2026 Transfer Thread | Page 13 | Syracusefan.com
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2026 Transfer Thread

DMVCuseLax said:
Is Cuse good with what they have at this point?
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I don't think they should be.

The top six on offense look to be set, but I think it's curious that they benched Deere to start ACC play. Deere isn't going to transform into a dominate dodging threat over the summer/fall. If they face a team with decent enough SSDMs they could face real problems on offense next year. If Deere isn't effective next year against the more physical defenses, what is the backup plan?

Really feels like they need to bring in another dodger. If Deere is lights out and burying everything in sight next year, great. It just seems like right now if you put long sticks on Rhoa, Leo, Spallina and Anderson, neither Deere or Thomson are really going to punish the defense for that. Having another dodger out there really would open things up.

Gait said at the end of the year they needed better depth. Obviously guys can come back much improved next year, but as of right now I've got some trepidation. The second midfield line needs to produce more, and they are losing their leading scorer in Anderson (to attack most likely). Hottle and McCarthy were really ineffective down the stretch. Hahn or Rawson probably help here but we have to see someone else score in the double digits from the second line.

If the goal is to beat Maryland, it seems like they have only widened the gap from last year to this. SU is kind of in a tough place, "come here to play second line midfield", but I'd really like to see them get creative. It might be too late at this point, which is kind of a bummer. Next year has really got to be "the year", and I'll be disappointed if the staff wasn't more aggressive.
 
Think we just need another guy that could potentially crack one of the middie lines. If they are fast enough to play on the wing then even better. Only problem is there is almost literally no ideal options for that type of spot in the portal, assuming the list over at fanlax has all available names. I am sure the staff wants that too, but it is a really slim year for the portal. DII/III is the best option at this point unless we pull a miracle with Colsey. I would guess we make some kind of move there before all is said and done. The only guy I am bummed we could not land is Sharp from Yale.

FOGO backup is a need, but there is really nobody who moves the needle from D1 in the portal. The best might be Matt Riley who was GTowns back up with 52%, but that is off of only 60 attempts all year and he did most of his best work against easier opponents on their schedule. I don't think he would actually satisfy us, just another break glass incase of emergency option if something happens with Mullen. Chase Mullins from Penn state has occasionally been a solid backup, but finished last year at 38% on minimal attempts and had two guys in front of him. It is just not a year where we have a wealth of options

We made a good move at SSDM, where we truly needed a guy. Hoping we can convince Levine to come back. Even coming off of injury, he would be far better than any of the current portal options. My guess is we make one more move for a guy in the midfield. Ultimately every team will need to rely heavily on their own bench guys stepping up. Kempney, Kolby White, McIntee, Chrishawn Hunter, and others will need to step up in the middle of the field.
 
Powellfan said:
Really feels like they need to bring in another dodger. If Deere is lights out and burying everything in sight next year, great. It just seems like right now if you put long sticks on Rhoa, Leo, Spallina and Anderson, neither Deere or Thomson are really going to punish the defense for that. Having another dodger out there really would open things up.
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I don't think that is true about Thomson. In all of our games to end the season, including MD, he had a longpole matchup on him for the full game. He has shown he can punish defenses when they put a short stick on him, even if it is just by him being harder to guard in offball/two man game situations. He is also not a zero off the dodge. I think it is far from set in stone that Deere will be the third attack next season. I think it is more likely to be Thomson, with Deere as back up/maybe playing with the second line middies again. Deere is improving, but Thomson is better than him in all areas as of now and has a lot more experience. Could be possible for a guy like Hottle to move up to 1st middie line while we keep Thomson at attack.
 
DoctahLexus said:
I don't think that is true about Thomson. In all of our games to end the season, including MD, he had a longpole matchup on him for the full game. He has shown he can punish defenses when they put a short stick on him, even if it is just by him being harder to guard in offball/two man game situations. He is also not a zero off the dodge. I think it is far from set in stone that Deere will be the third attack next season. I think it is more likely to be Thomson, with Deere as back up/maybe playing with the second line middies again. Deere is improving, but Thomson is better than him in all areas as of now and has a lot more experience. Could be possible for a guy like Hottle to move up to 1st middie line while we keep Thomson at attack.
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Thomson isn't going to run past his guy or back them down. He is crafty and very smart, but I think those big, strong defenses can neutralize him. I'd be happy with a starting attack of Anderson, Spallina and Thomson, but I think Thomson works better if other guys are drawing slides and he is finishing shots.

