Transfer Portal 2024

[51percentcorn]

6 guys at a time - one ball - magic number of 23/4 - subtract 1 for a goalie 2 for face-off 4 for close defense - 2 for LSM 4 for SSDM - you're looking at 9 or 10 for offense - Hopkins has that covered. And citing Boyden's statistics is almost meaningless - he had 10% of his goals (7) against Spingfield College a super tight affair of 31-9. 5 goals against Colby 27-9 - 4 against Cabrini - list goes on
Thanks for the clarification on the eligibility issue wg... did not realize that - makes anybody from D3 of those years more attractive

[DocBarrister]

6 guys at a time - one ball - magic number of 23/4 - subtract 1 for a goalie 2 for face-off 4 for close defense - 2 for LSM 4 for SSDM - you're looking at 9 or 10 for offense - Hopkins has that covered. And citing Boyden's statistics is almost meaningless - he had 10% of his goals (7) against Spingfield College a super tight affair of 31-9. 5 goals against Colby 27-9 - 4 against Cabrini - list goes on
Thanks for the clarification on the eligibility issue wg... did not realize that - makes anybody from D3 of those years more attractive

Absolutely ridiculous. Players get injured. Players have subpar seasons. It’s a moot issue now, but the Blue Jays could absolutely have benefited from the skills of Boyden had he joined Hopkins. Even if his production were cut by TWO THIRDS he would have been among the best offensive players on the team.

Besides, Lars Tiffany is a pretty good judge of talent. He thinks Boyden could help his offense, which needed a lot less help than the Blue Jays’.

Hopkins has some excellent young talent coming in, but I think the Blue Jays still need more scoring depth (actually, a lot more) if they want to win a national championship. Here’s hoping we can land Vardaro or someone similar.

DocBarrister

[HopFan16]

6 guys at a time - one ball - magic number of 23/4 - subtract 1 for a goalie 2 for face-off 4 for close defense - 2 for LSM 4 for SSDM - you're looking at 9 or 10 for offense - Hopkins has that covered. And citing Boyden's statistics is almost meaningless - he had 10% of his goals (7) against Spingfield College a super tight affair of 31-9. 5 goals against Colby 27-9 - 4 against Cabrini - list goes on
Thanks for the clarification on the eligibility issue wg... did not realize that - makes anybody from D3 of those years more attractive

Doc has wanted every remotely talented player in the portal to come to Hopkins. If he had his way we'd be welcoming 30 transfers to Homewood. Not sure it's worth the effort to explain why not every guy can or should join the Blue Jays.

Boyden has a connection to Virginia via Kirwan, who played at Tufts. Makes sense for him and them. It is an interesting puzzle for their new OC to solve. Not necessarily a bad thing, but somebody in that offense isn't going to see as much time next year as they expected. It happens. Boyden does have two years technically but based on the IL article it's not clear that he'll be using both.

[nyjay]

Doc has wanted every remotely talented player in the portal to come to Hopkins. If he had his way we'd be welcoming 30 transfers to Homewood. Not sure it's worth the effort to explain why not every guy can or should join the Blue Jays.

Boyden has a connection to Virginia via Kirwan, who recruited him to Tufts. Makes sense for him and them. It is an interesting puzzle for their new OC to solve. Not necessarily a bad thing, but somebody in that offense isn't going to see as much time next year as they expected. It happens. Boyden does have two years technically but based on the IL article it's not clear that he'll be using both.

I think we'll be fine without Boyden (though wouldn't have objected). I still worry about face-offs, especially losing Hawley & Mazzone on the wings, but not sure there are answers left that are better than Dunn/Callahan/Lane.

[HopFan16]

Doc has wanted every remotely talented player in the portal to come to Hopkins. If he had his way we'd be welcoming 30 transfers to Homewood. Not sure it's worth the effort to explain why not every guy can or should join the Blue Jays.

Boyden has a connection to Virginia via Kirwan, who recruited him to Tufts. Makes sense for him and them. It is an interesting puzzle for their new OC to solve. Not necessarily a bad thing, but somebody in that offense isn't going to see as much time next year as they expected. It happens. Boyden does have two years technically but based on the IL article it's not clear that he'll be using both.

I think we'll be fine without Boyden (though wouldn't have objected). I still worry about face-offs, especially losing Hawley & Mazzone on the wings, but not sure there are answers left that are better than Dunn/Callahan/Lane.

Navy FOGO Anthony Ghobriel is in the portal. Was over 60% this year, including going 16/25 against us — one of the reasons that game was closer than it should have been. I don't know anything but I'd bet the staff is exploring that.

Dunn was 51% this season and has gotten better every year. Callahan took a step back but we know he's capable. If they add someone like Ghobriel I think the group as a whole could put up better numbers in '24 than they did in '23.

