THE 2019 Hopkins Lacrosse Fallout Shelter (44, we want more!)

[DocBarrister]

I think a lot of the problem with Hopkins right now is not the talent, but more the chemistry.

One example is Epstein, who is a top talent. He is an excellent shooter. Unfortunately, Hopkins needed a guy who was an excellent passer to replace Stanwick ( Tinney also had a lot of assists last year), whereas Epstein is mainly a scorer at this point in his career. Epstein's passing will probably improve and make him one of he better attackmen in the game down the road.

Epstein is already the best passer and playmaker on the team. It’s not even close. Problem is, he isn’t being used as the quarterback of the offense. He should touch the ball and run the offense on each possession, but that isn’t happening. He’s made some spectacular feeds this season only to watch his teammates muff the shot. More recently, Epstein seems to have decided to take matters in his own hands and score a bunch of unassisted goals. Had he played with Ryan Brown, Joel Tunney, and Pat Fraser, he’d already have 25 assists.

DocBarrister

Kyle Marr is a pretty nice target. Stanwick and Tinney both finished last year with 30+ assist. Why isn't he being used as the quarterback?

Good question, Cooter. He’s a freshman, obviously, but he’s still the best playmaker on the team.

DocBarrister

[Cooter]

Which means Tillman, who arguably runs the most consistently successful program of this decade, built his glory years on early recruiting.

And it’s simply not true that Breschi’s early recruits “weren’t really playing.” If that were true, Breschi—probably the most notorious early recruiter in the sport—would be sending the water girl out onto the field.

DocBarrister

I really think what separates UMd from the other 3 is that Tillman has often added in key late recruits and transfers.
Wisnaukus - transfer, Curtis Corley - late recruit, Matt Rahill - late recruit, Anthony DeMaio - late recruit
Actually, even Bubba Fairman was originally a Navy recruit, went off and did a PG year at [Deerfield] - so he was really late recruit.

2017 team
Heacock - late recruit, Tim Muller - late recruit, Dylan Maltz - transfer, Bryce Young - late recruit.

Next Year - N.DeMaio, Dylan Pallonetti, Justin Sherrer - all added in the 2nd half of 2018.'

[runrussellrun]

Which means Tillman, who arguably runs the most consistently successful program of this decade, built his glory years on early recruiting.

And it’s simply not true that Breschi’s early recruits “weren’t really playing.” If that were true, Breschi—probably the most notorious early recruiter in the sport—would be sending the water girl out onto the field.

DocBarrister

I really think what separates UMd from the other 3 is that Tillman has often added in key late recruits and transfers.
Wisnaukus - transfer, Curtis Corley - late recruit, Matt Rahill - late recruit, Anthony DeMaio - late recruit
Actually, even Bubba Fairman was originally a Navy recruit, went off and did a PG year as Salisbury - so he was really late recruit.

2017 team
Heacock - late recruit, Tim Muller - late recruit, Dylan Maltz - transfer, Bryce Young - late recruit.

Next Year - N.DeMaio, Dylan Pallonetti, Justin Sherrer - all added in the 2nd half of 2018.'

Bubba went to the Yankee Candle Workshop, not frozen dinner.

Tillsman strength is his goalie development, which no one talks about.

pg. ct. 100 by April????

[DocBarrister]

Which means Tillman, who arguably runs the most consistently successful program of this decade, built his glory years on early recruiting.

And it’s simply not true that Breschi’s early recruits “weren’t really playing.” If that were true, Breschi—probably the most notorious early recruiter in the sport—would be sending the water girl out onto the field.

DocBarrister

I really think what separates UMd from the other 3 is that Tillman has often added in key late recruits and transfers.
Wisnaukus - transfer, Curtis Corley - late recruit, Matt Rahill - late recruit, Anthony DeMaio - late recruit
Actually, even Bubba Fairman was originally a Navy recruit, went off and did a PG year as Salisbury - so he was really late recruit.

