2020 Transfer Thread

[OttosDad]

I hear the Kims are heading to Rutgers ..haven’t heard about Lipka but rumored to be looking at Georgetown ..no word on Strang or Nelson

Nelson is headed to LeMoyne. He just recently committed.

 

[laxobserver]

Lipka is looking at Georgetown and I would not be surprised if he looks at Hopkins as well given the local connection and fact they could use another contributor at the midfield. I suspect he won't be back at Syracuse.

Tough seeing rivals JHU, ND, Duke doing so well with the portal (rumor is JHU is adding Szuluk in addition to Kirson), though can take some solace in the fact that North Carolina hasn't done anything. Also while Virginia added Bertrand I think he's a slight downgrade from Kraus so not really sure they've made their team better.

 

[Powellfan]

Lipka is looking at Georgetown and I would not be surprised if he looks at Hopkins as well given the local connection and fact they could use another contributor at the midfield. I suspect he won't be back at Syracuse.

Tough seeing rivals JHU, ND, Duke doing so well with the portal (rumor is JHU is adding Szuluk in addition to Kirson), though can take some solace in the fact that North Carolina hasn't done anything. Also while Virginia added Bertrand I think he's a slight downgrade from Kraus so not really sure they've made their team better.

I don’t disagree, it has been a bit frustrating to see other teams load up. I will say, those teams listed needed those players - yes even Duke, they were not a top five team this year - and Syracuse just doesn’t have many spots open. I think it says a whole lot that Lipka is SU’s fifth best midfielder and he becomes Hopkins best. Like you said UVA was only able to offer Bertrand because Krause left.

Maybe the excitement of getting those seniors back has worn off a bit, and in any sport it always seems more exciting to add players in draft or free agency, but it’s important to remember how important it was that those players came back. Chemistry will also be huge. I wish they could have added a more sure thing defender, but all things considered SU is still really stacked with talent.

 

[ivorytower]

Bit envious but in my eyes Duke and ND importing multiple top 5th yr players will cheapen whatever they accomplish.

Sowers is a generational talent that none should bypass but smh at Danowski and Duke going above and beyond since top recruits beat at their doors to get in.

JHU has at least added transfers with years of eligibility.

Wanted Cuse to return their own first and foremost along with pursuing Sowers or Teat if available but also hoped they'd supplement with a established top tier talent .

Have slowly come around to Shokolov viewpoint. Simply cleaner and healthier for programs not to bring in 'one and done" especially when much is still up in the air.

Duke is loaded and should be prohibitive favorite. Look forward to playing them.

 

[Gone]

Agree with comments by Powellfan and ivorytower. The only thing I would add is that I know Cuse made their best bid for Sowers and they may well have tried for one or two more - it's hard to compete academically with Duke, ND and Hopkins grad schools. No matter how highly ranked Newhouse and Maxwell are (and they are), the focus for most of the players is business schools and schools named Duke, Hop and ND look better on a kid's resume. Too many kids are going to business schools in my opinion but that's probably their parents' fault ha ha

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[JeremyCuse]

A few quick notes - Hearing that the Kim Twins are likely headed to a certain high end D2 school versus Rutgers or another Mid level D1 program. Was told Lipka is unlikely to land at Hopkins as they have no $$ available at this point with a bloated roster. He may end up back at SU as the demand simply isn't there with all of the turmoil from the Corona Virus. Hearing SU didn't pursue any other O player outside of Sowers and some brief discussions with one other. Could still potentially add a middie.

 

[Powellfan]

A few quick notes - Hearing that the Kim Twins are likely headed to a certain high end D2 school versus Rutgers or another Mid level D1 program. Was told Lipka is unlikely to land at Hopkins as they have no $$ available at this point with a bloated roster. He may end up back at SU as the demand simply isn't there with all of the turmoil from the Corona Virus. Hearing SU didn't pursue any other O player outside of Sowers and some brief discussions with one other. Could still potentially add a middie.

Thanks Jeremey, good stuff. Feel bad for the Kims, in a normal year they probably would have been scooped up by a decent DI team, but they aren't known commodities (haven't "proven" anything yet) and with so many players coming back to their respective teams, coaches might be hesitant to bring in someone new.

Hope Lipka comes backs, that gives the second line two starting quality like midfielders with Buttermore. Second line wasn't playing great early in the season, but I think with the style of play SU was playing, having a good second line is really important and puts that much more pressure on a defense. But even if he doesn't I think SU has some intriguing options with Magnan and Fiorini. And it might open up a spot for Hiltz if there is no room at attack early on.

Still waiting on Donnelly and Strang.

 

[Powellfan]

 

[Powellfan]

 

[Faegan]

This is a big deal for the Kirsts. Kyle is/was a legend in our town and in the Rutgers lax community, and he was a huge help to me when I got into coaching lax. Such a selfless individual who always found time to give to the community. Great family.

 

[JeremyCuse]

This is a big deal for the Kirsts. Kyle is/was a legend in our town and in the Rutgers lax community, and he was a huge help to me when I got into coaching lax. Such a selfless individual who always found time to give to the community. Great family.

