Oh, hello there. It’s been a while, no? Let’s catch up on some of the recruiting news since last I covered it.
Michigan
2016 Michigan commit Henry Adams has an impressive highlight reel:
He’s just a little guy at 5-7, 150 and cradles righty exactly once in the highlight, but his skill led 412 Lax to predict he’d be Inside Lacrosse’s No. 1 2016 prospect in the country. Adams actually came in at No. 9, not far off.
I actually missed Michigan’s release about their incoming class because they don’t believe in RSS, but the Wolverines officially signed 13 preps. Inside Lacrosse lists Michigan as No. 18 on their top classes list.
Whitby (Ont.) Dwyer attackman Austin Shanks may have been one of the most talented players in the class, but he did not make it to campus. A source tells me he’s going to try to enroll with Michigan’s 2014 class, so we’ll see. (For the record, Shanks’ Whitby Warriors won the Junior A indoor championship).
Since I didn’t get a chance to put together the Hello posts for this class (though I’m not ruling out a delayed release on those), a must-see video of defenseman Stefan Bergman scoring from 80 yards out. This play made it to the SportsCenter top 10, probably the first positive U-M highlight featured in that space.
Mitchell Kelln commitment story from TopLaxRecruits.
Michigan picked up a commitment from 2015 LSM Nick DeCaprio of St. Augustine (N.J.). PhillyLacrosse.com covers his pledge.
2014 attack William Reynolds, a postgrad at at Choate Hall (Conn.) committed to Michigan. LaxLessons talks to Reynolds about the decision.
Attending a strong academic school was very important to me. Not only will Michigan provide me with an excellent academic opportunity, it also has a breathtaking campus, overwhelming athletic facilities and tremendous school spirit and tradition. Michigan also has a very strong commitment to the lacrosse team and a great coach that has very high expectations for the program.
Lincoln (Ore.) 2015 defenseman Ben Paris committed to Michigan. U-M blog Maize n Brew somehow managed to uncover someone talking about how impressive his calves are (former Wolverine defenseman Pat Stansik is surely jealous).
2016 Blake School (Minn.) defenseman Crey Bankes will play for the Wolverines. Bucknell, Ohio State, and Marquette aren’t exactly Hopkins when it comes to beating out top programs for a kid, but he’s from a fast-growing area for the game.
MICDS (Mo.) 2016 goalie Matt Trowbridge has committed to Michigan. Like future teammate Chase Young, he participated in Nike’s The Ride.
Washington (D.C.) Gonzaga 2015 defenseman Michael Borda committed to Michigan. StudentSports.com sat down with Borda to discuss his recruitment and pledge.
2015 Delbarton (N.J.) defenseman M.J. Mellilo is the newest Michigan commit.
Hot off the presses, Country Day 2016 midfielder Ryan Prior has committed to Michigan. He’s transferring to Culver Military Academy in Indiana next year.
Michigan Women
TopLaxRecruits covers West Lawn (Penn.) attack Madison Klee’s commitment to the Wolverines.
Harriton (Pa.) attack Katie Melvin commits to U-M.
Detroit
The Titans added three players in the spring signing period. Detroit Catholic Central attack Alec Gilhooly and Walled Lake Central faceoff specialist Ben Gjokaj are the Michigan natives.
There’s a little less info on the day-to-day of Detroit recruiting, but I have it on good authority that the Titans are killing the recruiting trail.
Detroit will hosts its first-ever prospect camp Nov. 3.
Local
Inside Lacrosse names Cranbrook defender Michael Langdon as the No. 45 player in the country for the 2015 class.
Forest Hills Northern 2015 faceoff specialist Bob Pelton has committed to Marquette.
Events
Nike Ride (for those who follow football recruiting at all, it’s the same concept as Nike’s The Opening, but for lacrosse) featured future Michigan Wolverine Chase Young. It did not include any Michigan natives in part because the MHSAA hates its student-athletes.
As noted above, fellow future Wolverine Matt TRowbridge also participated.
A couple of thoughts on UM recruiting here. One, I’m having trouble getting my head around early recruiting, but if it’s here to stay it’s good to see Michigan in the mix with the big boys. Time will tell if the kids (emphasize kids) they are committing are going to end up being as good as projected. Two, regardless of how early recruiting will work out, it’s huge for UM to get a kid like Adams. The only other commits from the top 10 are going to ACC schools. This has to resonate with other top recruits. Perception is reality.
There are inherently unknowns when it comes to the recruiting process, but the grand-scale theme holds true: it is better to get highly rated guys than lesser-rated guys.
As Tim has reported on, the same trend is happening in football recruiting, with commitments from juniors and even sophomores. It’s not a great trend but you have to do it if you want to have a shot at elite players. I think the commits from higher ranked players is a very promising sign for the UM program. BTW, this summer I wore a UM lax hat while at the Delaware beaches (where the tourists are from Baltimore, DC, and Philly) and I got a bunch of compliments on the hat.