UNC 2024

[TrooperJT420]

Middie Gary Merrill (St Anthony's and Team 91 LI) commits to Carolina: https://www.instagram.com/p/CzuzpX-tWQH/. This is a HUGE get for the Heels and arguably gives them a top three 2025 recruiting class on paper.

Awesome news!! Thanks for sharing. I've been waiting for this. I'm digging the St Anthony's pipeline switching from Duke to UNC. No doubt Petro is a big help pulling in this class.

[GaitsRightHand]

Huge pick up by the Heels.

They now have-
#2 Gary Merrill
#7 Luke Bair
#10 Anthony Raio
#20 Wyatt Bowman

All out of the midfield for class of 25. Good things to come in Chapel Hill.

[blue angels]

Huge pick up by the Heels.

They now have-
#2 Gary Merrill
#7 Luke Bair
#10 Anthony Raio
#20 Wyatt Bowman

All out of the midfield for class of 25. Good things to come in Chapel Hill.

However, same Head coach and he has had star studded rosters before, with less to show for it......These guys won't arrive till 25, but he needs to win now...... Will Breschi, who is definitely on a short leash, still be there? There will defintely be poaching pressure and if they struggle over the next 2 years, that will only increase. The 25s are only verbal commits for another year, and that isn't binding.....Very surprising how well this staff has done on the recruiting trail in 25. Now they have to hold onto them. No easy task.......

[GaitsRightHand]

Huge pick up by the Heels.

They now have-
#2 Gary Merrill
#7 Luke Bair
#10 Anthony Raio
#20 Wyatt Bowman

All out of the midfield for class of 25. Good things to come in Chapel Hill.

However, same Head coach and he has had star studded rosters before, with less to show for it......These guys won't arrive till 25, but he needs to win now...... Will Breschi, who is definitely on a short leash, still be there? There will defintely be poaching pressure and if they struggle over the next 2 years, that will only increase. The 25s are only verbal commits for another year, and that isn't binding.....Very surprising how well this staff has done on the recruiting trail in 25. Now they have to hold onto them. No easy task.......

He just had another contract extension. Contract is up June 2026, the year 2025's get to campus. I dont disagree at all that he needs to win. 2022/2023 were pretty awful, but he was in the final 4 in 2021. Petro hire makes a big difference on the recruiting trail. Let's see how this Spring goes before we take the pitchforks out.

[Gorilla Fan]

This was a GREAT interview w Breschi: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n ... 0635035322

[blue angels]

Huge pick up by the Heels.

They now have-
#2 Gary Merrill
#7 Luke Bair
#10 Anthony Raio
#20 Wyatt Bowman

All out of the midfield for class of 25. Good things to come in Chapel Hill.

However, same Head coach and he has had star studded rosters before, with less to show for it......These guys won't arrive till 25, but he needs to win now...... Will Breschi, who is definitely on a short leash, still be there? There will defintely be poaching pressure and if they struggle over the next 2 years, that will only increase. The 25s are only verbal commits for another year, and that isn't binding.....Very surprising how well this staff has done on the recruiting trail in 25. Now they have to hold onto them. No easy task.......

He just had another contract extension. Contract is up June 2026, the year 2025's get to campus. I dont disagree at all that he needs to win. 2022/2023 were pretty awful, but he was in the final 4 in 2021. Petro hire makes a big difference on the recruiting trail. Let's see how this Spring goes before we take the pitchforks out.

Sounds like we generally agree. One of Breschi’s problems is that his program has recently been considered arguably weakest of the ACC programs. That’s a tough spot with comparisons to Duke, Virginia, Notre Dame and Cuse. Bottom line, he needs to win, get to the tournament and go deep in the next couple of years

[10 10 2]

This was a GREAT interview w Breschi: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n ... 0635035322

Thanks for the link. Towards the end of the episode, Breschi mentions a big chunk of the out of conference games on the schedule for 2024. Penn, Princeton, Hofstra, Stony Brook, Wagner, Army, Fairfield all mentioned.

[Matnum PI]

What are the odds that Tillman will get some run as a middie?

[10 10 2]

What are the odds that Tillman will get some run as a middie?

I'd say it is a safe bet.

From the IL Fall writeup in November:

Tillman figures to join sophomore Dewey Egan in making the switch up to midfield this coming season, while five-star freshman Owen Duffy (St. Anthony's, N.Y.) joins an attack line with McGovern and James Matan. Six-foot-five freshman Andrew Preis (Deerfield, Mass.) has impressed enough to earn a spot in the top-four rotation of offensive midfielders.