[DocBarrister]

6 guys at a time - one ball - magic number of 23/4 - subtract 1 for a goalie 2 for face-off 4 for close defense - 2 for LSM 4 for SSDM - you're looking at 9 or 10 for offense - Hopkins has that covered. And citing Boyden's statistics is almost meaningless - he had 10% of his goals (7) against Spingfield College a super tight affair of 31-9. 5 goals against Colby 27-9 - 4 against Cabrini - list goes on
Thanks for the clarification on the eligibility issue wg... did not realize that - makes anybody from D3 of those years more attractive

Doc has wanted every remotely talented player in the portal to come to Hopkins. If he had his way we'd be welcoming 30 transfers to Homewood. Not sure it's worth the effort to explain why not every guy can or should join the Blue Jays.

Boyden has a connection to Virginia via Kirwan, who recruited him to Tufts. Makes sense for him and them. It is an interesting puzzle for their new OC to solve. Not necessarily a bad thing, but somebody in that offense isn't going to see as much time next year as they expected. It happens. Boyden does have two years technically but based on the IL article it's not clear that he'll be using both.

No one is winning a Division I national championship moving forward without major acquisitions through the transfer portal. Maryland, ND, and Virginia have all had major transfer classes in recent years.

PM has done a good job through the portal, and this year’s transfer class is already among the best … but could do even more, especially on offense. Yes, team chemistry is crucial, and I am sure PM takes that into account.

People here mock Rutgers and Jacksonville for their “open” transfer policies. They shouldn’t … both Rutgers and Jacksonville have fielded good teams in recent years to schools that are not the most attractive around.

Moving forward, I think the only teams that win national championships in Division I lacrosse will be those that bring in top-5 transfer classes in addition to top HS recruiting classes. I would not be surprised if we never again see a Division I lacrosse champion that does not routinely bring in major transfer classes.

Those who don’t like that … tough. That’s the present. That’s the future.

Blue Jays have a talented roster for 2024. They could still use more depth just about everywhere.

DocBarrister

[51percentcorn]

Absurd take. The impact of the portal on lacrosse will be minimized. The Ivy guys will not be forced to leave with eligibility remaining - for the most part - and stars like Mazzone will also have exhausted their eligibility at their origibal schools. Sure - youll have a star or two have an issue or a program miss out on what they have but you can already see the pickings are not what they once were. shrewd monitoring of the portal is a fact of life but the key as always is building from within.

[Sportin' Life]

Moving forward, I think the only teams that win national championships in Division I lacrosse will be those that bring in top-5 transfer classes in addition to top HS recruiting classes. I would not be surprised if we never again see a Division I lacrosse champion that does not routinely bring in major transfer classes.

So you're saying that no Ivy League school will ever win a NC again?

[wgdsr]

Absurd take. The impact of the portal on lacrosse will be minimized. The Ivy guys will not be forced to leave with eligibility remaining - for the most part - and stars like Mazzone will also have exhausted their eligibility at their origibal schools. Sure - youll have a star or two have an issue or a program miss out on what they have but you can already see the pickings are not what they once were. shrewd monitoring of the portal is a fact of life but the key as always is building from within.

watch out. he'll start posting links from the action sports network.

[DocBarrister]

Moving forward, I think the only teams that win national championships in Division I lacrosse will be those that bring in top-5 transfer classes in addition to top HS recruiting classes. I would not be surprised if we never again see a Division I lacrosse champion that does not routinely bring in major transfer classes.

So you're saying that no Ivy League school will ever win a NC again?

Penn and Brown have already taken transfers. I believe most Ivy League schools do.

But if you’re asking whether any Ivy League school will ever win the national championship if they don’t take incoming transfers? I would be confident in saying no.

It’s a bit like wagering on an NFL team winning the Super Bowl without signing free agents … just not going to happen.

DocBarrister

[DocBarrister]

Absurd take. The impact of the portal on lacrosse will be minimized. The Ivy guys will not be forced to leave with eligibility remaining - for the most part - and stars like Mazzone will also have exhausted their eligibility at their origibal schools. Sure - youll have a star or two have an issue or a program miss out on what they have but you can already see the pickings are not what they once were. shrewd monitoring of the portal is a fact of life but the key as always is building from within.

watch out. he'll start posting links from the action sports network.

You may want to consider contributing something substantive to the discussion.

DocBarrister

[wgdsr]

Absurd take. The impact of the portal on lacrosse will be minimized. The Ivy guys will not be forced to leave with eligibility remaining - for the most part - and stars like Mazzone will also have exhausted their eligibility at their origibal schools. Sure - youll have a star or two have an issue or a program miss out on what they have but you can already see the pickings are not what they once were. shrewd monitoring of the portal is a fact of life but the key as always is building from within.

watch out. he'll start posting links from the action sports network.

