Lacrosse Recruiting at Cornell

I just read a recruiting article at the Inside Lacrosse web site (my son is a HS player),and listed as 2010 top recruits as well as honorable mention recruits, had to be over 50 names w/ the college choice each athlete has made. Unfortunately, Cornell is not the final choice of any of these top athletes (many of who are Long Island products),not ONE! What gives??- I heard Tambroni is a great guy, the Big Red are always in the mix for an NCAA title, is it Ithaca or lack of athletic scholarships?

We should be cleaning up in NY, especially on LI!

I continually hear that Tambroni seems to be a genius at finding overlooked players or "diamonds in the rough" and building a competitive team out of them.

Question out of my ignorance: Where did Glynn, Siebald, Moyer, etc appear on the list for their respective year?

Another thing to consider: does that list come out before or after the players make their commitment? Did 17 out of the last 24 Mr. Hockey in Minnesota winners just happen to choose to play for the Gophers, or is the committee influenced by the players' choice of college, too?

I know Siebald was a top 20 recruit, not so sure of the others. The goalie recruit for '09 is a top 20 recruit, but everyone else I guess fits into the "diamond in in the rough" category.

Year after year, it seems we do not get the top recruits, but somehow manage to win. Imagine if we got a few more of these "studs".

big29red
Year after year, it seems we do not get the top recruits, but somehow manage to win. Imagine if we got a few more of these "studs".

Then CU might be more like Virginia- a ton of individual talent too impressed with themselves to play as a team. The first shot of the game said a lot on saturday.

I'd rather have the "diamond in the rough" guy who blossoms into an All-American (like most of Tambroni's guys). It would appear they have more to prove since they were overlooked by the big schools. (ex Pannell)

And I don't know how much stock we can put into these top recruit rankings. What are they based on? Heck, there are so many different lists. After this year I'm confident that we can win it all without a team loaded with top recruits.

Agree....All Good Points- However, you are going to need a few horses to keep up w/ the other big boys, which is now starting to include teams like Brown, Harvard, and Notre Dame!

Are people suggesting that Tambroni deliberately recruits diamonds in the rough rather than the high profile players? While a kid like Pannel is a great story -- too small to attract much attention until he shot up after a late puberty -- surely at least SOME of the highly ranked players are really deserving of their rankings. The fact that such players don't play well as a team at Virginia reflects more on Starsia than on the players themselves, and I bet at Cornell it would either be Tambroni's way or the highway. (Just as in hockey. Think of a certain hockey player who left after just one year.)

In other words, lacrosse is a sport that can be taught, one can learn, and in which one can improve considerably as a young adult. So a good coach can really make a difference. While turning a group of overlooked high school players into a team of over-achievers and a national title contender is a great story, I still think the coach would prefer to start with the most skilled and athletic players available. Maybe if we had a couple of extra very capable middies to rotate into the two lines, the fatigue on Monday wouldn't have been so great and we'd have our fourth title.

Nonetheless, the question still stands. Why are so few of Cornell's recruits among the most highly ranked high school players. Lack of athletic scholarships surely plays a part, as do admission standards. Compared to hockey, lacrosse players probably come from a higher socioeconomic group, so their need-based financial aid may not match athletic scholarships. Still, with so much of New York being a lacrosse hotbed, the contract colleges and New York state's financial aid should give Cornell a leg-up. Also, admission standards at places like Hopkins or UVA are not so much lower than Cornell's, and probably higher than for some colleges at Cornell.

This is an enigma wrapped in a puzzle.

Nonetheless, the question still stands. Why are so few of Cornell's recruits among the most highly ranked high school players. Lack of athletic scholarships surely plays a part, as do admission standards. Compared to hockey, lacrosse players probably come from a higher socioeconomic group, so their need-based financial aid may not match athletic scholarships. Still, with so much of New York being a lacrosse hotbed, the contract colleges and New York state's financial aid should give Cornell a leg-up. Also, admission standards at places like Hopkins or UVA are not so much lower than Cornell's, and probably higher than for some colleges at Cornell.