[Matnum PI]

... I'd say it is a safe bet...

Very helpful. Thank you.

[Sportin' Life]

IL names Owen Duffy as the top incoming freshman: https://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/ ... less/62351.

[LaxPundit07]

Breschi is the Calipari of men’s lax. Head coach at a blue blood. Every resource imaginable. Sick recruiting classes every year. One championship to show for it. Meanwhile his contemporaries lap him, and Carolina still gets all the pub.

[keno in reno]

Breschi is the Calipari of men’s lax. Head coach at a blue blood. Every resource imaginable. Sick recruiting classes every year. One championship to show for it. Meanwhile his contemporaries lap him, and Carolina still gets all the pub.

Carolina gets all the pub?

[cmbtp88]

Huge pick up by the Heels.

They now have-
#2 Gary Merrill
#7 Luke Bair
#10 Anthony Raio
#20 Wyatt Bowman

All out of the midfield for class of 25. Good things to come in Chapel Hill.

However, same Head coach and he has had star studded rosters before, with less to show for it......These guys won't arrive till 25, but he needs to win now...... Will Breschi, who is definitely on a short leash, still be there? There will defintely be poaching pressure and if they struggle over the next 2 years, that will only increase. The 25s are only verbal commits for another year, and that isn't binding.....Very surprising how well this staff has done on the recruiting trail in 25. Now they have to hold onto them. No easy task.......

I am not that surprised by the uptick in recruiting with Thompson coming on board as OC. When my son was being recruited by both D1 and D3 schools Thompson was the HC at Amherst, I think he was the best recruiting coach out of all of the coaches D1 and D3, he would say I recruit D1 prospects and he would get them. My son liked and trusted him more than any other coach he was talking to, and so did I. He is a really good coach and I would expect this guy will get a lot more out of these top recruits than UNC has in the past. He is the real deal.

[Sportin' Life]

USA Lax Mag previews the Heels, who it ranks at #19 in its pre-season poll: https://www.usalaxmagazine.com/college/ ... rolina-men. Of interest is Breschi's comment about Dom Pietramala: "The health of Dom is always a question the last two years, and we’ll wait and see what happens there," which leads one to wonder if he's 100% recovered and ready to go. Also found Breschi's anecdote about realizing that the Heels didn't match up on a physical basis to last year's semi-final teams to be concerning. It's wildly obvious that bigger, faster, stronger is the order of the day in the ACC and for all D1 teams competing for a championship and that recruiting athletes who have the necessary physical tools along with the required acumen, drive and dedication is critical. Lots of expectations being placed upon Duffy early on. Let's hope that the rest of the offense is potent enough so that this season doesn't become "Chris Gray and Five Other Guys Standing Around 2.0". Would be nice to see Wambach provide a change of pace alternative to Tyerer and early reports indicate that is a possibility. The defense enjoyed a resurgence last season and was a source of consistency so the departures of Maher and Wright are significant. It'll be interesting to see who fills their shoes (perhaps English and Frankenheimer at SSDM and Tyler Schwarz at LSM). Here's hoping that Krieg can recapture his freshman form and be a wall in the cage. The Heels will need him to do so if they're to take a step forward by competing in the ACC and returning to the tourney.

[TAV]

It’s 2024. Can we use this tread for 2024?

[FannOLax]

It’s 2024. Can we use this tread for 2024?

Don't tread on the Heels!

[TAV]

Go HEELS!

Was simply trying to get folks on the ‘22 and ‘23 Treads to come on over…

[10 10 2]

Saw a couple highlight clips from this weekend on twitter. On top of the zero live coverage, it looks like UNC was not wearing the correct jersey numbers either. Strange considering I am pretty sure they have never done that before.

They have switched jerseys in preseason scrimmages before. It's definitely very annoying. Do you have a link to those highlights? I saw Coach Pietremala posted about an intra-squad scrimmage but couldn't find any video.

[Laxfan23]

Inside Lacrosse just released their preview of top-ranked defenses for the 2024 season having UVA listed fifth, UNC second and ND first. It is nice to see UNC listed in a top five ranking. Was hoping this would generate a comment or two as the season is thankfully fast approaching! Again it is only a preseason ranking but i regard that as a positive sign.