins (2 against Hopkins) some bad losses (Princeton, Ohio St) and 3 losses versus top teams ( first Maryland loss was close, the other two not so much)
My questions is what are the missing pieces to becoming a top 8 and then a top 4 program.
Is it facilities? significant talent upgrade? Development/experience of the current roster and recruits? Better faceoff results?

My personal opinion is that lacrosse will be helped out by the new facility and the B1G money coming in. That will make our budget whole and allow us to cover the full-freight of scholarships and pay our assistants accordingly. It would be nice to have a dedicated GK coach on staff and to be able to keep a good staff together for more than two seasons. We need a couple of years with all of those variables in place for us to go from a good team to an elite program.

 

[Caliknight]

1) Dedicated facility
2) More funding for coaches salaries, recruiting, support

My understanding is the scholarship issue is a thing of the past, though it will take a few seasons to see on the field due to the early nature of lacrosse recruiting. It's nice to have an AD who wants to promote and do well in the sport.

 

[rufamily]

There is also a transfer goalie coming from Cuse to the Banks

 

[RU23]

There is also a transfer goalie coming from Cuse to the Banks

Wow, tons of competition at goalie now.

 

[rufamily]

Heard that there's a goalie leaving as well

 

[Mr_Twister]

June 27, 2016 NJ Herald newspaper article on Sparta, NJ's Owen Mead, headed to Rutgers lacrosse. Originally committed to Binghamton University (SUNY).

http://www.njherald.com/article/20160627/ARTICLE/306279987

 

[rufamily]

Yes that's who we were talking about. That is a very nice late pick up. As is the Mullins kid who is outstanding late pickup this class just got a whole lot better

 

[JeepGuy999]

June 27, 2016 NJ Herald newspaper article on Sparta, NJ's Owen Mead, headed to Rutgers lacrosse. Originally committed to Binghamton University (SUNY).

http://www.njherald.com/article/20160627/ARTICLE/306279987

My son played with Owen for several years. I have seen him play a lot. He is the real deal, great player and a great kid. This is a STEAL this late in the year.

 

[RU23]

I remember Bieda decided last minute on Rutgers after being committed to Manhattan. Hopefully a similar outcome lol

 

[Caliknight]

Family, have you seen Mead play? Any more thoughts on his game if so?

 

[rufamily]

We played his team this year, he was the catlyst for that team, he scores a lot of point against weaker competition but he is big and strong and he went right after our kid who happens to also be going to Rutgers and that was a really good match up. He scored a couple against us in transition but he is a big long strong lefty attackman that is athletic enough to play midfield. He can also play attack but the Mullins kid is really good so if he is willing he could see some early action at midfield before moving to attack.

 

[Caliknight]

Thanks, Family. Have you seen Mullins play? What's his game like?