This is an enigma wrapped in a puzzle.

first, this game will do wonders for recruiting in the next few years.

second, Princeton gets blue chippers on their roster ... maybe it's their 6 National Championships since 1992. i think as long as Coach T is molding as QK says, "The West Genesee of college lacrosse." i'm happy to see us fighting it out in the FF next year for another shot at a NC! the recruits will come and i trust that Coach T gets the right ones to come to the east hill.

Truthfully, I think the higher profile recruits will come. It takes a while for the reputation as a contender to spread. This is only our second final four trip since the 80's. Current high school players don't know or care about our glory in the 70's or 80's. They lived through our misery in the 90's and are only seeing us perform well the last few years. With time we will get more of the top players. We will never be Syracuse or Hopkins, but we can win a national championship and we will.

I'm pretty sure Glynn and Moyer were not on any of those lists. What's interesting is to go back to those lists from 4 or more years ago and see how many of those stars didn't turn into anything special - or even play. I'm away from my stash of Inside Lacrosse (that goes back to the years they were a newspaper thinner than The Sun,) but in this dreaded gap between the end of lacrosse season and the start of the NFL maybe I can get some data.

TimV
What's interesting is to go back to those lists from 4 or more years ago and see how many of those stars didn't turn into anything special - or even play.

Some of that is probably the result of going to the same school as other blue-chippers. I'm sure every single one of them thinks that he is going to be the stud frosh who breaks into the lineup but only the best one will. The others will have to figure out a way to cope with no longer being the best player on his team and not everyone can do that. I'd guess that a lot of those blue-chippers-that-went-bust would have thrived if they had chosen, say, Brown over Virginia.

Steve Kerr once told a story about how only two schools recruited him out of high school. When he went to Gonzaga for a visit, their point guard made him look ridiculous and he never did get a scholarship offer. Kerr turned out to be a pretty solid player but he was no John Stockton.

How many lacrosse players actually get full scholarships? The NCAA limit is relatively low -- lower than it is for hockey, I'm pretty sure.

I think SU's class was ranked #1 four years ago -- 2 NCs isn't too bad. I don't believe they've had a top-rated class since then.

Weder
How many lacrosse players actually get full scholarships? The NCAA limit is relatively low -- lower than it is for hockey, I'm pretty sure.

I think you're allowed the equivalent of 12.5 (or so - I know it's not a whole number) full scholarships, and most D-1 rosters are 40+ players, so almost nobody gets a full ride. If the best player on the team qualifies for need-based aid, you can be sure the coach isn't going to "waste" any athletic scholarship money on him, so it's impossible to really know who gets what.

Weder
How many lacrosse players actually get full scholarships? The NCAA limit is relatively low -- lower than it is for hockey, I'm pretty sure.

I think the key thing is that athletic scholarship money can be targeted without respect to need in order to compete for the blue chip recruits. Even for a family with $150-200k in income, $15k or so a year for four years is a not insignificant amount of money, and can sway a decision between academically comparable schools.

Robb

Weder
How many lacrosse players actually get full scholarships? The NCAA limit is relatively low -- lower than it is for hockey, I'm pretty sure.

I think you're allowed the equivalent of 12.5 (or so - I know it's not a whole number) full scholarships, and most D-1 rosters are 40+ players, so almost nobody gets a full ride. If the best player on the team qualifies for need-based aid, you can be sure the coach isn't going to "waste" any athletic scholarship money on him, so it's impossible to really know who gets what.

Additionally, at "factory" schools a coach may have more influence with the Admissions Office and Financial Aid (e.g., meeting need with grants rather than loans). Admittedly, the lacrosse powers right now are heavily weighted with quality schools, so this may be less likely at a school like Hopkins than one in, say, the ACC or Big East. Hockey, on the other hand, has power schools with much lower academics, and I'd be surprised if this didn't happen all the time at places like Minnesota.

I know a kid who had Cornell as his first choice and was recruited for soccer but didn't get in. He was wait-listed at BC and UVA but was not recruited at either. He decided to play DIII for now.

Swampy
Hockey, on the other hand, has power schools with much lower academics, and I'd be surprised if this didn't happen all the time at places like Minnesota.