2017 team
Heacock - late recruit, Tim Muller - late recruit, Dylan Maltz - transfer, Bryce Young - late recruit.

Next Year - N.DeMaio, Dylan Pallonetti, Justin Sherrer - all added in the 2nd half of 2018.'

True, but Matt Rambo, the guy who finally led Maryland to a title, committed before his junior year in high school, and Tillman (and virtually all of Division I lacrosse) started recruiting him long before that. Can’t imagine the Terps winning that title without that early recruit.

DocBarrister

[Typical Lax Dad]

Which means Tillman, who arguably runs the most consistently successful program of this decade, built his glory years on early recruiting.

And it’s simply not true that Breschi’s early recruits “weren’t really playing.” If that were true, Breschi—probably the most notorious early recruiter in the sport—would be sending the water girl out onto the field.

DocBarrister

I really think what separates UMd from the other 3 is that Tillman has often added in key late recruits and transfers.
Wisnaukus - transfer, Curtis Corley - late recruit, Matt Rahill - late recruit, Anthony DeMaio - late recruit
Actually, even Bubba Fairman was originally a Navy recruit, went off and did a PG year as Salisbury - so he was really late recruit.

2017 team
Heacock - late recruit, Tim Muller - late recruit, Dylan Maltz - transfer, Bryce Young - late recruit.

Next Year - N.DeMaio, Dylan Pallonetti, Justin Sherrer - all added in the 2nd half of 2018.'

True, but Matt Rambo, the guy who finally led Maryland to a title, committed before his junior year in high school, and Tillman (and virtually all of Division I lacrosse) started recruiting him long before that. Can’t imagine the Terps winning that title without that early recruit.

DocBarrister

You are right. I was distinguishing between early initial recruiting and early commitments. Rambo was fall of his junior year. I was on their campus with my son the day after he committed.

[DocBarrister]

^^^^

Yes, good point and important distinction. Even many “later” commits were recruited “early”. Don’t think Rambo would have committed to Maryland if Tillman waited until junior year to contact him.

DocBarrister

[Cooter]

^^^^

Yes, good point and important distinction. Even many “later” commits were recruited “early”. Don’t think Rambo would have committed to Maryland if Tillman waited until junior year to contact him.

DocBarrister

Why is that?

[HopFan16]

Heacock - late recruit, Tim Muller - late recruit, Dylan Maltz - transfer, Bryce Young - late recruit.

There's a difference between a late recruit and a late switch. Heacock was an early recruit to Penn State and had been committed there for awhile before he decommitted and switched to Maryland. He was a known commodity. Highly ranked on all the lists when he decided to switch. Not like he was under-recruited or a super late bloomer. When a player of that caliber decommits and comes calling, you answer. He very likely was recruited by Maryland originally and they would have picked it up in the first place had he not chose PSU initially. Obviously it ended up working out for both parties. He's as much of a "late recruit" as Brendan Grimes is to Hopkins. He committed to us his rising junior year—same time Bryce Young did to Maryland—but every coach in D1 has known who he was since 8th grade. Technically he IS committing "later" but it doesn't really fulfill the criteria of a true late recruit, IMO.

[Typical Lax Dad]

^^^^

Yes, good point and important distinction. Even many “later” commits were recruited “early”. Don’t think Rambo would have committed to Maryland if Tillman waited until junior year to contact him.

DocBarrister

It depends.... I would gave committed to a Matt Rambo / Nicky Galasso / Michael Sowers as freshmen but there are only a couple of those players each year. Not 15 for a school. I went through it with a kid so my perspective is probably different. I don't favor setting and forgetting a class full of fall freshmen HS players but that's me. What do I know. I liked it better when the choice was the cream of the junior class.

[Cooter]

Heacock - late recruit, Tim Muller - late recruit, Dylan Maltz - transfer, Bryce Young - late recruit.

