The Langkammerer Trophy

The Jerry Langkammerer Invitational is the most prestigious in-season High School lacrosse tournament in the Western United States. It is hosted by Saint Ignatius College Prep and annually gathers a top-notch field of teams from a bunch of states in the Western United States. This year will be no different. I've been fortunate to attend all the Langkammerer Invitationals. I wouldn't miss it. Last year I saw a flash of the new trophy for the Langkammerer and it looked great. Now, I've got a few pics of it. Here they are:

 Count on SI to do it right! This thing is 30 inches of limited edition bronze sculptures, brass plaques, and solid mahogany planks, and is a fitting trophy for a tremendous tournament. Every team that has ever participated in the Langkammerer is listed for the year in which they competed. This year's event should be just as good as ever!

Casey Hock - Queen's University season opener 2/18

Casey Hock

Saturday, February 18th, I'll drive about 2 1/2 hours west of my winter home to see Casey Hock and his DII teammates at Queen's University take on the Lenoir-Rhyne Bears (another North Carolina DII team) which is currently ranked #9 in the nation. This game will be the season opener for Queens and should provide a good test for the Royals, as it's an away game. I'm told by impeccable sources that Casey will get some field time, so off I go to Hickory, NC to see our NorCal HS AA in his first regular season college game. Should be fun.

Of course, I did see Casey in a fall ball scrimmage at Queen's, so this will be the second time I'll have seen him play in college. You might think that I'm a big Casey fan. You'd be right! I'll let y'all know how he looks.
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Addendum: I drove over to the game between Queens and Lenoir-Rhyne and saw a good game. My sources turned out not to be impeccable. The outcome of the game was not determined until 30 seconds remained in the game and, as a consequence Casey did not see the field. I looked carefully at all the attack who played for Queen's and didn't see any reason why Casey won't get playing time soon. His stick skills and sneakiness are assets too valuable to waste. 

Ben Krebs in the Duke Blue v White Scrimmage

A couple of weeks ago, Duke Men's lacrosse held its annual Blue/White Intra-squad pre-season scrimmage. I was there to check it out. Actually, I was there the weekend before, too, to see the scrimmage between USNA and Duke. So, I've seen a fair amount of the Blue Devils this pre-season and they look pretty good. Inside Lacrosse has them at #3 in the country! Maybe so, but they've got a ways to go before they are a well-oiled machine.

Well, the reason for this post is that Ben Krebs,  NorCal's excellent goalie, was in the cage for the 4th quarter of the Blue v White game. He looked like he belonged on the field with a strong DI team. Yes, he let a couple in, but he kept a bunch out as well. Remember, the guys shooting on him were among the very best players in DI. Very nice performance, Ben. Congrats on a fine initial showing!

The "likely letter" season in the Ivies

The Ivy League plays by different rules. Sure, they're all NCAA DI schools – meeting the minimum standards the NCAA requires – but the league's a) season of sport, b) recruiting practices, c) academic standards, d) lack of athletic scholarships, and e) admissions practices are at a far remove from the rest of NCAA DI schools. Laxers who aspire to play in the Ivy League need to learn a whole new language to understand Ivy recruiting. In particular, two phrases – academic index and likely letter – are unique to the Ivies. In a separate blog entry, I'll write later about the intricacies of the Academic Index and why it delays the completion of recruiting a class. The Likely Letter is particularly timely now, since they have recently arrived at the homes of anxious Ivy hopefuls over the last month or so.

So, what is the Likely Letter and what is the origin of the name? It all starts with the standard comment of all Ivy coaches that, "Admissions makes admission decisions, I don't. In return for your commitment to me, I commit to do my best to represent you to the admissions committee." Since coaches want to build, and hold, their classes, they need to send a signal to recruited athletes who have scholarship offers from non-Ivies that those athletes are "likely" to be admitted. Admissions committees for each Ivy meet in the Fall and are presented with a list of High School Senior candidates by the Coach of each and every sport the school sponsors. The committee reviews each candidate (and the coaches candidate pool as a whole) and makes tentative decisions on each candidate. Those candidates who pass muster with the admissions committee – some pass with flying colors and others by the skin of their teeth –  are sent the infamous "likely letter." Sadly, some few don't make it past the admissions committee and the Coach has to convey the bad news to the declined player.