I think we should be careful to distinguish between what we surmise are a school's admissions standards for athletes and its "academics." By almost any academic measure the University of Minnesota is a top 25 university in this country. For example, US News (not my favorite ranking formula, by the way) has it tied with Columbia and RPI, among others, for #20 in undergraduate engineering. Shanghai Jiao Tong University's ranking of all world universities (an interesting methodology) puts Minnesota #28 overall in the world. Cornell is #12 worldwide, one slot behind Yale and three ahead of Penn.

Al DeFlorio
... US News ...Shanghai Jiao Tong University's ranking ...

Jeez, Al...You are really well read...

The majority of kids at the top programs don't get scholarships or only get partials. Meanwhile the Ivies can give need based money to athletes since they're students. I recall a presentation at our HS last year on financial aid that showed for a middle income family (eg $75K-$100K, which isn't really middle income), Cornell was about $5K cheaper to attend than Virginia for an out of state student. A NYTimes story a year ago went into depth about how little scholarship money there is for the sports such as lax, soccer, hockey at athletic scholarship-granting schools. What this means is it's hard to recruit the very best HS seniors but working below that we can do okay, since they'd be good little or no athletic scholarship money.

All the more reason why it's important to have the right coach. Love him or hate him, I think Andy Noel has a very high priority of increasing the size of the coaching endowments eg such as lax. Tambroni's position as I understand it is partially endowed.

I still don't understand the lack of blue chippers coming to Cornell. I would love to know from someone on the "inside" if Tambro even recruits these kids. Most of them mention Cornell as a consideration of theirs, but does'nt even seem to be in the top 3 or 4 schools when it comes down to their final decisions.I know playing time and money are considerations, but every top ten school has those hurdles to overcome; athletic scholarship school or not (IVY)!

Al DeFlorio

Swampy
Hockey, on the other hand, has power schools with much lower academics, and I'd be surprised if this didn't happen all the time at places like Minnesota.

I think we should be careful to distinguish between what we surmise are a school's admissions standards for athletes and its "academics." By almost any academic measure the University of Minnesota is a top 25 university in this country. For example, US News (not my favorite ranking formula, by the way) has it tied with Columbia and RPI, among others, for #20 in undergraduate engineering. Shanghai Jiao Tong University's ranking of all world universities (an interesting methodology) puts Minnesota #28 overall in the world. Cornell is #12 worldwide, one slot behind Yale and three ahead of Penn.

I was going strictly by undergraduate admission standards, but I could be wrong about these at Minnesota. Minnesota has great graduate programs and faculty, and for all I know the undergrad education could be outstanding.

i've worked with a lot of minnesota grads (including one who played for herb brooks on the 76 championship team, fwiw) and they are generally very solid

Swampy
I was going strictly by undergraduate admission standards, but I could be wrong about these at Minnesota. Minnesota has great graduate programs and faculty, and for all I know the undergrad education could be outstanding.

State schools, by the nature of their mission, will have lower admissions standards than Ivies, Stanford, MIT, etc. But the quality of faculty at the top ones is superb. Berkeley is in anybody's top three. UCLA, Urbana-Champaign, Michigan, Wisconsin are easily top 20. That doesn't mean some won't admit a dud who can throw a football 60 yards and win a BCS slot.

Is Shanghai Jiao Tong University a State School???

TimV
Is Shanghai Jiao Tong University a State School???

Yes, but their football programm is weak even by Ivy standards.

Al DeFlorio

Swampy
I was going strictly by undergraduate admission standards, but I could be wrong about these at Minnesota. Minnesota has great graduate programs and faculty, and for all I know the undergrad education could be outstanding.

State schools, by the nature of their mission, will have lower admissions standards than Ivies, Stanford, MIT, etc. But the quality of faculty at the top ones is superb. Berkeley is in anybody's top three. UCLA, Urbana-Champaign, Michigan, Wisconsin are easily top 20. That doesn't mean some won't admit a dud who can throw a football 60 yards and win a BCS slot.

Well Al, since you mentioned Urbana-Champaign, you don't necessarily have to be a stud football player with questionable grades to be admitted to UI-UC. Apparently being a relative of Tony Rezko and knowing a few trustees is enough to get the admission standards bent in your favor. Be sure to read the trail of emails.