You may want to consider contributing something substantive to the discussion.

DocBarrister

i did that earlier today. in the blowhard division, i'd rather mock than amplify.

[BrownDad]

Moving forward, I think the only teams that win national championships in Division I lacrosse will be those that bring in top-5 transfer classes in addition to top HS recruiting classes. I would not be surprised if we never again see a Division I lacrosse champion that does not routinely bring in major transfer classes.

So you're saying that no Ivy League school will ever win a NC again?

Penn and Brown have already taken transfers. I believe most Ivy League schools do.

But if you’re asking whether any Ivy League school will ever win the national championship if they don’t take incoming transfers? I would be confident in saying no.

It’s a bit like wagering on an NFL team winning the Super Bowl without signing free agents … just not going to happen.

DocBarrister

2 of the 7 Ivy schools took in 1 transfer each. That is not "most". Also, if you notice the Ivies only take kids who are rising sophomores. Going forward as we exit the extra Covid year era the impact of Seniors in the transfer portal is going to lessen and the schools that are successful will be the ones that have shown they can recruit and develop kids. Schools like Rutgers, Jacksonville, and even Syracuse to some extent aren't doing themselves any favors in sacrificing player development for player rental.

[coda]

Moving forward, I think the only teams that win national championships in Division I lacrosse will be those that bring in top-5 transfer classes in addition to top HS recruiting classes. I would not be surprised if we never again see a Division I lacrosse champion that does not routinely bring in major transfer classes.

So you're saying that no Ivy League school will ever win a NC again?

Penn and Brown have already taken transfers. I believe most Ivy League schools do.

But if you’re asking whether any Ivy League school will ever win the national championship if they don’t take incoming transfers? I would be confident in saying no.

It’s a bit like wagering on an NFL team winning the Super Bowl without signing free agents … just not going to happen.

DocBarrister

i would take the other side of this. Mostly because forever is a longtime and I would never have to pay, but have a chance to getting paid. Recently a coach was talking about this and I will not name the schools, but he was shaking his head saying some coaches wake up and go straight to the portal. They look for who entered as they have their first coffee of the day. I believe that strategy will end up being a failure. Its lazy and eventually you lose your culture. I also think you can not ignore it. Using it to fill a couple holes just makes sense. That said developing your core players will always be the most important job for a coach. Its probably reasonable to think someone will hit the lottery on 2-3 back to back classes and win a NC without portal help in the next 50 years. Those are not great odds, so I would certainly want to have the flexibility to add transfers.

[Sportin' Life]

Moving forward, I think the only teams that win national championships in Division I lacrosse will be those that bring in top-5 transfer classes in addition to top HS recruiting classes. I would not be surprised if we never again see a Division I lacrosse champion that does not routinely bring in major transfer classes.

So you're saying that no Ivy League school will ever win a NC again?

Penn and Brown have already taken transfers. I believe most Ivy League schools do.

But if you’re asking whether any Ivy League school will ever win the national championship if they don’t take incoming transfers? I would be confident in saying no.

It’s a bit like wagering on an NFL team winning the Super Bowl without signing free agents … just not going to happen.

DocBarrister

I'd be greatly surprised if there are any IL schools that don't accept transfers but it's hard to conceive of any of them bringing in a "top-5 transfer class" or getting to the point where they "routinely bring in major transfer classes". Nevertheless it would be ludicrous to rule out an IL team from winning a NC.

[DocBarrister]

Absurd take. The impact of the portal on lacrosse will be minimized. The Ivy guys will not be forced to leave with eligibility remaining - for the most part - and stars like Mazzone will also have exhausted their eligibility at their origibal schools. Sure - youll have a star or two have an issue or a program miss out on what they have but you can already see the pickings are not what they once were. shrewd monitoring of the portal is a fact of life but the key as always is building from within.

I’m not sure why you think the impact of the transfer portal will be “minimized” anytime soon.

I’m not aware of any movement to eliminate the Ivy League graduate student policy. Are you? Even the end of the pandemic won’t end the Ivy transfer supply.

The impact of the transfer portal on Johns Hopkins is illustrative. Without Melendez and Mazzone, I’m not sure the Blue Jays make the NCAA tournament this past season.

If anything, the impact of the transfer portal is only going to grow. Certainly has in college football … and that is the one college sport where HS recruiting is paramount and a major industry in its own right.

DocBarrister

[DocBarrister]

Moving forward, I think the only teams that win national championships in Division I lacrosse will be those that bring in top-5 transfer classes in addition to top HS recruiting classes. I would not be surprised if we never again see a Division I lacrosse champion that does not routinely bring in major transfer classes.

