Michigan 2024

[gymman1031]

Going into this season, I said that, due to lots of players with plenty of DI experience and the talent now being Coach Kevin Conry's, for people to believe he could get things any higher, he needed to do either or both:

1. finish with at least ten wins
2. at the end of the regular season part of the Big Ten, be in the top four in the conference.


Well, folks! Kudos to Coach Conry! To say that he, all around, led Michigan Lacrosse to more than just those steps is an understatement:

1. Michigan finished with exactly ten wins.
2. They were definitely in the top four going into the Big Ten Tournament and won it.
3. They made the NCAA Tournament, defeated a hungry Cornell squad in OT, and, for awhile, gave powerful Duke quite a battle.

Yep. Michigan is a program with lots of fine talent. And, now, it is clear that they have a very solid coach leading them.

While I won't put pressure on Wolverines Lacrosse to take next steps right now, it is very clear what the next immediate one is:

appearing in the FINAL FOUR

From what we saw this season, one has reason to believe that it could well happen soon. As great as Coach Conry has been recruiting, chances aren't half-bad that it will get better and better. And, the truth is, Michigan could well be the next example of a program in College Lacrosse who simply reloads rather than rebuilds.

[coda]

Just an amazing year. It went from will there be a new coach in Ann Arbor to a Big 10 tournament championship and the 1st NCAA tournament win in a matter of months. That said, 2024 might be more important than 2023. This is the year to prove that Michigan can compete in lacrosse. Follow up 2023 with 6 wins and 2023 can be dismissed as a fluke. Making the tournament 2 years in a row, will really catch the attention of recruits.

https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/ ... rbor/61564

[coda]

Beau Pederson to Michigan.. that is a huge pick up

[courtdog]

Conry has things going in the right direction. Good recruiter

[gymman1031]

Conry has things going in the right direction. Good recruiter

Absolutely! He has been a fine recruiter since Day One.

[10stone5]

I’m keeping an eye out for this recruit,
just turned 17, a very Matt Collison style of play though not as much size.
Number one pick in the BC Jr A league, is starting out initially in Jr B box - also plays field at a solid Canadian school, Claremont,

https://www.insidelacrosse.com/recruiti ... commitment

________

[coda]

I’m keeping an eye out for this recruit,
just turned 17, a very Matt Collison style of play though not as much size.
Number one pick in the BC Jr A league, is starting out initially in Jr B box - also plays field at a solid Canadian school, Claremont,

https://www.insidelacrosse.com/recruiti ... commitment

________

He will see how this kid turns out. Collison is a bit bigger and more fluid. Canadians are always tough to judge. I liked Jack Elliott's tape. Michigan needs an infusion of talent on the defensive end. Recruiting will get interesting. Conry has recruited well, but this season has changed the perception.

[gymman1031]

Assuming 2023 was a sign of what is to come, with Conry's recruiting abilities and all the program has to offer, I think Top 10 classes will be the NORM!!

[coda]

Assuming 2023 was a sign of what is to come, with Conry's recruiting abilities and all the program has to offer, I think Top 10 classes will be the NORM!!

2023 Blue Chip s (4 stars)

Rank Player Class Position High School Rating
#38 Alex Lobel 2023 A Roswell High School
#36 CJ Reilly 2023 M Cold Spring Harbor High School
#26 Rowan Clay 2023 D Culver Academy
#22 Jackie Weller 2023 FO St Johns College High School
-- Alex Gatto 2023 A Roslyn High School
-- Crandall Quinn 2023 G Forest Hills Central High School
-- Nick Roode 2023 A Culver Academy
6 unrated recruits.

2024 Blue Chips (4star)
-- Jack Elliott D 10/26/2022 The Taft School Juiced Cherries 2024
#41 Lucas Laforge A 09/30/2022 Mount Sinai High School Team 91 Long Island 2024 Wolfpack
-- Tommy Augustine A 09/27/2022 Deerfield Academy Next Level 2024 Blue
-- Luke Neary M 09/26/2022 Claremont School 1 Team BC 2024
-- Mason Vance M 09/21/2022 The Lawrenceville School Madlax National 2024
-- Henry Weller LSM 09/04/2022 St Johns College High School Next Level 2024 Blue
Pulled in 6 3 stars in 2024. 2 unrated

[10stone5]

Toronto is 4-5 hours away, so the Ontario box league is an obvious pipeline - same with the Hill Academy, about 5 hours.
So far, Michigan hasn’t gotten the top guys, Matt Collison went to Hopkins, Willem Firth is going to Cornell, Finlay Thomson is at Syracuse.
But as I mentioned, Neary may be one.
The other interesting thing, all those guys were under-rated by IL and NLF raters.

[gymman1031]

Assuming 2023 was a sign of what is to come, with Conry's recruiting abilities and all the program has to offer, I think Top 10 classes will be the NORM!!

2023 Blue Chip s (4 stars)

Rank Player Class Position High School Rating
#38 Alex Lobel 2023 A Roswell High School
#36 CJ Reilly 2023 M Cold Spring Harbor High School
#26 Rowan Clay 2023 D Culver Academy
#22 Jackie Weller 2023 FO St Johns College High School
-- Alex Gatto 2023 A Roslyn High School
-- Crandall Quinn 2023 G Forest Hills Central High School
-- Nick Roode 2023 A Culver Academy
6 unrated recruits.