Al DeFlorio

Swampy
I was going strictly by undergraduate admission standards, but I could be wrong about these at Minnesota. Minnesota has great graduate programs and faculty, and for all I know the undergrad education could be outstanding.

State schools, by the nature of their mission, will have lower admissions standards than Ivies, Stanford, MIT, etc. But the quality of faculty at the top ones is superb. Berkeley is in anybody's top three. UCLA, Urbana-Champaign, Michigan, Wisconsin are easily top 20. That doesn't mean some won't admit a dud who can throw a football 60 yards and win a BCS slot.

Don't forget UVA!

A note on one of CU's recruits, this evening Ithaca High School, with future Cornellian AJ Fiore in goal, defeated West Genesee HS 6-2 in a NYS Tournament Quarter-final game. Great win for IHS after years of frustration in the state tournament having to face WG.

peterg
A note on one of CU's recruits, this evening Ithaca High School, with future Cornellian AJ Fiore in goal, defeated West Genesee HS 6-2 in a NYS Tournament Quarter-final game. Great win for IHS after years of frustration in the state tournament having to face WG.

What a great win! Be interesting to see how many saves AJ made.

[Edit: Ithaca Journal reports 2-2 at the half, so a second half shut-out. No info on saves.]

I was told (double hearsay) AJ had 5 saves in each half. Gabe Mendola, a junior and future Harvard enrollee, apparently won every face-off against a very good WG face-off man.

peterg
future Cornellian AJ Fiore

% chance?

AJ enters this fall.

Brief Post-Standard story here: [highschoolsports.syracuse.com]

IHS trailed 2-0 late first period and then scored six straight. Fiore credited with "several point-blank saves." Former Cornell face-off specialist Brian Lasda's son had two goals for IHS.

Fiore 15 shots, 13 saves against a great West Genny team.

peterg
I was told (double hearsay) AJ had 5 saves in each half. Gabe Mendola, a junior and future Harvard enrollee, apparently won every face-off against a very good WG face-off man.

A bit of a good news/bad news situation -- great to have Fiore joining the program, but too bad he couldn't get Mendola to stick around as well!

I was watching the PA state championship game this weekend. Cornell got a mention for one of the players who'd signed with us. Don't remember the name, tho.

Jeff Hopkins '82
I was watching the PA state championship game this weekend. Cornell got a mention for one of the players who'd signed with us. Don't remember the name, tho.

It was Mike Bronzino, a senior close defenseman at Conestoga High School (Chester County). Conestoga is an up-and-coming program that knocked off some of eastern Pennsylvania's entrenched powers this season. Bronzino is a US Lacrosse All America and co-MVP of a league with many future D-I players. More importantly, he was CHS's unquestioned leader. He isn't big, but he's tough and smart -- one of my favorite players in an incoming class that FINALLY has a few dynamic defensemen. The other defender who intrigues me is Jason Noble of Canada's Hill Academy.

scoop85

peterg
I was told (double hearsay) AJ had 5 saves in each half. Gabe Mendola, a junior and future Harvard enrollee, apparently won every face-off against a very good WG face-off man.

A bit of a good news/bad news situation -- great to have Fiore joining the program, but too bad he couldn't get Mendola to stick around as well!

Re: Mendola, 6th generation just too much to overcome.

Torin Varn's another talented kid who's heading elsewhere (Hofstra).

ithacat

scoop85

peterg
I was told (double hearsay) AJ had 5 saves in each half. Gabe Mendola, a junior and future Harvard enrollee, apparently won every face-off against a very good WG face-off man.

A bit of a good news/bad news situation -- great to have Fiore joining the program, but too bad he couldn't get Mendola to stick around as well!

Re: Mendola, 6th generation just too much to overcome.

That's a lot of generations. Has Cornell even been around that long?

Josh '99

ithacat

scoop85

peterg
I was told (double hearsay) AJ had 5 saves in each half. Gabe Mendola, a junior and future Harvard enrollee, apparently won every face-off against a very good WG face-off man.

A bit of a good news/bad news situation -- great to have Fiore joining the program, but too bad he couldn't get Mendola to stick around as well!

Re: Mendola, 6th generation just too much to overcome.

That's a lot of generations. Has Cornell even been around that long?