So, what does the likely letter say and why is it sent? The letter from the Admissions committee says to a recruited athlete that he/she is "likely" to be admitted if the candidate's grades and behaviors remain at their current level. It is not a guarantee, but it is the next closest thing. Recruited athletes are encouraged to apply "Early Decision or Early Action" to the Ivy that has recruited them. Coaches, Admissions, and Administration at the Ivies know that they are competing against schools who offer scholarship monies, while the Ivies offer no athletic scholarships and only offer need-based aid. Historically, the likely letter has served as a way to signal recruited athletes that if things stay on track, they'll be offered an admissions slot in the early action/decision flurry.

But increasingly, the likely letter is an anachronism. Why? Sophomore recruiting is the why. When non-Ivies start recruiting rising Sophomores, the Ivies haves no ability to respond. They require transcripts, standardized test scores, recommendations from teachers and administrators. So, it's quaint and it's steeped in tradition, but if you want to go Ivy, you'll have to decline scholarship offers made during your Sophomore year and take the risk of not getting a likely letter. It is becoming harder for scholar athletes to wait for a likely letter.

Still, you'd be amazed how many players wait. The thought of an Ivy education resonates with a sizable portion of the lacrosse world. Nonetheless, I will predict that that advent of Sophomore recruiting will force the Ivies to re-examine their recruiting practices. They may conclude to keep the status quo ante, but not without lots of tooth gnashing and hand wringing. The yawning chasm between big-time athletics and big-time academics is widening. In non-Ivies, most of the battles between athletics and admissions are won by the Athletic Departments. That's not true for the Ivies. Just a very few years ago, DI Men's laxers committed late in the Summer of their Junior year or early in their Senior year. We'll see how the Ivies respond to top players being recruited in the summer after their Freshman year or in the Fall of their Sophomore year! At this point in their academic lives, incoming Sophomores have skimpy transcripts, no AP classes, no SAT scores, no PSAT scores,  and no extended read of a candidate from his teachers, counsellors or coaches is available.

Coaches face much more uncertainty about the players they are recruiting since they know so little about a candidate's academic profile when that recruit has completed only his Freshman year. As a consequence, Ivy coaches will have to add more conditions to their offers. Such conditions include: a) subject to a score of XXX on your PSAT, b) subject to SAT scores of XXXX, c) subject to a GPA of X.XX, etc. It is worth remembering that these conditions may satisfy the coach, but may not satisfy admissions. Only admissions can make an offer to an Ivy candidate. I know of several instances where Ivy coaches have raised the academic and test score bar during the time between coaches' initial offers and the creation of their final list of recruits to present to admissions. In part, this relates to players achieving (or not achieving) target test scores and GPAs. In part it relates to the Academic Index for the entire list of recruits.  

It is a tricky time for the Ivies and their lacrosse teams. As a result, it is a tricky time to be a recruited laxer to the Ivy League.

Patrick Shevelson to Kenyon

One of my favorite players, Patrick Shevelson, has commited to Kenyon College. Looks like he'll be joining Phil Alimam of Saint Ignatius as the twosome from NorCal who'll be attending this very strong academic institution in the Fall of 2012.

The best single-game performance I've ever seen in the cage was one of Patrick's. He played on the NorCal U15 team at Vail (when NorCal's top Youth teams ALWAYS went to Vail). Athletic, acrobatic, outrageous standing on his head good! Memories of that performance will stay with me forever. He's certainly had a number of fine games at Foothill and I'm sure he'll have many at Kenyon, but I can't imagine him ever topping that game in Vail in the summer of 2008! Congratulations, Patrick!

The Ivy League: Destination resort for NorCal laxers?

