Inside Lacrosse confirmed last week what has been on Laxpower for several weeks now: CT LSM Charlie Keady has committed to Michigan for the class of 2012. Enormous mug shot? Enormous mug shot:
Future Wolverine Charlie Keady in ENORMO-VISION (Photo by the Greenwich Times)
Relevant Articles
Charlie Keady, LSM, Fairfield Prep (Conn.) has committed to Michigan. A physical 6-3, 195-pound longpole, Keady plays club with the renowned CT Chargers who won the Crab City Challenge in July. He was an All-Star at both Peak 200 and the Bison Brawl, also attending Top 205 and Jake Reed’s Blue Chip Rising Seniors.
A wide variety of articles note offensive performances, so he seems to be a threat going forward as well, especially following faceoffs. Speaking of those faceoffs, he’s listed on LacrosseRecruits.com as a potential faceoff specialist, as well.
Early last season, he suffered a pretty serious injury, breaking two ribs and suffering ligament damage in his shoulder, to go along with a collapsed lung(!). He managed to return to the field later in the season, so don’t anticipate many lingering issues a couple years down the road when he hits campus. (Also note that his Fairfield Prep team got turned to dust by Greenwich – and future teammate Alex Marcus – without him in the lineup, then got their revenge later in the year once he returned).
Random LaxPower thread says he’s a “tall, athletic close D,” though I think he has primarily been (and will be) a midfielder.
He also hits the gridiron as some form of wideout/tight end.
In the video embedded below (if it’s not working, the link is here), he shows ability as a takeaway defender, a faceoff specialist, and an offensive threat going forward. A triple-threat LSM with great size is welcome in any program.
Other Interest
Keady handles the ball (photo by the Connecticut Times)
Via IL:
He also considered Dartmouth, Penn, Amherst, Lehigh and Bucknell.
That’s a decent roster of other interested school, with Bucknell and Penn making the NCAA Tournament (albeit to get bounced in the first round). Bucknell finished the year #12 to LaxPower, Penn was #20, Lehigh was #32 and Dartmouth was #44. Amherst was #11 in Division-3.
Teammates of Note
According to LaxPower, Keady is the first 2012 player from Fairfield Prep to commit to a school. HOWEVA, that does not mean that the program isn’t talented. in the 2011 class, midfielder Kevin Malorano signed with D-1 Bryant University, and four other midfielders went the D-3 route.
Three members of the class of 2010 ended up at D-1 schools, including a Denver signee in LSM Harley Brown (after a postgrad year at Deerfield Academy). Five more Jesuits ended up with D-3 schools.
Georgetown Prep, this ain’t, but it’s certainly a strong program.
Video
Keady has a highlight video available on LacrosseRecruits.com. If the embedded version below won’t load for you, check out this link.
LacrosseRecruits also has another (briefer) highlight reel.
The Upshot
I’ve already profiled a number of defensive commits for Michigan, and all seem to fit a similar profile: good-sized, and with great ability to take the ball away from the offensive players. Keady adds an additional skillset, as an LSM who can take faceoffs and be a threat with the ball going forward.
A couple of the other guys in the recruiting class seem to be capable of playing either defense or LSM, and Charlie is no different. If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say that he’s the most likely to play in the midfield at the next level, thanks to the abilities I just mentioned.
Though he’s coming off a serious injury, he was healed up enough to participate at the end of his junior season, and he won’t hit campus for more than a year. I think that’s plenty of time to get back to 100%, and he should be right in the mix as a freshman.
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