2025 IAC and WCAC Playoffs Results and Commentary

[Anonymous]

Seems like SJC has got to do it this year . . . Loaded 26 and 27 classes. Now or never Cadets!

[Anonymous]

Amazing analysis about a game played in 8 states. LAX for life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just looked at some of the ages of the 4 star players from IL My goodness you got some old kids!

Birthdays in June 07, Jan 08, March 08, Nov 07 to name a few on the list. And if any local kid goes up North to a prep school, book it he is a year back, at a minimum.

I guess…if you must in order to compete…

Facts. It is crazy, but reality.

The last 3 are nothing beyond normal in lacrosse. probably 40-50% or more in the top 1/3 of division 1 are 1 year holdbacks. June 07 is more than a little nutz if it's anything but a PG.

I guess if you have to do it to get to D1, it’s the right path. Thank god my kids didn’t need to do it….would have been expensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seems like SJC has got to do it this year . . . Loaded 26 and 27 classes. Now or never Cadets!

Isn’t this the same loaded team that lost to Ryken?

[Anonymous]

LOL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of the things that will impact lots of recruiting moving forward with be portal (more so) and roster limits.

While, I firmly believe roster limits are a walking antitrust violation it is the current world these kids are living in. Add in the portal and many of the kids not quite at the top of the star rankings are going to see soft offers and communication - one of the reasons is that they'll be competing against 22-24 year old college kids for spots.

Anecdotal evidence to be sure but I was told by friend that the word on the street for softball is unless you are 5 star don't expect any offers on September 1st - maybe they'll start trickling in late fall. They were told that many schools will be looking at their current holes during fall practice and fill in via the portal - then they recruit for what they need 2 years down the road.

The portal was dry as a bone this year for lacrosse. Maybe softball's different, but it's not the landscape it was several years ago when covid year eligibility was rampant.

It was not as robust as the post Covid years but it was still a part of the recruiting dynamic. Do you think the kid from UVA moved over to Duke on some whim? Or the best FOGO by raw percentages last year go to UMd. There was easily 50-60 transfers via the portal this summer. It will only grow as kids see an advantage in moving to a different school.

I wouldn't be the least surprised that kids will ladder up through programs based on their prior year's performance. Add in roster caps for most programs, then coaches will be looking to fill open spots with men that can immediately contribute and not wait on a kid to fill that spot a couple of years. So yes, the portal is going to soften HS recruiting - at least for juniors and programs will likely look for post junior year recruits to fill spots.

[Anonymous]

Portal only impacts ACC and B1G on recruiting. Patriot and Ivy are, for the most part, locked in Fresh through Sr. Lower tier D1 players are always looking to transfer to better program but tend to shuffle amongst themselves so don’t impact recruiting that much.

[Anonymous]

Here is how I see it for spring of 2026:

1. Cadets - loaded 26 class. Time for these guys to make a big statement. Wes loaded up on transfers this off-season to fill in some holes. Expect SJC to be back in the finals.

2. Prep - hoyas should breeze to IAC ship with a solid 26 class. IAC will be very down next spring. Hilgy will have GP humming by late spring.

3. GC - it boom or bust for the Falcons with their 26 class.

4. Landon - Bears graduated a deep 2025 class but are the best coached team in the area. Don't count them out.

5. Gonzaga - Eagles always have the athletes and are well coached. Always a tough out for anyone.

HM:

Bullis, PVI, DM, STA

[Anonymous]

Programs will continue to try and follow the Maryland model. Redshirt all your freshmen and bring in 3-5 older kids from the portal. Tillman redshirted Ford, Draley, Gardner this year among others. Try and field as old a team as possible. Men win over boys every time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of the things that will impact lots of recruiting moving forward with be portal (more so) and roster limits.

While, I firmly believe roster limits are a walking antitrust violation it is the current world these kids are living in. Add in the portal and many of the kids not quite at the top of the star rankings are going to see soft offers and communication - one of the reasons is that they'll be competing against 22-24 year old college kids for spots.

Anecdotal evidence to be sure but I was told by friend that the word on the street for softball is unless you are 5 star don't expect any offers on September 1st - maybe they'll start trickling in late fall. They were told that many schools will be looking at their current holes during fall practice and fill in via the portal - then they recruit for what they need 2 years down the road.

The portal was dry as a bone this year for lacrosse. Maybe softball's different, but it's not the landscape it was several years ago when covid year eligibility was rampant.

It was not as robust as the post Covid years but it was still a part of the recruiting dynamic. Do you think the kid from UVA moved over to Duke on some whim? Or the best FOGO by raw percentages last year go to UMd. There was easily 50-60 transfers via the portal this summer. It will only grow as kids see an advantage in moving to a different school.

I wouldn't be the least surprised that kids will ladder up through programs based on their prior year's performance. Add in roster caps for most programs, then coaches will be looking to fill open spots with men that can immediately contribute and not wait on a kid to fill that spot a couple of years. So yes, the portal is going to soften HS recruiting - at least for juniors and programs will likely look for post junior year recruits to fill spots.

a) The "portal" has only waned as the numbers of covid guys has dropped off. There's zero reason to believe that will all of a sudden shift back up.
b) We're now at a point where it's minimal. As far as roster limits becoming more in play, that would logically shrink it further.
c) The "portal" for lacrosse is just an automated way of transferring vs. having to send a number of emails. It didn't change the entire game in conjunction with dropping a sit-out year like it did in several other sports. Lacrosse players have been transferring like this for decades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seems like SJC has got to do it this year . . . Loaded 26 and 27 classes. Now or never Cadets!

Isn’t this the same loaded team that lost to Ryken?

2025s- booze bags

[Anonymous]

1 SJC. Agree but need to fix the culture to meet expectations.

2 Landon . Will be better than you think

3 Prep. Will Hilgy get the 5 star to play team ball?

4 GC . Is the defense up to the task?

5 Gonzaga. Is this the worst Gonzaga team in the last 15 years?

[Anonymous]

1) SJC can’t fix culture. Teams don’t win without culture.
2) Landon best team in DMV - will win ship.
3) prep falls flat and will need a two year rebuild.
4) this is the worst team in GZ history.

[Anonymous]

Only 1 local 2027 in IL top100 and wasn’t in top 50. What is happening with our local lax development?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1 SJC. Agree but need to fix the culture to meet expectations.

2 Landon . Will be better than you think

3 Prep. Will Hilgy get the 5 star to play team ball?

4 GC . Is the defense up to the task?

5 Gonzaga. Is this the worst Gonzaga team in the last 15 years?

Military Road needs to address the culture issues they had last Spring.

Hilgy will fix the Hoyas and the club ball culture that persisted the past two seasons. The 5 star attackman is all hype, he got dominated in the games I witnessed last Spring.

Pressure is on Dane Smith to get the Falcons to the ship. Now at the start of his 4th season, if they can't get to the WCAC finals this spring, questions will begin to be raised.

Landon is hit hard with major graduation losses. While they are always well coached, I'm not sure the Bears have enough offense weapons coming back.

Gonzaga is always strong and competitive, I wouldn't rule them out at all.

Top 5.

1. SJC
2. Prep
3. Landon
4. GZ
5. GC