If one were to look at all the conferences in NCAA DI lacrosse, searching for THE conference with the most NorCal players, it wouldn't take much time to figure out that the Ivy League is the destination resort of choice for NorCal's top players. Right now, looking at current Ivy players and Ivy commits, every lacrosse playing Ivy has at least one NorCal standout. Think of that! Of all the Ancient Eight, seven play Men's lacrosse. And every one of them has at least one player or commit from NorCal. Perennial power Cornell has three: Roy Lang, the SI 1st team NCAA All-American, Ross Rudow, the powerfully-built SRV middie, and Connor Hunt, the terrifying Close D from DLS. That's pretty impressive. A perennial Semi-finalist in the NCAA has 3 NorCal guys (with another one coming). And it's not going to be much different at other Ivies.  Go NorCal!!!

  

Jordan LaTendresse: Cornell's his new home

As a few folks know, Jordan LaTendresse decided the Naval Academy was not for him. As with everything Jordan decides, it's rigorous, detailed and conclusive. He'll take a year off, then head off to Cornell. This is big news for Cornell and for NorCal. For Cornell, they'll get another 6'5" agile Close D to join Connor Hunt. For NorCal, its two most dynamic, powerful, defenders have decided to play for the Big Red. These two guys are scary good. To have them play on the same team – and ultimately on the same line – will scare almost all other NCAA DI opponents. After years of being opponents, Jordan and Connor will get to gang up on opponents. Were I an Attackman, I'd hope to be the third Attack when my team played Cornell!

NorCal commits: A double doubleheader!

DIII Kenyon and DI Dartmouth both have happy coaches, as four NorCal players have recently committed to these schools - two to each school. Coach Andy Tower has to be thrilled to pick up commitments from two NorCal Junior Attacks who rank among the very best players at their position in California. Jack McCormick, De La Salle's lefty feeding/finishing master, will join Wiley Osbourne, Menlo School's righty Attack who is, in many ways, the mirror image of Jack. These are VERY good gets by Coach Tower, and these two players replenish the steady NorCal pipeline to the Ivy League. Congrats to these two fine scholar athletes!

Kenyon coach Doug Misarti worked hard to land two of NorCal's hardest working players - whose names I'm reluctant to reveal until the Early Decision admissions process completes on December 15th. Still, it seems likely that Kenyon will land a sensational NorCal Goalie and a Midfielder who - in my opinion - gives the most effort of any middie I've ever watched in NorCal. These two 2012 commits continue Coach Misarti's success in recruiting top NorCal players, as former SI standout, Nick Alimam, plays for the Lords. 

Congrats to all of these fine players! I've watched them all for a number of years and they are fine representatives of NorCal Lacrosse. With all the commitments we've had over the last several years, I've recently come to believe NorCal is a "HOTBED." Not an emerging hotbed, not an up-and-comer, but an Honest-to-God, dyed-in-the-wool HOTBED. More about my contention in a future post.

Pursuing an athletic scholarship – How costly?

Here's a provocative article for parents of lacrosse players who seek to continue playing the sport in college. It features Kieran Eissler, a very talented player from Nevada who recently committed to Johns Hopkins. Money quote from Kieran's father: "This summer alone, and I'm embarrassed to say it, we probably spent around $12,000." Read the whole article here.


Kieran is a very talented player (the boy played against him at the Adrenaline Challenge and with him on this year's Under Armour West team), but it costs about the same to pursue that dream whether you're as good as Kieran or not. The author's point is that parent's need a reality check before they decide to spend  savings in pursuit of an athletic scholarship. I commend this article to all parents of High School athletes.

Casey Hock - His first game at Queens

It's VERY early in the NCAA Fall Ball season, but we've got a NorCal siting in North Carolina! Casey Hock, NorCal AA and holder of the all-time Monte Vista single season points record, played in his first college game today, as the current Queens University NCAA DII laxers jousted with the Queens alums. The current Royals held the lead through almost the entire game, but a late surge by the alums brought the game to an 8-8 tie – and that's where it ended. Casey, donning #53 – yes, it's a large squad – looked pretty good today, but so did a number of the 10-11 Queens attackmen. This looks to be another good season for the Royals, who won their conference last year.

