Hello: Brad Lott

Michigan’s 2012 class has a faceoff specialist: KY FO/Midfielder Brad Lott has committed to John Paul and the Wolverines.

The Newest Confirmed Wolverine, Brad Lott

Relevant Articles

Per the ESPN Rise commitment article, Brad is a 6-0, 175 pounder who won 71% of his faceoffs as a junior, while adding 23 goals and and 18 assists. Honors? Honors:

Lott was First Team All-State and an ESPN RISE All-America Honorable Mention this season and led his team to a 15-1 record.

Per the ESPN Rise All-American post, he was one of three selections from Kentucky. Positions were not listed for honorable mentions, so no word on how many faceoff specialists earned the nod. However, the second-team selection is a senior headed to Hopkins, and the first-teamer is a senior headed to Maryland. Not bad guys to get laced behind. Here’s also a source for the All-State honor. He was All-Catholic as well. He played a huge role in getting Trinity to the State Championship game, with a 77% day on draws.

He was performed even better as a sophomore, winning a mind-numbing 87% of his faceoffs (message board rambling == take with a grain of salt), and was the MVP of his team as a true frosh. He was selected to the 2010 Under Armour Underclassmen Game, though I found no reports of how he played there. His profile for 2011 edition of same lists some of his accolades and activities:

2011 1st Team ALL-State Div. 1, 71% F/O, MVP High School Varsity, 2 time Under Armour All-American Underclassman, 2 time Adidas All-American, 2011 Total Points Award, 3 Year Varsity Starter……Other interests include High School Wrestling, FCA, Special Olympics, Youth Lacrosse Instructor, and Music

Rise’s Mike Loveday and Tom Peace gave him some ink (pixels?) following the event, where he was impressive against the New Jersey team. For his club team, the Bluegrass Bats, he’s known as a “faceoff legend” with impressive intensity at the X. He was named an all-star at the Brine National Lacrosse Classic earlier this summer.

Last summer, Jamie Munro showed him some love at the Louisville team camp:

Brad Lott, “Player” Trinity/Bluegrass Bats. 2012 Middie/FO, Righty. This kid is on his way to being a top level face off man with good enough athleticism to run a break.

Yes, please.

Other Interest

Lott in action with his club team (via ESPN Rise).

According to his commitment article on ESPN Rise, Brad also had the attention of future conference opponents Fairfield, Air Force, Ohio State, and Bellarmine. The latter pair is composed of the two closest Division-1 schools to his home, so it’s no surprise they were interested. Ohio State was the highest-ranked school on his list to LaxPower’s final rankings, coming in at 23rd.

As recently as the beginning of July, he didn’t have any offers despite all that interest, so it’s possible that Michigan was his first (also possible: other schools offered around the same time).

Teammates of Note

A couple years ago, Trinity sent four players to D-3 schools, but the last Division-1 players I can find on Laxpower came in the class of 2009, with LSM Palmer Simpson headed to Jacksonville, and 2007, when Mike Anderson transferred to Denver from Butler for his final two years of eligibility.

Trinity is sending a quartet of players to the D-3 ranks this fall, with longpoles Austin Fackler and Nick Piscitelli headed to Salisbury and Hanover, respectively, and midfielders Alex Karman and Spencer Purdle going to Ithaca and Lynchburg. Attack Matt Herner is headed to the MCLA squad at Tennessee.

Lott is the first member of the Trinity class of 2012 to commit to a school thus far.

Video

There are plenty of game highlights from his high school action, including the State Championship game, which his team lost 9-5.

The Upshot

Though he’s not the biggest guy in the world, Brad shows plenty of ability to succeed on faceoffs – which, let’s be honest, is a little more important for a faceoff guy (duh). He shows good reflexes to get the initial clamp on the ball, and the ability to rake it toward a wing player (with good awareness of his teammates’ positions), or to push it forward and initiate a 4-on-3 break.

He also shows good ability in half-field offense, but – as with most high school highlight films – the quality of opposition has to be taken into account. The majority of those kids aren’t going to be D-1 players, so he’s bound to look successful against them. That said though, he has enough offensive ability to be a threat on a clean faceoff win, and won’t necessarily be an immediate get-off guy.

Faceoffs this spring are still a mystery, so projecting two years down the line is a fool’s errand. However, Brad has the ability (especially after getting into a college weight training program) to contribute immediately if needed.