There's a difference between a late recruit and a late switch. Heacock was an early recruit to Penn State and had been committed there for awhile before he decommitted and switched to Maryland. He was a known commodity. Highly ranked on all the lists when he decided to switch. Not like he was under-recruited or a super late bloomer. When a player of that caliber decommits and comes calling, you answer. He very likely was recruited by Maryland originally and they would have picked it up in the first place had he not chose PSU initially. Obviously it ended up working out for both parties. He's as much of a "late recruit" as Brendan Grimes is to Hopkins. He committed to us his rising junior year—same time Bryce Young did to Maryland—but every coach in D1 has known who he was since 8th grade. Technically he IS committing "later" but it doesn't really fulfill the criteria of a true late recruit, IMO.

You are getting caught up on some sort of dumbass semantics.
You need to be focusing on UMd, not the recruit.
Please, just switch "late recruit" for "late addition to Maryland's recruiting class", then reread my post.

No, Heacock did not commit to UMd until December of his senior year; Brendan Grimes committed to Hopkins last fall and is a 2020 recruit. If Brendan Grimes were to switch his commitment to UMd next December then he would be like Heacock.

[a fan]

Of course, the question can be turned around on a fan. If Hopkins has academic, location, tuition, etc. issues that make the program unable to compete at the necessary level* what is Syracuse's excuse. Some of the excuses used for Hopkins, SU doesn't have.

Costs - SU is cheaper

Yes. It's cheaper than Hopkins. Problem is, UNC is cheaper still... even for out of state students. $10K cheaper.

In State Maryland students can get four bachelor's degrees for one degree from Cuse or Hop, and have money left over for a heckuva a lot of beer. If you boys think that's a non issue, I just don't even know what to say....

As for Syracuse, I'm not looking for excuses. I lowered my expectations as a fan. And now the games are sooo much more fun to watch.

For both Syracuse and Hopkins, the margin for recruiting is razor thin. So when they get an Evans instead of a Rambo, they're going to miss Final Fours and playoffs altogether. Just like the rest of D1.

And when Desko and Petro recruit correctly, and get a Donahue and Rice, or two Stanwicks and a Brown? Hey, how about that...they make the Final Four just fine. This is a painfully simple game. Recruiting comes down to luck more often than not. Personally, I think UMd has more bites at the apple in the post '08 crash America and that $9K tuition. If you disagree, hey, that's cool.

As for Petro, I don't see how you can look at the players on the field, watch other games, and say that they have even top ten talent. Frankly, it's not even close. They don't have one single kid in the top 30 in scoring, and folks want to put that on the x's and o's of Benson? Is Benson telling them to shoot poorly? Is Quinn telling your keeper to not stop shots from 15 yards out?

I just disagree that the issue is coaching. We'll find out soon enough, when you get a new coach at the end of Petro's contract.

Meanwhile, in Syracuse, no one is talking about removing Desko. He's doing a fine job given the reality of SU, and I don't think a new coach would recruit better.

We're just throwing around opinions here. Who knows who is right? I know I don't. Best of luck the rest of the season.

[Homer]

You are getting caught up on some sort of dumbass semantics.
You need to be focusing on UMd, not the recruit.
Please, just switch "late recruit" for "late addition to Maryland's recruiting class", then reread my post.

I think 16 is trying to distinguish between "kids who had early offers (from somebody)", regardless of whether they stuck with that initial offer or not, versus "kids who weren't made an offer (by anybody) until late in the process."

[WOMBAT, Mod Emeritus]

Man, lots of blue kool-aid last night.

[WOMBAT, Mod Emeritus]

683F09C0-5EEC-449F-993A-AD3E904CC457.png (171.8 KiB) Viewed 2985 times

[OCanada]

Finance is a huge issue especially as the country has flstkined purchasing power for most Americans for decades. Millienials are saving st higher rates. So much so economists are taking note of its impact on the economy. Younger people have to worry s out debt, heanthcare esp in the current environment and the prospect of not having s retirement plan or social security with a lot of other unknowns.