He's a big pickup up for Rutty. They desperately needed help at midfield and while Kirst is just a one year guy, he automatically becomes their best middie. Sounds like he wanted to honor his dad which is definitely a noble thing to do as Nova is probably the better team right now then RU. Rutty will be an interesting team next year, I don't believe that any of their Sr guys are coming back so attack takes a hit but they will still have Charalambides who has been there a decade at this point and some other nice pieces. Still a blackhole at FOGO and defensively they have issues.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[Powellfan]

 

[ivorytower]

Grad Transfers: Providence's Sean Leahey to Join Notre Dame as a Fifth-Year in 2021

Thursday May 28th, 2020 11:00am

Former Providence attack/midfielder Sean Leahey will use his fifth year of eligibility at Notre Dame in 2021, confirming the news to Inside Lacrosse on Tuesday night. He was accepted into a one-year program in South Bend earlier this week.

Leahey, IL's No. 24 grad transfer in the portal, was the team's second-leading scorer through six games with nine goals and a team-high 13 assists to boost Providence's attack unit, scoring the overtime clincher at Brown to take the Ocean State Cup. A medical redshirt a year ago, the 6'3, 190-pound Seton Hall Prep (N.J.) graduate was drafted 23rd overall by the MLL's Denver Outlaws in April.
Leahey was a regular contributor since arriving in Providence, playing a lot of midfield early on and leading the Friars in points with 26 goals and 10 assists back in 2018. As a freshman middie in 2017, Leahey made 12 starts and 13 appearances for the Friars, tallying 16 goals and an assist.

In South Bend, he'll join an army of fellow Top 25 grad transfers in addition to former Seton Hall Prep (N.J.) teammate Griffin Westlin, who finished second on the Notre Dame roster with 26 points as a sophomore in 2020. Leahey will team up with a number of soon-to-be fifth-year seniors in Bucknell attackman Will Yorke (No. 12), Penn face-off man Kyle Gallagher (No. 3) and Penn defenseman Kyle Thornton (No. 17), on top of what the Fighting Irish will return.

Senior face-off man Charlie Leonard, who checked in at No. 13 on the list, withdrew his name from the portal on May 8th and will be returning to Notre Dame. Drafted No. 2 by the PLL's Atlas LC, Bryan Costabile has already announced that he won't be back in South Bend, while several of his ND classmates expect to have decisions in the near future.

 

[JeremyCuse]

OK quick correction, that prior poster was correct, now looks like the Kims are headed to Rutgers and not the D2 school I had heard (Tampa).

 

[Powellfan]

Rutgers loading up it seems.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Rutgers loading up it seems.

Don't believe he was the starter but the backup lsm. Still a nice pickup for Rutty but not sure he moves the needle all that much

 

[DoctahLexus]

Don't believe he was the starter but the backup lsm. Still a nice pickup for Rutty but not sure he moves the needle all that much

They could be right where we want them. Not good enough to beat us (hopefully) and not bad enough to lose to a bunch of mediocre teams and hurt our RPI.

 

[ivorytower]

Rutgers makes sense. They have seen them play in HS and problably tried to recruit them earlier. RU has had good success in southern Jersey but have been trying for years to tap into stronger teams further up in state such as Delbarton, Summit, Westfield , Ridgewood to little avail. Villanova has had a pipeline into Delbarton that any top d1 including Cuse would want. Kirst transferring in even for just a year is a big get and Kims joining just adds to local visibility

 

[JeremyCuse]

Rutgers makes sense. They have seen them play in HS and problably tried to recruit them earlier. RU has had good success in southern Jersey but have been trying for years to tap into stronger teams further up in state such as Delbarton, Summit, Westfield , Ridgewood to little avail. Villanova has had a pipeline into Delbarton that any top d1 including Cuse would want. Kirst transferring in even for just a year is a big get and Kims joining just adds to local visibility

Agreed, they did recruit the Kims coming out of HS. All good pickups for Rutty especially with Mullins deciding to come back. They should be right in the thick of the B10 race after Maryland and PSU if they can get better FOGO and D play.

 

[ivorytower]

Rutgers reaps the rewards of Cuse developing their raw talents

Rutgers O will be strong with their good attack returning and Kirst pairing with Sprock who is very underrated. Coyne will fill out a very good first mid line. Expecting at least one of the Kims to be part of second line

 

[laxobserver]

Agreed, they did recruit the Kims coming out of HS. All good pickups for Rutty especially with Mullins deciding to come back. They should be right in the thick of the B10 race after Maryland and PSU if they can get better FOGO and D play.