I got to speak with Casey briefly after the game. In response to my questions, he said that he's very happy with his selection of Queens as his college, that after a two-week adjustment period he's got that hang of college academic requirements, and that he felt the level of play by his teammates had him at the right school for lacrosse. Graciously, he invited me to attend a regular season Royals game. As I told him, I'll be there for an early season game. Delightful to catch up with one of NorCal's all-time finest!

Tim Jacob at Brown

One of my favorite players, Tim Jacob (Bellarmine College Prep, Class of 2011), gets a very nice mention from his college coach, Lars Tiffany at Brown University. Here's the quote from Inside Lacrosse: "The biggest surprise as a freshman this fall has been attackman Tim Jacob from Bellarmine College Prep and Palo Alto, Calif. He was not expected to make an immediate impact but has been a “pleasant surprise,” said Tiffany."

You can read the article about Brown's entering class at:

http://insidelacrosse.com/news/2011/09/28/fallball-2011-brown-bears-check

Way to go, Tim!

Will Montero to Bryant!

De La Salle's fine midfielder, Will Montero – Class of 2013 – has committed to Bryant University, where he will play for famed Coach, Mike Pressler. He'll also join two other Nor Cal standouts – Nico Dutra and Sean Mullin – on the Bulldogs squad. Will is an ultra-smooth middie, with an excellent shot on the run. But, even better, he's got a strong lacrosse IQ, VERY strong fundamentals, and an impressive sense for the geometries of the game. Mike Pressler is getting a good one! Here are some highlights from Will's 2011 season:

WSL ranks Top Club Teams in the West - II

"You're entitled to your own opinions, but you aren't entitled to your own facts."

A week or so ago, I commented on the WestSideLax rankings of the top Club Teams in the Western United States. At that time, they had counted down the teams from #10 to #4. While, in my opinion, they ranked the Golden State Titans too low, they're entitled to their own opinions.

They continued their countdown over the next week, ranking the Orange County Kings #3, the Alcatraz Outlaws #2, and the San DIego Lax Dawgs #1. You can see their complete rankings here. All I can say is, they're entitled to their own opinions, but they aren't entitled to their own facts.

West SideLax specifies the criteria they use in their rankings. Here they are:

• Summer 2011 wins

• Coaches feedback

• Strength of schedule

• College commitments

• Observed performance

Let's examine each of these metrics:

Summer Wins reads to me as, "Who did you defeat," rather than "How many wins did you have." By that definition, wins in strong tournaments matter. So, which tournaments are strong? On the National circuit, top college coaches rank them as follows: Brine Shootout, Champ Camp, Tri-State, King of the Hill, Gait Cup, and Hotbeds. Teams that vie for victories in these tournaments are testing themselves against a very strong pool of nationally ranked Club teams. Only two of the WestSideLax contenders elected to compete in the top National Circuit tourneys. They were the Golden State Titans and the Alcatraz Outlaws.

Coaches Feedback could mean High School Coaches, College Coaches, or a mix of the two. Heck, it could even mean Youth Lacrosse coaches, since they aren't specific. I'll assume that they mean College Coaches, since if they meant anything else, there is no way that Western teams who competed only on the East Coast could be evaluated. If this is true, the best measure of feedback from college coaches is who they recruit.

Strength of Schedule is just that. If your club team didn't compete in the top East Coast tourneys, your team did not have a strong schedule. Period.

College Commitments are redundant with any reasonable definition of Coaches feedback. One or the other needs to be dumped.

Observed performance is another ill-defined metric. Who's doing the observing? WSL? HS coaches, or College Coaches? It matters. Here's why: If the Alcatraz Outlaws - who played only on the East Coast - were not seen by WSL's "observers," why were they ranked at all?

Enough! WSL's metrics are fatally flawed, but I admire their effort. WSL adds value to the Western Lacrosse community, they're innovative and they're a terrific source of game write-ups and other lax news throughout the West. I check their website every day.