2024 Blue Chips (4star)
-- Jack Elliott D 10/26/2022 The Taft School Juiced Cherries 2024
#41 Lucas Laforge A 09/30/2022 Mount Sinai High School Team 91 Long Island 2024 Wolfpack
-- Tommy Augustine A 09/27/2022 Deerfield Academy Next Level 2024 Blue
-- Luke Neary M 09/26/2022 Claremont School 1 Team BC 2024
-- Mason Vance M 09/21/2022 The Lawrenceville School Madlax National 2024
-- Henry Weller LSM 09/04/2022 St Johns College High School Next Level 2024 Blue
Pulled in 6 3 stars in 2024. 2 unrated

Considering Michigan's success up until this season, I would say that is A-OK!!

[coda]

Toronto is 4-5 hours away, so the Ontario box league is an obvious pipeline - same with the Hill Academy, about 5 hours.
So far, Michigan hasn’t gotten the top guys, Matt Collison went to Hopkins, Willem Firth is going to Cornell, Finlay Thomson is at Syracuse.
But as I mentioned, Neary may be one.
The other interesting thing, all those guys were under-rated by IL and NLF raters.

Finn was a Michigan recruit, but filpped. Collison was #27 and Thomson was #5 by IL, so hard to say they were under-rated. Both were big time prospects. Neary is out of BC, which is probably under-evaluated, but he does play for Edge. Edge draws a lot of eyes at a tournament. I do think lax evaluations are light years behind football and basketball. NLF is a waste of time, only rank NLF club kids.

[10stone5]

Toronto is 4-5 hours away, so the Ontario box league is an obvious pipeline - same with the Hill Academy, about 5 hours.
So far, Michigan hasn’t gotten the top guys, Matt Collison went to Hopkins, Willem Firth is going to Cornell, Finlay Thomson is at Syracuse.
But as I mentioned, Neary may be one.
The other interesting thing, all those guys were under-rated by IL and NLF raters.

Finn was a Michigan recruit, but filpped. Collison was #27 and Thomson was #5 by IL, so hard to say they were under-rated. Both were big time prospects. Neary is out of BC, which is probably under-evaluated, but he does play for Edge. Edge draws a lot of eyes at a tournament. I do think lax evaluations are light years behind football and basketball. NLF is a waste of time, only rank NLF club kids.

Not originally,

IL came back after the fact - when it was obvious they were all top players, and re-worked their ratings and 4-5 star designations.

No reason NLF can’t capture the Canadians and late bloomers, there are so many opportunities to catch top talent, usually against other top talent - in in-season tournies, live streaming games.

I’ll be curious to see with Neary, as mentioned he was the number one BC pick, just turned 17, and they had to work out a deal to get him on a BC Jr B squad for this summer, I’m guessing he may be a late add to Jr A come playoff time.

[coda]

Toronto is 4-5 hours away, so the Ontario box league is an obvious pipeline - same with the Hill Academy, about 5 hours.
So far, Michigan hasn’t gotten the top guys, Matt Collison went to Hopkins, Willem Firth is going to Cornell, Finlay Thomson is at Syracuse.
But as I mentioned, Neary may be one.
The other interesting thing, all those guys were under-rated by IL and NLF raters.

Finn was a Michigan recruit, but filpped. Collison was #27 and Thomson was #5 by IL, so hard to say they were under-rated. Both were big time prospects. Neary is out of BC, which is probably under-evaluated, but he does play for Edge. Edge draws a lot of eyes at a tournament. I do think lax evaluations are light years behind football and basketball. NLF is a waste of time, only rank NLF club kids.

Not originally,

IL came back after the fact - when it was obvious they were all top players, and re-worked their ratings and 4-5 star designations.

No reason NLF can’t capture the Canadians and late bloomers, there are so many opportunities to catch top talent, usually against other top talent - in in-season tournies, live streaming games.

I’ll be curious to see with Neary, as mentioned he was the number one BC pick, just turned 17, and they had to work out a deal to get him on a BC Jr B squad for this summer, I’m guessing he may be a late add to Jr A come playoff time.

not to quibble, but Feb birthday. Still on the young side, but turned 17 awhile ago. Right now, the bigger issue in the 2024 class is holding on to your commits.

[10stone5]

Toronto is 4-5 hours away, so the Ontario box league is an obvious pipeline - same with the Hill Academy, about 5 hours.
So far, Michigan hasn’t gotten the top guys, Matt Collison went to Hopkins, Willem Firth is going to Cornell, Finlay Thomson is at Syracuse.
But as I mentioned, Neary may be one.
The other interesting thing, all those guys were under-rated by IL and NLF raters.

Finn was a Michigan recruit, but filpped. Collison was #27 and Thomson was #5 by IL, so hard to say they were under-rated. Both were big time prospects. Neary is out of BC, which is probably under-evaluated, but he does play for Edge. Edge draws a lot of eyes at a tournament. I do think lax evaluations are light years behind football and basketball. NLF is a waste of time, only rank NLF club kids.

Not originally,

IL came back after the fact - when it was obvious they were all top players, and re-worked their ratings and 4-5 star designations.

No reason NLF can’t capture the Canadians and late bloomers, there are so many opportunities to catch top talent, usually against other top talent - in in-season tournies, live streaming games.

I’ll be curious to see with Neary, as mentioned he was the number one BC pick, just turned 17, and they had to work out a deal to get him on a BC Jr B squad for this summer, I’m guessing he may be a late add to Jr A come playoff time.

not to quibble, but Feb birthday. Still on the young side, but turned 17 awhile ago. Right now, the bigger issue in the 2024 class is holding on to your commits.

I think the point was,
the BC leagues had issues placing him because of his age at that point,
they worked out a deal to place Neary with the Victoria Jr B team.