Part One (Sept. 2008) Free Fall? | Peer Review: Shannon
Smith
Part Two (Oct. 2008): Passport to Campus |
Peer Review:
Gordie Wells
Part Three (Nov. 2008): Too Vested in Verbals?
| Peer Review:
Lily Ricci
Part Four (Dec. 2008): Piece of the Pie | Peer Review: Ilyssa
Meyer
Part Five (Feb. 2009): Best Foot
Forward
Part Six (March 2009): Camp
Stories | Peer
Review: What Camp Best Fits Me?
Part Seven (April 2009): Be
True to Your School?
Part Eight (May 2009): Transfer
of Power | Peer
Review: Q&A with an Early Commit
Part Nine (October 2009): Are
You the Diamond in the Rough? | Think
D-III
Part Ten (November 2009): Me Time |
Peer
Review: Kayleigh Hynes
Part Eleven (December 2009): New
Beginnings
Part Twelve (January 2010): Lessons
from Signing Day | Peer
Review: Make Your Own Waves
Recruiting is a topic on which families, prospects, coaches
and others expend considerable resources, time and emotion.
Lacrosse Magazine will delve into many of the sub-topics involved
in a series of articles, augmented by personal stories from young
men and women that have recently completed or are in the midst of
the recruiting process.
Part Twelve of the series examines November's early signing period
and the lessons that can be learned from the formalities, twists
and turns that transpired. This article appears in the January
issue of LM. Don't get the mag? Join US Lacrosse and its 300,000-plus members
today to start your monthly subscription.
Recruiting U: Lessons from Signing Day
by Paul Krome | Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff
|
| Kristen Cousins of Glen Ridge, N.J., is the school's first Division I lacrosse signee. She'll play at Notre Dame. |
It’s the end of recruiting for one group and the start, in
earnest, for another.
November saw the first signing period for high school seniors
bound for NCAA Divisions I and II colleges, an effective
“whew, glad that’s over” to a sometimes
topsy-turvy recruiting road. Not long before that, September began
the initial communication period for juniors, when they began
receiving information from college coaches about playing at the
next level, just a few months in advance of an important season on
the field.
As the recruiting cycle takes another spin, LM surveyed the scene
for some useful lessons from Signing Day.
Signatures Matter Most
The National Letter of Intent (NLI) program is a voluntary program
used by over 600 D-I and D-II schools across many sports.
Institutions and recruits that sign an NLI enter into a binding
one-year agreement that requires the prospect to attend the college
selected and the college selected to provide an athletic
scholarship (partial or full) to the prospect. NLI rules mandate
that other schools stop recruiting a prospect once he or she signs
an NLI for a given school. In lacrosse, high school seniors can
sign during a one-week period in November or during an extended
period the following April.
Regardless of anything that happens during a recruiting process
that can last upwards of 18 months, for high school prospects
hoping to play D-I, what matters most will always be the signatures
on the NLI.
Take, for example, the tales of the Thompson cousins in Upstate
New York. Miles Thompson and his cousin Ty, who is a year older,
signed NLIs with Albany in November after some on-again, off-again
mutual interest in other D-I powers, as chronicled by Dan
Cassavaugh of The Watertown (N.Y.) Daily Times.
Miles Thompson is the younger brother of Jeremy Thompson, a
Syracuse midfielder who transferred there after spending the 2007
and 2009 seasons at Onondaga Community College. Miles had interest
in Syracuse and vice versa, and the lure of playing with his older
brother for the two-time defending champions presumably meant the
LaFayette (N.Y.) senior, and their younger brother Lyle, would be
bound for the Orange.
Ty Thompson graduated from Salmon River (N.Y.) in 2008 and had
high hopes of becoming a Georgetown Hoya. He enrolled at Salisbury
Prep (Conn.) for the 2008-09 academic year to boost the chances of
that happening, but after not hearing what he wanted to hear from
Georgetown, Ty visited the Albany campus. Soon after, he sold Miles
and Lyle on the Great Danes.
Miles and Ty signed their NLIs for Albany in November, and Lyle,
about four months prior to his junior season at LaFayette, has
verbally committed to join them there.
Verbal Schmerbal?
LM’s November 2008 edition of “Recruiting U”
tackled the verbal commitments prospects often make to the coach of
the college they want to play for — at that time. For a
variety of reasons, the last few years have seen an acceleration of
when blue chippers pledge to a college. Traditionally in lacrosse,
opposing college coaches have respected that verbal commitment and
ceased recruitment of a verbally-committed prospect. That may be
changing.
After initially communicating with Syracuse about enrolling there
in the fall of 2010, Miles said communication from Syracuse
decreased, which led him to make a verbal commitment to Albany in
the summer of 2009.
After that commitment, Syracuse re-engaged in the recruiting
process, according to Miles, asking him to complete some paperwork
related to scholarships, which he did.
Miles may have been open to reconsidering the Orange, but
according to him, Syracuse again went silent after he had returned
the paperwork.
“That’s when I decided,” he said. “SU
didn’t seem like they were that interested.”
Syracuse does not stand alone in recruiting prospects that have
verbally pledged to another school, a practice that is quite common
in D-I football and basketball. In those sports, some recruiting
“wars” include multiple commitments and decommitments
that ultimately leave information-starved fans wearing out the
refresh button on Web browsers on NLI signing days.
Just a Formality
While the case of the Thompsons’ recruiting provided some
twists and turns, other prospects’ signatures in November
simply made formal decisions they had made as early as the
spring.
Springside (Pa.) School senior midfielder Courtney Caputo signed
her NLI for Georgetown in November. A three-sport athlete, she gave
the Hoyas verbal acceptance of a scholarship offer June 1.
“I think it just hit me. It feels more real now than when I
verbally committed,” Caputo told montgomerynews.com’s
Joe Turkos after a signing ceremony at the school that included
students, fans and cakes.
She credited Springfield coach Liz Harris with guidance in helping
her make that decision at the tail end of her junior year.
“She told me everything I was supposed to do and helped me
to get everything organized,” Caputo said.
Never Know Who’s Watching
College coaches’ emphasis on evaluating prospects at
offseason camps and club tournaments has been well documented, but
the spring high school season remains an integral part of the
recruiting process. You never know who’s watching you from
the bleachers, nor what they’re thinking.
Kristen Cousins caused 32 turnovers and scooped 49 ground balls
last season as a 5-foot-11 defender at Glen Ridge (N.J.). But
during a particular game with the Notre Dame coaching staff in
attendance, Cousins spent considerable time in the midfield. She
ultimately tallied 19 goals, 23 assists and 43 draw controls on the
season. Though the Fighting Irish announced her as a defender in
its November signee press release, coaches have told her the
possibility to play midfield remains, according to Matt Choquette
of northjersey.com.
