Private schools searching for top lax player

[Anonymous]

What I heard about PVI recently is that they have two JV teams playing in the Fall league plus their varsity team so they have something like 60 players, and let's face it, most of them aren't going to get a lot of field time. Your kid would have to be truly outstanding to be "recruited" to their team.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your son is a 26, the only classes that are really relevant for you are the 24, 25, 26, and 27 classes. I have kids in a couple of these classes so I know them pretty well from the club circuit.

For 24, Landon, SJC, and Prep have the best classes. The Gonzaga 24s are good, but not as good as several years ago. PVI has a good class. Bullis has a couple of good players but is thin. SSSAS has some good players but not nearly as strong as the best 24 classes. DeMatha 24 class is weak as is St. Albans.

For 25, again Landon, SJC, and Prep seem to have the best haul. Gonzaga is much better in this class than 24. DeMatha has a very good class here as well as DM is bringing a few very good players from NL 2025. PVI perhaps not as strong as 24 in the 25 class. Bullis is very very thin. St. Albans and St. Andrews did surprisingly well in this class. Not close to Landon/Prep/SJC, but are more like the St. Albans 23 class.

For 26, we don’t know yet, but a reasonable prediction based on the where the better players live and currently go to school is that again Landon and Prep will do very well. If they can keep the recruiting machine rolling, I’m sure SJC will do fine here especially since some of the 26 Hawks live close enough to go to SJC. PVI should have an unusually strong 26 class because of a strong core at VLC in this class. Rest is too tough to tell.

27 is going to be another bumper crop for Landon and Prep since the majority of the best players in this class are either already at Landon or at Mater Dei and likely to go to Prep.

I think its a bit pre-mature to start predicting the strengths of the current 2026 and 2027 classes.

Lots can happen between when a kid is in 7th or 8th grade and by the time they are juniors in the Fall. It's no secret that a good portion of Mater Dei kids are 15 when they graduate 8th grade. Don't just assume it's going to be Landon and Prep for the years to come.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DS has received solicitations from several private schools in DMV to see if we are interested in applying to the school for next year. Is this common for private schools to reach out like this? Also, does anyone know which schools are bringing in a large group of freshman lacrosse players? Trying to figure out which school is going to have the strongest team over the next 4 years.

Shouldn’t you be focused on which school is the best all around fit for your son?

This 👆. If your son’s thinking about playing lax at the next level, that recruiting is going to be the result of his club team, not high school (all IAC/WCAC schools are viewed as playing competitive high school lax), so those wins/losses aren’t as relevant.

Also, be honest with yourself about how “top” of a player your son is. The schools bringing in the largest classes tend to do the heaviest recruiting every year so almost every recruit is a “top” player. If your son isn’t truly a “top” player, he might quickly find himself standing on the sideline while other talented players see the field during games.

+1
I sensed from the OP a bit of bragging, which is not really justified, because all of the starters and even some backups on the top 2026 and 2027 travel teams are getting those calls.

[Anonymous]

Landon, Prep, and SJC should continue to dominate in the years ahead. I think the ship has sailed for Gonzaga; it will take a while for the rebuild and to start generating interest again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I think SJC being on ESPN definitely helped generate college coach interest for some players. Being on a good HS team does make a difference. If your theory was correct you would see a lot more public kids getting recruited.

With how prevalent video is these days, I’m not sure being on ESPN made the difference for college colleges but I bet it’s a huge tool for recruiting new players. But yes, being on a good team certainly doesn’t hurt. I just think talent rises to the top regardless of where they go and clubs provide more opportunities to be in front of coaches and develop tape.

As for the public school comment, that’s fair, but I guess I’d chock it up to the private schools in this area doing heavy recruiting of “top” players and most parents/athletes deciding to switch to private for an arguably better education and definitely better lacrosse (even if on a “bad” team) - especially if the schools are supporting financially.

I have never seen as many college coaches as I did at the Chaminade/SJC game at NHSLS followed by the GZ/SJC semifinal (on ESPN). ESPN did create a lot of buzz for the NHSLS White Session.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What I heard about PVI recently is that they have two JV teams playing in the Fall league plus their varsity team so they have something like 60 players, and let's face it, most of them aren't going to get a lot of field time. Your kid would have to be truly outstanding to be "recruited" to their team.

PVI has three JV teams in the NVA league. The Varsity team plays in the MD league.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Prep will be good for the next 2-3 years and possibly beyond, depending on how many strong players attend. They typically have 10+ college commits in every senior class.

