I read the article through the link and it did say the player was 14 years old. |
Non specific. Seems like they all do. |
Landon and Prep are just too far gone on this "redshirting" thing. Back in the day if you could not compete with kids your own age, you weren't good enough. Apparently the NCAA coaches in this sport disagree but I doubt building a team with overaged 8th grade emotional cripples will win much for Hopkins or UVA soon. |
It's interesting to see that the universities that have gone heaviest on recruiting 9th graders before they ever play a single high school lacrosse game are not seeing a lot of success on the field right now. The high school coaches that I talk to are opposed to the recruiting of 14-year-olds, and are hoping that a few more of these premature recruits struggle, because maybe the threat of failure will restrain colleges from recruiting these kids, since common sense isn't.
There's definitely some self-interest there, of course, since some kids tend to work and listen to their high school coaches less once they are committed. But I'd like to believe these high school coaches also have their players' best interests in mind when they say it's absurd for a 9th grader to think he knows where he wants to go to college. |
good post.
Committing as a 9th grade is just insane. No one truly knows if early verbals - especially making a verbal as a freshman will pay dividends at the college level. One thing is for sure though, UNC and Hopkins and UVA - the 3 D1 programs who are most aggressive in targeting kids in 9th grade, haven't made it to the final 4 in the past 3 - 4 years. UNC hasn't made it out of the first round of the big dance in well over a decade and UVA has been pretty bad the past 2 years for UVA standards. |
Actually college hockey is even worse. Pretty much any Division 1 player goes off and plays 2 years of junior hockey before they even step foot on campus. http://www.boston.com/sports/articles/2008/03/02/college_hockey_undergoes_a_freshman_reorientation/?page=full |
Hockey is entirely different. Talented kids, mostly Canadians, go off to "juniors" which in essence is just a pre-professional audition league. Kids go play there for a few teen years to get their stock up to be drafted by the NHL. If that does not happen, "plan B" is to bail on NHL dreams and to go play college lacrosse. It is not maneuver to look better on your youth club team or high school mates because you are older. Actually, now that lacrosse is considered a real sport like others including hockey, lacrosse could do the same and have these committed 16 year old high school freshmen and their lunatic parents put into their own competitive lacrosse juniors league. Then go to Hopkins or whatever when they're 30 for all the rest of us care. What offends me is this crass and unsporting holdback garbage is cheapening out the youth game and making the honest aged kids prejudiced and discouraged about playing the game. That is the bottom line. |
Well if he's a 14 yr old freshman that is a perfectly normal age. If he actually "redshirted" previously it probably made sense for his age at the time. It wasn't a decision made recently to get an athletic advantage |
Lacrosse parents want their kids living at home until they are 20 before heading off to college?
You people could use some financial advice from someone introducing the concept of opportunity costs for a kid who won't be in the workforce or getting an advanced degree between ages of 22 and 25. |
the kid turned 14 in June. The kid will graduate Landon when he is 17 years old. That is pretty young to graduate HS. Stop spreading lies troll. my son who happens to go to a rival school of Landon plays on the same mad lax team as him. |
Not referencing this kid at all. This is a comment to pretty much all the other Landon, et al lacrosse kids who are 16 y.o. freshmen. Landon, GP, PVI are just three examples of everything that is wrong with the sport of lacrosse. |
Your son plays for Madlax? LOL. Great parenting there. The coach has THREATENED many, many families who've left his program, and you turn a blind eye to it? As long as it's not your kid who is threatened, it's ok, right? Way to take a moral stand. |
13:26
"Not referencing this kid at all. This is a comment to pretty much all the other Landon, et al lacrosse kids who are 16 y.o. freshmen. Landon, GP, PVI are just three examples of everything that is wrong with the sport of lacrosse." Can you elaborate what you mean here? Seems odd you dont even reference Gonzaga and since the majority of kids from Mater Dei these days are going to Gonzaga, I have to bet they are at least 35% of their freshman class who are currently 16 year old freshman or will turn 16 prior to June 1st. |
You are absolutely correct. Landon, Prep and PVI were listed as examples. Gonzaga is easily another one. This is pretty insipid stuff. Back in the day -- and let's call that day more than 2-3 years ago -- recruits had to show they had the right stuff in the classroom and in their sport until rising senior year. A spot was earned. Now 8th graders who have not done anything to earn it are getting spots. As a parent who went there and did that in a division 1 sport, I find that offensive. If my son told me he wanted to do 8th grade over to profile better for sports recruiting, I'd say not and tell him to stop acting like a sissy. Greatnesss is on the other side of hard work and persistence, selling something else to your kid is a cop out. |
Lots of blame on one side. The coaches at these schools are the ones accelrating the recruitment. The kids (and the parents) are just delaign with the reality. http://www.insidelacrosse.com/article/il-s-biggest-15-early-recruiting-changes-the-game/16479 |