Syracuse is not cheap. It’s a private university with a hefty price tag. I have talked often with alums who played there. They have a strong recruiting preeence but it is not as great as it used to be. Players from those small towns are more willing to travel and not being able to get the Thompsons in hurt them with Indians as had the willingness of some to get away from the Rez.

Tierney left Princeton when a personal change removed the person who assisted him on admissions. He went to a school with deep lax pockets, a strong supportive administration, a big staff, a very big footprint, and his family. Oh and far more latitude in admissions. I would argue JHU falls short across the board in comparison

Richie Meade was fired for some of the same reasons I have heard here. Result? Not as good. VA to now seems similar.

There is no doubt in my mind he can coach. Others disagree. He brought Cornell back from the dead. He brought Hopkins two national tithes and many final fours. Desmond commented once lax has changed in many ways. Much wider and deeper talent pool, more youth programs, more competition for talent and more cost consciousness about higher education among families. Don’t ignore 2008 it had a huge impact that is still playing out in its effects.

The loss of Schnydman was huge. He has not been replaced. Much like Tierney’s go to at Princeton. The loss of the last president was even bigger. Administration suppprt has dropped way off. Our capital campaign didn’t build the new lax center. Bloomberg doesn’t fund athletics although the new money for financial aid money should have a positive indirect effect. We have some wealth among players but compared to Yale and a lot of other schools pfffft. Not so much.

Dano was close to being fired at Hofstra. He couldn’t get the talent to stay home or attract talent outside. He goes to Duke and voila he can coach. Seth has the problem Dano had and is finding it intractable. Side note: Dano's son was likely going to Hopkins. Went to Duke for a visit. They arranged an hour or more with Coach K. The rest is history. Bill could play that role and would. Who does that now? Exactly

[WOMBAT, Mod Emeritus]

OC,

What do you mean by this:

“Don’t ignore 2008 it had a huge impact that is still playing out in its effects.”

Did you mean 2006?

W

[steel_hop]

And when Desko and Petro recruit correctly,

And I just looked at Hopkins 2019 recruiting class...eek. It is not good. 1 kid in the top top 25, 2 total in the top 50. Guess not much help is coming down the pike.

And I guess that's why I never look at recruiting.

[WOMBAT, Mod Emeritus]

And when Desko and Petro recruit correctly,

And I just looked at Hopkins 2019 recruiting class...eek. It is not good. 1 kid in the top top 25, 2 total in the top 50. Guess not much help is coming down the pike.

And I guess that's why I never look at recruiting.

Doesn’t matter too much until they show what they can do at the D1 level, when they get to step onto the field...

... oh, wait, IF they get to step onto the field.

[Wheels]

And I just looked at Hopkins 2019 recruiting class...eek. It is not good. 1 kid in the top top 25, 2 total in the top 50. Guess not much help is coming down the pike.

And I guess that's why I never look at recruiting.

In the context of the last few pages of this board, ignore the rankings. JHU's current roster is loaded with ranked kids. Perhaps Petro has shifted his recruiting. Look more for size and athleticism and less toward subjective rankings.

[OCanada]

Wombat

The great recession. Couple that with purchasing power remaining flat for decades, the disappearance of pensions, the threats to social security and medicare, the increase savings to deal with potential crisis in healthcare etc. Not to mention the explosion in the coast of higher education and the diminishment of the importance of the bachelors degree in professions and you see a pattern.

Our former AD was a lax guy. He was a second team AA his senior year, coached at UNC with Willie, worked for the NCAA and could talk the talk. I doubt our current AD. who I am sure is competent as an AD, brings the same cache to lax players. Does she meet with potential ket recruits. I think the president would be content if lax was D-lll.

As long as I am writing there is a straight line of Presidents who realized the value of Lax to Hopkins. Until now.

IMO the effort should be directed to what the barriers are to getting key players in rather than thinking the coaching staff doesn't recognize talent because they have proven they do.

As to Heroes. Notice helps