SJC has a dominant 2022 class with almost 20 commits. Their 2023 class is back to more normal commit numbers. I predict after the 2022 season they will no longer dominate the area and nation, maybe the WCAC, but not the IAC.

Bullis will continue to fall. Likely 3rd or 4th in the IAC is their new normal.

Landon will continue to be rough around the edges, but unpredictable and strong. I predict 2nd place in IAC. They may not have tons of stars and impressive commits, but they have depth that other IAC schools (other than Prep) lack. The Madlax connection is real and will always help generate players and depth for Landon.

As someone who used to be involved in coaching, this post is fairly accurate.

The IAC will go back to the glory days of GP vs Landon battling it out for the league title. Bullis will fade in lacrosse after the 2022 season, just observe their football team this Fall. The days of Bullis bringing in 6+ lacrosse transfers a year to field a team have passed. I wouldn't sleep on Saint Stephens across the river, they always seem to field competitive teams.

As for the WCAC, SJC will clearly remain, king, this Spring but expect things to shift after this Spring. SJC is probably the most aggressive when it comes to recruiting as they have an assistant coach who simply just spends his days calling 8th grade lacrosse players.

I wouldn't write Gonzaga off just yet as I have been told their coaching staff is pretty much the exact same (minus Casey) however I do think the days of Gonzaga owning the WCAC are over as SJC and DM are really elevating their programs. PVI remains the biggest mystery to me. They now have a beautiful campus with top-notch facilities and the only private Catholic HS in Loudon county. I fully expect them to be even more competitive in the years to come under the new coaching staff.

All in all, great to see so many competitive HS programs in the area. 20 plus years ago, the only elite teams were Landon and GP and even DeMatha (depending on the year).

Thankfully. The new HOS is not a sports fanatic like the old one, and has put a stop to giving money to families just because their kids are standout players in some sport. It is now being given as true financial aid.

[Anonymous]

Basically any 8th and 9th grader can do PVI’s Fall JV team; there is no requirement to attend or apply just say you are interested. The actual numbers they field in the Spring will be much less.

[Anonymous]

In response to the OP's question "is it common for players to be contacted" the answer is definitely yes. It is a nice perk of being a lacrosse player. The private school lacrosse world in the DMV has reached the point where coaches of the top 5-6 schools (and the other 5-6 schools who want to get there) need to recruit players fairly actively in order to keep up with their peers. Many of these coaches are in the admissions office, so they have pull to get your son into the school. They have been coming to practices and games of the top 2026 and 2027 teams to scout the players, and asking families of players already in the school to recommend kids who would be a good fit.

[Anonymous]

I have coached at several very competitive MD public HS's....and we got raided by private school coaches over and over. Usually, these kids play for the private school coaches club team. It is just the way things are these days

[Anonymous]

What about the 2029s?

[Anonymous]

Yes the competitive privates are definitely reaching out to see what talent is out there. If they haven’t contacted your kid don’t fret. Check their social media pages or contact the coach. They are almost all holding prospect days so they can see your kid play and your kid has a chance to meet the coaches, tour the school, etc.

[Anonymous]

My advice to any younger parent who is going through the HS admissions process: be patient and do your homework.

Do not simply just choose a HS school purely for lacrosse purposes as your son can easily be burnt out by the time he is a junior or senior.

Lacrosse ends for 95% of these boys after HS and it’s getting harder and harder to play at the collegiate level as the game continues to grow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes the competitive privates are definitely reaching out to see what talent is out there. If they haven’t contacted your kid don’t fret. Check their social media pages or contact the coach. They are almost all holding prospect days so they can see your kid play and your kid has a chance to meet the coaches, tour the school, etc.

IAC coaches can NOT make first contact with a Middle School player, but once a family has contacted the school admissions dept then the coach may speak with a family. The WCAC does not have that rule and WCAC coaches can initiate contact. If you are interested in an IAC school contact the school and the coach to begin the process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My advice to any younger parent who is going through the HS admissions process: be patient and do your homework.

Do not simply just choose a HS school purely for lacrosse purposes as your son can easily be burnt out by the time he is a junior or senior.

Lacrosse ends for 95% of these boys after HS and it’s getting harder and harder to play at the collegiate level as the game continues to grow.

This is great advice. Your kid needs to really like the school regardless of the lacrosse team, and the school's academic and social fit is really important. If your child is injured and can't play, you still want them to be successful and happy in their chosen school. I write this as a parent of a junior athlete who unfortunately has been injured enough that college play isn't a safe option. This has been a hard pill for him to swallow but we are grateful that he is still happy with his school.