Anonymous wrote:Speaks might want to look around and get away from Military Road. Current admin is a bit too sports-obsessed and the level of pressure/ expectations to bring home banner after banner each year is likely "higher" there than any school in the region.

Speaks might find the balance of the IAC to be better suited for long-term interests.

+1 but it depends on how committed Bullis will remain to its lacrosse program. The current headmaster is obviously very invested in both the boys / girls track and the boys / girls basketball programs.

Anonymous wrote:It's embarrassing that the All IAC teams on their website are now two years old. Do they even do it anymore?

https://www.iacathletics.com/sports/mlax/alliac-lacrosse-team

Most of these lists, regardless of the league, are just on IG. Which is stupid and dumb and bad, but that seems to be what is happening.

Speaks might want to look around and get away from Military Road. Current admin is a bit too sports-obsessed and the level of pressure/ expectations to bring home banner after banner each year is likely "higher" there than any school in the region.

Speaks might find the balance of the IAC to be better suited for long-term interests.

Anonymous wrote:I don't see Dane jumping either. He has the buy-in from GC, it seems, although they don't give him any scholarship money, which hurts recruiting in the WCAC/IAC.

Urick just took the DCE job, and left a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths in the last few years.

Severns shouldn't even be considered. Ask any of the DCE 2027s how committed he is and how strong of a coach he is.

Bartozzi is strong, but Joseph and White were strong coordinators who were far ahead of him in the Bellistri coaching tree.

Umm, Dane has full access to the scholarship money and he is using it as much as possible. Many if not most of his players are on scholarship.

It's embarrassing that the All IAC teams on their website are now two years old. Do they even do it anymore?

https://www.iacathletics.com/sports/mlax/alliac-lacrosse-team

I don't see Dane jumping either. He has the buy-in from GC, it seems, although they don't give him any scholarship money, which hurts recruiting in the WCAC/IAC.

Urick just took the DCE job, and left a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths in the last few years.

Severns shouldn't even be considered. Ask any of the DCE 2027s how committed he is and how strong of a coach he is.

Bartozzi is strong, but Joseph and White were strong coordinators who were far ahead of him in the Bellistri coaching tree.

I see Bartozzi as the favorite.

Don't see Dane Smith jumping ship as he is building something strong in Olney.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Bellistri had an incredible run at Bullis in his ten years at the helm. It will be extremely interesting to see what direction they choose. Thoughts on potential candidates to target:
- Dane Smith - does he want the IAC challenge and leave with the stacked 26 class graduating?
- Scott Urick - may not have worked out at Prep, but he has the DCE connection now
- Casey O’Neill - is he ready to get back into high school ball?
- Garett Ince - is he going to get the support of the admin at SSSAS or is he already growing impatient?

Who could be a dark horse??
Already on staff: Bartozzi?
MAC Coaches: John Tucker? Matt Marriott? Joey Severns?
WCAC Coaches: Boh Mitchell?
Public School: Aaron Solomon? Dave Woodring?

I’d bet on Bartozzi or Urick.

Urick just bought DCE. He's out.

How much does it pay?

Anonymous wrote:Bellistri had an incredible run at Bullis in his ten years at the helm. It will be extremely interesting to see what direction they choose. Thoughts on potential candidates to target:
- Dane Smith - does he want the IAC challenge and leave with the stacked 26 class graduating?
- Scott Urick - may not have worked out at Prep, but he has the DCE connection now
- Casey O’Neill - is he ready to get back into high school ball?
- Garett Ince - is he going to get the support of the admin at SSSAS or is he already growing impatient?

Who could be a dark horse??
Already on staff: Bartozzi?
MAC Coaches: John Tucker? Matt Marriott? Joey Severns?
WCAC Coaches: Boh Mitchell?
Public School: Aaron Solomon? Dave Woodring?

I’d bet on Bartozzi or Urick.

I think we'll see a dropoff from St. Alban's next year. Their hotshot offensive coordinator is moving out of the area, and I doubt they'll be able to replace him.

Bellistri had an incredible run at Bullis in his ten years at the helm. It will be extremely interesting to see what direction they choose. Thoughts on potential candidates to target:
- Dane Smith - does he want the IAC challenge and leave with the stacked 26 class graduating?
- Scott Urick - may not have worked out at Prep, but he has the DCE connection now
- Casey O’Neill - is he ready to get back into high school ball?
- Garett Ince - is he going to get the support of the admin at SSSAS or is he already growing impatient?

Who could be a dark horse??
Already on staff: Bartozzi?
MAC Coaches: John Tucker? Matt Marriott? Joey Severns?
WCAC Coaches: Boh Mitchell?
Public School: Aaron Solomon? Dave Woodring?

Great spring in the DMV. While there aren't as many teams on the national rankings as we've seen in some years, some of that is a function of teams beating each other. Have to tip your hat to PVI on finishing their DMV season with 1 loss. Good luck to them in the Virginia state tourney.

Here's some quick thoughts on some IAC and WCAC teams looking to next spring.

***IAC***

Prep: How many more pieces can Hilgy add? Are they really loading up with boarders? Prep got stronger as the season went on, it's possible Prep could become the team to beat if national recruiting is real for them.

Bullis: Replacing Bellistri will be really difficult. Do they have a successor in mind or will they kick the trees? How much of their success was because of his work behind the scenes? Will the admin continue to support lacrosse recruiting and admits?

St. Albans: Is Heeter building a more complete program or was this semifinal appearance a result of a relatively down IAC conference this year? They played to their personnel well this spring and will likely by in the spoiler role again moving forward.

Landon: Can they win faceoffs and return to more athletic form between the lines? 24 and 25 Landon teams looked a lot like PVI this year and forced teams to play full-field lacrosse. Given how many new faces they played this spring and Landon's history, expect McGettigan to have them back in the conversation for area's best next year.

EHS and SSSA: Both rosters need more athletes and lacrosse players. Is either school's admin going to support their programs enough?

Way too Early Prediction: Landon and Prep compete for the top spot, The Jesuit Dorms are the difference.

***WCAC***

PVI: Magical season this spring, but lose a lot to graduation. Can they reload their roster and tap into the kids further out 66 more consistently? With how much that area has grown in the last decade, if they can poach more kids that might otherwise go to publics, they could maintain a strong roster with little competition from other DMV schools.

SJC: These boards have been tough on the Cadets, but they do want to get back on top. They always reload on the back end which is Speaks' specialty, but can they score more goals in big games? Double digits against stronger opponents has been elusive on Military Road since the Duenkel and Ince years.

GC: Can they get over the hump and get to the title game? With PVI breaking through, maybe Dane's consistently excellent recruiting brings the Falcons to new heights next year.

Gonzaga: The only team to beat PVI so far this year (see what happens to PVI when they run into StAB), they were in every league game except the PVI rematch. Like SJC, they need to find more consistent offensive production.

DeMatha: The tables really turned on the Stags in 26 after 25. Can they reload the roster and return to the magic from last spring?

The Heights and the Bishops: Meh.

Way too Early Prediction: Falcons-Cadets in the 'ship, with SJC taking it over GC.

Big Hope: More teams look at the success of Landon 24 and 25, and PVI 26, and we see more ten-man variations and more exciting end-to-end lacrosse in the region.

Anonymous wrote:PVI vs GP who wins ?

PVI by 5-6

I think the point was not to lift Landon but to show GP wouldn't have won against PVI given the dominance they had and just barely winning. PVI was the best in the area given everything.