Yes, but only if each generation had babies fairly promptly upon graduating. Cornell's first commencement was in 1869, and then you'd only need five 25-year periods to go by before the 6th generation was ready to attend, which gets you to 1994.

Robb

Josh '99

ithacat

scoop85

peterg
I was told (double hearsay) AJ had 5 saves in each half. Gabe Mendola, a junior and future Harvard enrollee, apparently won every face-off against a very good WG face-off man.

A bit of a good news/bad news situation -- great to have Fiore joining the program, but too bad he couldn't get Mendola to stick around as well!

Re: Mendola, 6th generation just too much to overcome.

That's a lot of generations. Has Cornell even been around that long?

Yes, but only if each generation had babies fairly promptly upon graduating. Cornell's first commencement was in 1869, and then you'd only need five 25-year periods to go by before the 6th generation was ready to attend, which gets you to 1994.

Having a child by age 25 wasn't especialearly or prompt for at least the first hundred years of Cornell's existence. Then again, that assumes we're only talking about first born.

Here's one who better not get away: Connor Entenmann, a junior attackman from Auburn was named to the Syracuse Post-Standard's All-CNY 1st team. Entenmann scored 47 goals and had 41 assists this year. When asked about his jersey number he said, No. 8. Because my father wore that number for his four years at Cornell. I want to continue the legacy.

Kyle Doctor wore #8 this year. It'll be interesting to see if any of the incoming recruits get the number.

Matt Taylor also made the 1st team. After reading about his jersey number, I think he'll be making a deal with David Lau.

[highschoolsports.syracuse.com]

ithacat
Here's one who better not get away: Connor Entenmann, a junior attackman from Auburn was named to the Syracuse Post-Standard's All-CNY 1st team. Entenmann scored 47 goals and had 41 assists this year. When asked about his jersey number he said, No. 8. Because my father wore that number for his four years at Cornell. I want to continue the legacy.

Kyle Doctor wore #8 this year. It'll be interesting to see if any of the incoming recruits get the number.

Matt Taylor also made the 1st team. After reading about his jersey number, I think he'll be making a deal with David Lau.

[highschoolsports.syracuse.com]

I've heard conflicting reports about whether Entenmann is coming to Cornell or not. If anyone knows anything, please spill. He's super talented and quick, although much smaller than his father.

One that did get away: Tyler Kamide, a second-team Post-Standard All-CNY midfielder from Liverpool High School, is going to West Point after rumors that he was a Cornell recruit.

I don't know if Matt Taylor is going to want Lau's number, because I think his father, former Cornell attackman Joe Taylor, wore something else.

Taylor is for real. There will be tons of competition, but I wouldn't be surprised if he starts next year.

Any relation to the cookie and cake empire?

Hillel Hoffmann
Taylor is for real. There will be tons of competition, but I wouldn't be surprised if he starts next year.

I only wish his sisters came to CU instead of going to UNC. They are also the real thing. Their mother is now women's coach at Cortland, taking them to the playoffs in this, her first year. Previously she coached girls at Fayetteville-Manlius and won two NY State titles.

ithacat
Here's one who better not get away: Connor Entenmann, a junior attackman from Auburn was named to the Syracuse Post-Standard's All-CNY 1st team. Entenmann scored 47 goals and had 41 assists this year. When asked about his jersey number he said, No. 8. Because my father wore that number for his four years at Cornell. I want to continue the legacy.

Looks like Entenmann played well in the UnderArmour All-American championship game, won by Long Island: [blogs.insidelacrosse.com]

The Baltimore team finished 0-4.

Al, thanks for the link. Hope to see Connor in Red.

Our goaltending candidate, on the other hand, was unimpressive even allowing for some very poor defense allowing some brutal shots.

TimV
Our goaltending candidate, on the other hand, was unimpressive even allowing for some very poor defense allowing some brutal shots.

Apparently A.J. played pretty well for Team 21--largely staffed by past, present, and future Cornellians--in the Vail Lacrosse Shootout. Team 21 finished second with A.J. playing in goal. Box scores and some commentary here: [www.vaillacrosse.com]

Team 21 won this last year with Jake Myers in goal.