So, who are the best Club teams in the geographic area staked out by WSL? Here's my cut, using the following metrics:

College Commitments - College coaches vote with their offers. They guys they recruit are the best players. Coaches now recruit nationally. They see ALL the candidates. They travel the East Coast, the West Coast and most places in between. In addition, when they watch their candidates, they can answer  the question: Who are the top Club teams?

Performance in strong tournaments - Being in the Sweet Sixteen in a top East Coast tournament means more than winning a tournament consisting of competition from local Club teams.

Best in the West (I have seen every one of these teams play within the last 15 months)

10 Minnesota Elite - MN sent 10 of its 2011 Seniors to play NCAA DI. Fourth highest total in the West. Most all of MN's top players play for the Elite.

9 Denver Elite - Colorado sent 13 players from the Class of 2011 to NCAA DI schools - third highest total in the West. Not all of them played for the Elite, but they defeated a mid-tier LI Express team at the Brine Shootout. This is a solid team.

8 Golden State Titans - This NorCal team is quite young, but VERY good. Several early DI commits. They took 5th place at the Hotbeds tourney. I might have this team ranked too low.

7 OC Kings - A nice team from California's Central Coast section. Some of these players also play on Team America, about which more later.

6 Arizona Burn - Arizona is an up-and-comer in the Lacrosse world. Charlie Hushek and Brock Ghelfi lead this team. They suffer from not having many lax teams in the state, but the Burn gets almost all the good players.

5 Brady's Bunch - An eclectic team from a number of States but - make no mistake - they are VERY good. Lots and lots of NCAA players.

4 San Diego Lax Dawgs - I have enjoyed watching the LaxDawgs over several years! They're big, athletic, and well coached. In my mind, the best of the teams that didn't go East this past summer.

3 Team America - An Orange County team that made the Sweet Sixteen at Champ Camp. They're well coordinated and well coached.

2 Dallas Select - Texas sent 16 Seniors to NCAA DI schools in 2011 - second most in the West. A bunch of them played for Dallas Select. Of their four tourney appearances, three were in the East, the other at the Denver Team Camp. They made the semi-finals at three of the four, though they did not make the semis at their toughest camp - King of the Hill.

1 Alcatraz Outlaws - Twenty-two Outlaws have committed to NCAA DI schools in the last three years. No other Club team in the Western United States comes close to that total. Attended two tourneys this year - King of the Hill and Gait Cup - and made the finals at both. Both King of the Hill and Gait Cup  are top 5 tourneys and in both instances, the Outlaws lost to the consensus #1 Club team in the nation - Laxachusetts. Western Club Lacrosse gets no better than this.

There you have it! You can disagree with my rankings and the metrics I've chosen, but my facts speak for themselves.   

  

Mike Schlosser to Michigan

Mike Schlosser (Class of 2013), the loose-hipped Middie from Davis has committed to NCAA DI Michigan. He dodges like a lightning bolt and dazzles in the open field. The Wolverines are lucky to have him! He'll join his Alcatraz Outlaw teammate, Mike Hernandez (Class of 2012), at Michigan. Two terrific Middies, with entirely different styles. Both styles are needed in any Midfield. Congrats to Mike!

Here's his Hightlight vid:

Chad Cohan to Duke

Senior Chad Cohan, the excellent St. Ignatius Attack, has committed to Duke University. There he'll join his lacrosse playing brother, Dax, as well as his sister. While I've known about this commit for a while, it was only recently publicized.

Chad is a very good all around Attackman, whose riding game, lacrosse IQ, and crafty dodging are excellent. These qualities made him an appealing recruit to Duke. I believe he'll be a solid contributor at Duke! Coach Danowski is fortunate to have landed him.

As an interesting aside, The Cohan brothers and the Emery brothers apparently live in parallel universes. Both sets of brothers attend/attended St. Ignatius, both sets of brothers will attend the same school, both sets of brothers will attend powerhouse ACC schools, and both sets of brothers will attend a college that won the NCAA DI Men's Lacrosse Championship within the last two years.