I don't know, they were not very good this year (or last year) and not really been the same since Heningburg and Rexrode graduated. Kirst definitely makes them better but not sure these other transfers move the needle a whole lot. Talent on offense yes but it's still a similar roster, and same coaching staff, as the team that has gone 9-12 in the last 1.5 seasons. Plus their peers in the Big Ten are bringing in a ton of top recruits—particularly Maryland and Hopkins—while Rutgers has struggled somewhat in that area. UMD and PSU are the clear top two—I don't think Rutgers is better than Ohio State and Hopkins unfortunately for us is going to be much improved next season in my estimation. Maybe not quite top 10 material yet but definitely better than Rutgers. So to me I think Rutgers' ceiling is probably finishing 4th in that conference but would love to be proven wrong.

In other news Notre Dame quietly added another solid transfer. That is what concerns me most. They needed offense, and they got it. They've also got some big athletic midfielders from Florida on their way in this year. With Duke and ND's success with transfers I think Virginia is suddenly the worst team in the ACC headed into 2021—though the worst team in the ACC is still probably a top 10 team.

 

[ivorytower]

I don't know, they were not very good this year (or last year) and not really been the same since Heningburg and Rexrode graduated. Kirst definitely makes them better but not sure these other transfers move the needle a whole lot. Talent on offense yes but it's still a similar roster, and same coaching staff, as the team that has gone 9-12 in the last 1.5 seasons. Plus their peers in the Big Ten are bringing in a ton of top recruits—particularly Maryland and Hopkins—while Rutgers has struggled somewhat in that area. UMD and PSU are the clear top two—I don't think Rutgers is better than Ohio State and Hopkins unfortunately for us is going to be much improved next season in my estimation. Maybe not quite top 10 material yet but definitely better than Rutgers. So to me I think Rutgers' ceiling is probably finishing 4th in that conference but would love to be proven wrong.

In other news Notre Dame quietly added another solid transfer. That is what concerns me most. They needed offense, and they got it. They've also got some big athletic midfielders from Florida on their way in this year. With Duke and ND's success with transfers I think Virginia is suddenly the worst team in the ACC headed into 2021—though the worst team in the ACC is still probably a top 10 team.

Agree on much. As Jeremy said ,key to Rutgers beyond fo is their D. I see and know the names of their d and honestly dont know why they aren't better on that end. Maybe its a matter of maturation.

Do think loss of Ament is huge loss to PSU and Maryland will separate despite Bernhardt moving on to football. OSU a sleeper .See JHU being in top ten again in 2022 ..

Not much to add about Puke. Leahey is underrated pickup for ND, lets hope McCarthy doesn't land there


Where do you see Cuse rank in ACC and overall? Thx

 

[JeremyCuse]

I don't know, they were not very good this year (or last year) and not really been the same since Heningburg and Rexrode graduated. Kirst definitely makes them better but not sure these other transfers move the needle a whole lot. Talent on offense yes but it's still a similar roster, and same coaching staff, as the team that has gone 9-12 in the last 1.5 seasons. Plus their peers in the Big Ten are bringing in a ton of top recruits—particularly Maryland and Hopkins—while Rutgers has struggled somewhat in that area. UMD and PSU are the clear top two—I don't think Rutgers is better than Ohio State and Hopkins unfortunately for us is going to be much improved next season in my estimation. Maybe not quite top 10 material yet but definitely better than Rutgers. So to me I think Rutgers' ceiling is probably finishing 4th in that conference but would love to be proven wrong.

In other news Notre Dame quietly added another solid transfer. That is what concerns me most. They needed offense, and they got it. They've also got some big athletic midfielders from Florida on their way in this year. With Duke and ND's success with transfers I think Virginia is suddenly the worst team in the ACC headed into 2021—though the worst team in the ACC is still probably a top 10 team.

I dont disagree with you as I think they underperformed the last two years, but they were also god awful at the X which I think crippled them the last two years. I do agee that outside of Kirst I don't see a transfer that moves the needle much but Kirst as you noted for one year will be a huge boost to their midfield. Although I have to admit the poster on their board who compared Kirst to Tua transferring from Alabama and declared him the best middie in the country is out of his mind. Their board did seem to hint that they had a FOGO transfer coming in but at this point I am not aware of a game changer in the portal so I would have to see who they have. Rutty's problem will be the same as they have been the last few years; huge questions marks at the X, question marks at midfield outside of Kirst and a defense that leaves a lot to be desired especially at SSDM and their secondary pole defenders. Their goalie did OK last year replacing the guy who had been there for like 6 years but he is a question mark as well. I think Maryland and PSU are clearly 1-2 but I think Hop has a ways to go. I am not sold at all on that defense even with Fernandez and Sulzuk and their midfield has been putrid the last few years. Although there is some talent there with Degnon and Zinn. Cole Williams is also highly overrated, Hopkins would have been better off if he stayed in the portal.

ND has done a nice job of trying to add some firepower especially with the loss of Costabile. That said almost all of them are 5th year guys, hard to know if that will translate to ND a team that isn't exactly known for their free wheeling style and flow. I think Gallagher was a real nice pick up but its hard to say how Yorke and Lahey will fair in NDs system and a decent jump in competition. ND will be an interesting team to follow next year. Agree on Duke, loaded everywhere. Have to hope they just don't mesh or you catch them on the right day.