Oh and how Raymond must surely regret benching Holtby not at any point in the regular season down the stretch where he started to struggle but rather wait until the NEC playoffs w about 3-4 min left for a unproven Sr.
Now we’ve got a shaken Holtby, LP from Severn by Furman and Liam Ohara who was a walk on while probably trying to figure out how to make college free for Ellis Wilson next fall so as to make sure he comes.
Shame is Bland may have been a top 2-3 recruit in this class as well. Unless the author is wrong which given the top 10 note is probably the case...
Island's young lacrosse stars set for NLL draft
Cleve Dheensaw / Times Colonist
AUGUST 27, 2021 10:12 PM
TC_338834_web_Adam-Bland.jpg
Adam Bland of Langford is among several Island players expected to be chosen in todays NLL draft. SUBMITTED
Adam Bland of Langford, considered the lacrosse goaltender of the future in B.C., was facing a tough decision. He made it, turning his back on the U.S. collegiate NCAA field version of the sport and declaring a year early for the professional National Lacrosse League draft.
The 2021 NLL draft will be conducted today at KeyBank Center in Buffalo.
article continues below
Bland, who still has two seasons remaining with the Victoria Junior Shamrocks, had committed to Hobart College in upstate New York, which cracked the NCAA top-10 last year. But being drafted by the pro NLL will make him ineligible for the NCAA.
“It was a tough decision to forfeit NCAA eligibility and focus totally on box lacrosse,” said Bland.
“I will start in political science at Camosun College and then transfer to UVic and, hopefully, go to law school. I will still be focusing on school.”
Bland came up through Juan de Fuca minor lacrosse. He attended Royal Bay Secondary, which has a lacrosse academy, until relocating in Grade 12 to Blue Ridge School, a Saint George, Virginia, prep academy known for producing NCAA Div. 1 players in basketball, football and lacrosse.
Bland said he has no idea where he will go today in the draft or where.
“I have no expectations,” he said.
“I am hoping for any opportunity and I will be happy wherever I go. To be able to be considered a professional would be quite an honour. The NLL is expanding, including with star-studded owners in Las Vegas like Wayne Gretzky, Steve Nash and Dustin Johnson. It’s really cool and exciting.”
The NLL plays in several NHL and NBA arenas, not that the money in the NLL is anything remotely close to the NHL or NBA.
“I just love lacrosse,” said Bland, indicating his passion for the sport trumps all.
“I’ll see what happens. I’m not sure when I’ll go and it’s definitely nerve-wracking. But draft day is also an exciting time in life in any sport.”
The other Junior Shamrocks eligible for the 2021 NLL draft are Owen Russell, Max Wilson, Caleb Kuber, Liam Phillips and Ryan Atkinson.
Bland deflected all the credit to those teammates.
“Those guys in front of me drive me to play well,” he said.
The expansion Panther City Lacrosse Club of Fort Worth, Texas, is picking first today in the six-round NLL draft, with New York second, Rochester third, Vancouver fourth and San Diego fifth. The rest in order is Calgary, Colorado, Philadelphia, Georgia, Buffalo, Toronto, Halifax, Saskatchewan and Albany.
Jonathan Donville from the Brooklin, Ont., junior lacrosse team and Cornell of the NCAA is the top-rated player for the draft, according to the Stamper’s Top-50 site. The site ranks Thomas Vaesen of the Nanaimo Junior Timbermen at No. 4.
[email protected]