Interesting that Nick Gradinger's name appears on the scoresheet. Nice to see that his injury wasn't so debilitating that he was prevented from playing at least some level of competitive lacrosse.

scoop85
Interesting that Nick Gradinger's name appears on the scoresheet. Nice to see that his injury wasn't so debilitating that he was prevented from playing at least some level of competitive lacrosse.

Same reaction. Bet he was on the sideline--not in uniform--in Foxboro.

Here's some names of rising seniors who have reportedly committed to Cornell:

Cole McCormick, middie, Rye, NY
[www.laxlessons.com]

Sten Jernudd, middie, Lakeside, WA
[www.walax.com]

Connor Entenmann, attack, Auburn, NY
[roadhawks.lacrossesystems2.com]

Christian Kennedy, middie, Cold Spring Harbor, NY
[laxlessons.com]

Ross Rudow, middie, San Ramon Valley, CA.
[www.lacrosseforums.com]

ithacat
Here's some names of rising seniors who have reportedly committed to Cornell:

...

Sten Jernudd, middie, Lakeside, WA
[www.walax.com]

...

One of the best things I liked about this article was:

walax
Christian Kennedy from Cold Spring Harbor in Long Island, NY, regarded as the best middy recruit on Long Island and some say, in the country this year, also committed to Cornell which puts Sten in pretty good company.

Swampy

ithacat
Here's some names of rising seniors who have reportedly committed to Cornell:

...

Sten Jernudd, middie, Lakeside, WA
[www.walax.com]

...

One of the best things I liked about this article was:

walax
Christian Kennedy from Cold Spring Harbor in Long Island, NY, regarded as the best middy recruit on Long Island and some say, in the country this year, also committed to Cornell which puts Sten in pretty good company.

I like this guy! My two favorite responses:

Walax: Which sport do you prefer and why?

Lacrosse, of course. It combines elements of basketball, soccer and hockey, and you get to hit people <smiles>

Walax: What are your expectations for the coming season for the team and you personally?

I would love for us (Lakeside) make the playoffs and get a playoff win. ... I personally, will do anything to help the team win. Get a pole, play goalie- whatever it takes.

The cognoscenti at Inside Lacrosse have deemed Harvard's recruiting class number 3 behind Hopkins and Virginia. Even landed their guy on the cover. We're Number 10.

The Usual Bullcrap.

Great. NOW it's "the year of the middie." Once again, we're ahead of the curve, but all the attention goes to those coming after us.

Recruit a bunch of superstars (UVa) or create a team (us)?

I'll take the latter, thank you.

Jeff Hopkins '82
Recruit a bunch of superstars (UVa) or create a team (us)?

I'll take the latter, thank you.

Agreed. That being said, by all accounts our incoming class is outstanding and well-balanced. I especially like the top-end defenders Tambroni has brought in, including a late addition from Onandonga CC who was a first-team JUCO AA.

TimV
We're Number 10....The Usual Bullcrap.

It is bullcrap, but it's not usual. Since Inside Lacrosse started their worthless exercise of ranking recruits and classes, this is only the second time that a Cornell class has cracked the top 10. Given the coaching staff's record of finding good matches and developing talent -- even when the chips aren't alleged to be as blue -- I'm thrilled. The last time IL ranked a Cornell class in the top 10 was 2005 (No. 9). That was the Seibald salmon run.

I agree with scoop85 above. I'm really liking the defensemen in this group. Mumford, the kid from Section III via Onandaga Community College, is a great addition to Bronzino, Keith and Noble. Mumford should have three years of eligibility left; I think he only played one year at OCC.

One head-scratcher on the IL lists is Christian Kennedy, a midfielder on their rising high school senior list who is no longer described as a Cornell recruit.

It's WAY too early to predict who might make an immediate impact in the spring, but I guess I'm most excited to see what Taylor, Fiore, Mumford, Noble and Henry can do in the fall. In the rest of the Ivies, I actually think IL got it right by highlighting Ferguson at Brown (could be the most exciting long-stick midfielder in the nation since Syracuse's White) and the two Harvard midfielders, Doyle and White. Look out for the Crimson. The talent and depth they're landing is legit, and they finally have a coach who is changing the lacrosse culture in Cambridge enough to do something with it.

