If you're seriously suggesting that kids don't change physically or otherwise over the course of a year, then, wow. Hopefully your only involvement with child development is whatever warping you're engaged in with your own spawn. |
Keep telling yourself that. There's a reason why the best college teams are filled with the highest ranked and the more starred players. I'll keep checking but I don't see a lot of High Points and Bucknell's making the final 8 every year. |
Because UVA is such a powerhouse right now. Look at Richmond’s roster |
| UVA has loaded up with highest ranked IL players because Tiffany relies on IL to tell him what is good. IL has no clue because they just don’t have the manpower to objectively assess. IL sees one game and all of a sudden a kid gets four or five stars. Tiffany is cooked. |
UVA - National Championship in 2021, Final 4's in 2023 and 2024 Richmond - Never had a championship. HOWEVER, with their rising success their 2023 class had 3x 4 stars and only one non-starred players. The 2024 - 4x4 stars and 2 non-starred, 2025 3x4 stars and 1 non-starred 2025 - 2x4 stars and 1 non starred 2021 - 2x4 stars and the rest non-starred and they never cracked anything Their best run so far has been in 2025 to the final 8 with 8x 4 stars and 33x3 stars on the roster. Yeah, players matter and the ratings/stars usually correlate to better talent and more wins. |
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Both can be true.
Talent matters and commits to top programs have earned respect. Takes grounded in preseason rankings or number of commits are made by casuals. Do not overthink it - appreciate the comedy for what it is. |
Weird hill to die on. UVA has been performing well below expectations since Schellenberger and Courmier, that 30 year old FOGO and the mountain men they had at long pole left in 24. Those expectations were set by the 5 stars in their recruitment pipeline, which undeniably has been really strong. So, if anything, at 3-4, they're a deep disappointment the past two seasons. |
| Bringing up Courmier and Shellenberger is brain dead. Shellenberger was the #1 player and Courmier was #26. They weren't hidden gems. I can get behind Duenkel and the Millon bros being over-rated though. It's well documented Tiffany relied heavily upon assistants for recruiting, especially Kirwan, so that probably has played into UVA's bad run. |
This is a silly thing to say and comes across bitter. Most 27 kids who are committed are the best players in their class. Are there exceptions? Of course. Will some flame out? Yes. But the vast majority earned their commitment by working hard at their game and being the best of their peers. Marketing and connections have nothing to do with it (in most cases). Are there uncommitted 27s who will end up being more successful in D1 lacrosse than some of the committed players now? Probably. But not that many. The vast majority of players who succeed at the D1 level are players who committed before spring of their Junior year in high school. There are plenty of exceptions, so everyone should keep working if that is their goal, but telling yourself or your kid that the committed kids just had better connections and better marketing is foolish and unhelpful. |
Um, what? If they were winning championships with Shellenberger and Courmier (and company - silly to discount the fogo, the d and the cage in that run), and now they’re not despite being all starred up in terms of the current roster, doesn’t that mean that stars aren’t dispositive? Or am I reading this back and forth incorrectly? |
| It has always seemed to me that IL favors the sons and daughters of well known lacrosse players and/or coaches. Probably much harder to get noticed if a great player not on one of a dozen or so clubs. |
| Ty Xanders used to be the IL star guy a couple of years ago, he was pretty good, he left and started his own shop. Now IL has some flunkies doing the ratings and they are completely out of their depths. The correlation between stars and talent will diverge significant over the next few years. |
I would agree with this somewhat. But they are always watching the same players and teams. Even when you have other great teams and players. For example, how many times do you need to see a 5 star? |
Maybe in some cases, but the sons and daughters are the exceptions, not the rule. You’re talking about maybe 1 or 2 kids a year. As for getting noticed, it’s a much larger group of clubs. Probably 40+. And if you’re really good, you’ll get noticed from almost anywhere. Helps to be tall. |
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The other aspect about stars and rankings is they rarely up or downgrade them. They don't adequately account for the kid who gains weight or has an injury or for the kid who fills out. This is because stars and rankings, for the most part, are dished out before a kid plays his last 2 seasons.
It's a flawed system but because of the sheer volume of highly ranked players going to the higher profile schools, it usually ends up with them at the top. |