So you're saying that no Ivy League school will ever win a NC again?

Penn and Brown have already taken transfers. I believe most Ivy League schools do.

But if you’re asking whether any Ivy League school will ever win the national championship if they don’t take incoming transfers? I would be confident in saying no.

It’s a bit like wagering on an NFL team winning the Super Bowl without signing free agents … just not going to happen.

DocBarrister

I'd be greatly surprised if there are any IL schools that don't accept transfers but it's hard to conceive of any of them bringing in a "top-5 transfer class" or getting to the point where they "routinely bring in major transfer classes". Nevertheless it would be ludicrous to rule out an IL team from winning a NC.

I don’t think Princeton accepts transfers, but I may be wrong about that.

It’s not impossible for an Ivy League school that doesn’t accept transfers to win a national lacrosse championship. But I think it’s becoming extremely unlikely.

After all, Ivy League teams have won the national championship just twice in the 21st century … in 2001 and 2018 … long before the major impact of the transfer portal. I don’t think it gets easier for the Ivy League, but some Ivy schools are definitely dipping their toes in the transfer stream.

DocBarrister

[nyjay]

I would bet that this year's ND national championship will be the peak impact of transfers on the sport and that it will never get back to that level. The effect on the '24 season will still be substantial (as evidenced by the guys in the pool this year), but as the extra eligibility runs out, the top of the transfer market is going to shrink substantially. You'll still have transfers, but it won't regularly be at the Sowers, Dordevic, Tevlin, Fake (i.e. AA) level, it will more likely be guys finding their level (i.e. guys at big programs going to mid-majors) and the occasional guys at mid-majors who were late bloomers or otherwise under-recruited (i.e. Melendez and Szuluk). I doubt if ever has as substantial a role in determining a national champion as it did in '23.

[DocBarrister]

Moving forward, I think the only teams that win national championships in Division I lacrosse will be those that bring in top-5 transfer classes in addition to top HS recruiting classes. I would not be surprised if we never again see a Division I lacrosse champion that does not routinely bring in major transfer classes.

So you're saying that no Ivy League school will ever win a NC again?

Penn and Brown have already taken transfers. I believe most Ivy League schools do.

But if you’re asking whether any Ivy League school will ever win the national championship if they don’t take incoming transfers? I would be confident in saying no.

It’s a bit like wagering on an NFL team winning the Super Bowl without signing free agents … just not going to happen.

DocBarrister

2 of the 7 Ivy schools took in 1 transfer each. That is not "most". Also, if you notice the Ivies only take kids who are rising sophomores. Going forward as we exit the extra Covid year era the impact of Seniors in the transfer portal is going to lessen and the schools that are successful will be the ones that have shown they can recruit and develop kids. Schools like Rutgers, Jacksonville, and even Syracuse to some extent aren't doing themselves any favors in sacrificing player development for player rental.

I suspect that more and more lacrosse “stars” from lower profile Division I programs and Division II/III schools will impact the transfer pool. Until the Ivy League changes its policies on graduate students, the Ivies will continue to supply a steady stream of players looking to play their final season (e.g., after a medical redshirt).

HS recruiting classes and player development will always be important, but moving forward I am highly skeptical that will be enough to win national championships at the Division I level.

Certainly, Tillman, Tiffany, Corrigan, Danowski, and PM don’t think so.

DocBarrister

[DocBarrister]

I would bet that this year's ND national championship will be the peak impact of transfers on the sport and that it will never get back to that level. The effect on the '24 season will still be substantial (as evidenced by the guys in the pool this year), but as the extra eligibility runs out, the top of the transfer market is going to shrink substantially. You'll still have transfers, but it won't regularly be at the Sowers, Dordevic, Tevlin, Fake (i.e. AA) level, it will more likely be guys finding their level (i.e. guys at big programs going to mid-majors) and the occasional guys at mid-majors who were late bloomers or otherwise under-recruited (i.e. Melendez and Szuluk). I doubt if ever has as substantial a role in determining a national champion as it did in '23.

No doubt, special circumstances impacted the transfer talent pool in recent seasons.

Still, I don’t think that means the transfer portal sees less talent overall or that its impact is measurably lessened. That certainly hasn’t proven to be true in other sports.

If the transfer portal existed in the early 1980s, I’m not sure Larry Quinn waits two years for his chance to start. That alone could have changed the history of lacrosse in that decade.

While the end of the pandemic effect may lessen the supply of star seniors/grads, I think the pool of top-tier underclassmen will continue to grow. We have seen this in other sports. A highly-touted recruit may no longer be willing to sit a year or two before their chance to start and may instead take their chances in the portal.

DocBarrister