Hillel Hoffmann

TimV
We're Number 10....The Usual Bullcrap.

It is bullcrap ... and they finally have a coach who is changing the lacrosse culture in Cambridge enough to do something with it.

funny how it took one of our guys to make them change

Hillel Hoffmann

TimV
We're Number 10....The Usual Bullcrap.

One head-scratcher on the IL lists is Christian Kennedy, a midfielder on their rising high school senior list who is no longer described as a Cornell recruit.

An April interview had Kennedy committed to Cornell, but obviously a lot could have transpired between then and now.

scoop85

Jeff Hopkins '82
Recruit a bunch of superstars (UVa) or create a team (us)?

I'll take the latter, thank you.

Agreed. That being said, by all accounts our incoming class is outstanding and well-balanced. I especially like the top-end defenders Tambroni has brought in, including a late addition from Onondaga CC who was a first-team JUCO AA.

FYP, and thanks for the info on Pete Mumford, the OCC defenseman. That's a great pick-up for CU. And yes Hillel, he should have 3 years left, as he only went to OCC for 1 year, albeit an AA year.

scoop85

Hillel Hoffmann

TimV
We're Number 10....The Usual Bullcrap.

One head-scratcher on the IL lists is Christian Kennedy, a midfielder on their rising high school senior list who is no longer described as a Cornell recruit.

An April interview had Kennedy committed to Cornell, but obviously a lot could have transpired between then and now.

Inside Lacrosse now says the following about Kennedy: [blogs.insidelacrosse.com]

37. Christian Kennedy
M | Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.
Interest: Georgetown, Bucknell, Colgate, Lehigh

Jeff Hopkins '82
Recruit a bunch of superstars (UVa) or create a team (us)?

I'll take the latter, thank you.

If this were actually a choice to be made then I'd agree with you, but the two aren't mutually exclusive. I mean, Syracuse recruits a bunch of superstars too, and they've won 5 of the last 10 championships. The notion that it hasn't worked out for UVa (which is debatable, by the way, since they've won 3 of the last 11) doesn't invalidate the concept of recruiting superstars.

Agreed. If it were mutually exclusive, I'd choose the team. But I'd rather a team made of superstars, if I'm allowed to be greedy.

Laxpower has just posted the early recruits for next year. Nice to see Christian Kennedy's name on the list, as there's been some concern over his commitment based on the omission in Inside Lacrosse's recruiting list. Laxpower's list has been reliable over the years.

Here's the current list

This is Cornell's list if you don't care about the other recruits.

I'd be interested in any thoughts from those in the know (Hillel?) about these recruits.

scoop85
Laxpower has just posted the early recruits for next year. Nice to see Christian Kennedy's name on the list, as there's been some concern over his commitment based on the omission in Inside Lacrosse's recruiting list. Laxpower's list has been reliable over the years.

Here's the current list

Kennedy now appears as a Georgetown recruit.

JasonN95

scoop85
Laxpower has just posted the early recruits for next year. Nice to see Christian Kennedy's name on the list, as there's been some concern over his commitment based on the omission in Inside Lacrosse's recruiting list. Laxpower's list has been reliable over the years.

Here's the current list

Kennedy now appears as a Georgetown recruit.

Well, I said it was reliable -- at least when it's updated.

Too bad for us, but I'm sure our program will survive.

Laxpower does have two new Cornell recruits listed -- Joe Paoletta, a middie out of the Landon School in DC, and Doug Tesoriero, a FO/middie out of Syosset.

Here's a recent comment from Ultimate Athlete Magazine (www.ultimateathletemagazinze.com) about Tesoriero, with a quote about him from his HS coach:

Doug Tesoriero, Midfield (captain) Tesoriero, a junior and three-year starter, has been part of two county championship teams. "He's a face-off guy who does it all. Very hard shot, good skills, being looked at by numerous Division I schools."

scoop85
Laxpower does have two new Cornell recruits listed -- Joe Paoletta, a middie out of the Landon School in DC, and Doug Tesoriero, a FO/middie out of Syosset.

My kinda guys.

Here's a highlight video of Joe Paoletta, a middie at Landon who committed to Cornell.