It's very difficult to analyze Thomson on attack since he was hurt for five games last year, but it seemed to me they used him as a pure finisher. He didn't seem to hold on to the ball for very long. He had 14 assists in both his freshman and sophomore seasons, but just seven last year. He almost equaled his career high of 24 goals with 23 in five fewer games, which is impressive.

If he had played the whole year, he was on track to score 29 goals and nine assists. Not bad, but something that could certainly be better for a starting attackman. He had the big game against Harvard, but only scored more than two goals once, against Towson. Never scored more than three points in any other game. How much the injury affected him is hard to say. I was confused that they didn't try and use him as a passer more last year, having 28 assists over two years is really impressive for a midfielder.

I really don't like being negative about any of our current players, but if Hottle is playing first line midfield we are in deep trouble. I just don't think he has the physical tools to produce against high level DI talent. He's just not fast enough to make up for his slight stature.
 
Powellfan said:
Thomson isn't going to run past his guy or back them down. He is crafty and very smart, but I think those big, strong defenses can neutralize him. I'd be happy with a starting attack of Anderson, Spallina and Thomson, but I think Thomson works better if other guys are drawing slides and he is finishing shots.

It's very difficult to analyze Thomson on attack since he was hurt for five games last year, but it seemed to me they used him as a pure finisher. He didn't seem to hold on to the ball for very long. He had 14 assists in both his freshman and sophomore seasons, but just seven last year. He almost equaled his career high of 24 goals with 23 in five fewer games, which is impressive.

If he had played the whole year, he was on track to score 29 goals and nine assists. Not bad, but something that could certainly be better for a starting attackman. He had the big game against Harvard, but only scored more than two goals once, against Towson. Never scored more than three points in any other game. How much the injury affected him is hard to say. I was confused that they didn't try and use him as a passer more last year, having 28 assists over two years is really impressive for a midfielder.

I really don't like being negative about any of our current players, but if Hottle is playing first line midfield we are in deep trouble. I just don't think he has the physical tools to produce against high level DI talent. He's just not fast enough to make up for his slight stature.
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I think it was more like 7 games that he was out. He was out for Hopkins to Cornell, which was 6 games, and only played brief spot minutes at middie against Duke in his first game back from injury, so basically 7 games out, along with whatever he had to do to get back into the swing of things. I think he is a little better of the dodge than you give him credit for. Certainly good enough to pressure a short stick match up off the dodge. He has steadily got better of the dodge as he gets more experience too. Then on top of that he is more of a threat off ball when you have a short stick on him. There is a reason teams did not put a short stick on him when he was back from the injury. He knows exactly where to be offball and will make you pay if guarded by a short stick, similar to Taylor at ND, who almost never was guarded by a short stick. I do not think Deere is on his level yet in any of those categories. Also Spallina and Anderson will be more than capable of drawing slides and I think Anderson has shown some skill as a passer.

With Hottle it is still early in his career. If you want a guy who will draw slides with a short stick match up to go along with Leo and Rhoa, he is the guy for the job. I think he is not at his ceiling yet, after only playing offensive middie for one season. He would be pretty much guaranteed to never go against a long pole on the first line.
 
Think this is better for Syracuse than him going to UNC. Bummer to have missed out twice, but it is what it is. Duke still has a lot of questions at attack I think.

 
Powellfan said:
Think this is better for Syracuse than him going to UNC. Bummer to have missed out twice, but it is what it is. Duke still has a lot of questions at attack I think.

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From what I know I don't believe SU was involved here.
 
DoctahLexus said:
I think it was more like 7 games that he was out. He was out for Hopkins to Cornell, which was 6 games, and only played brief spot minutes at middie against Duke in his first game back from injury, so basically 7 games out, along with whatever he had to do to get back into the swing of things. I think he is a little better of the dodge than you give him credit for. Certainly good enough to pressure a short stick match up off the dodge. He has steadily got better of the dodge as he gets more experience too. Then on top of that he is more of a threat off ball when you have a short stick on him. There is a reason teams did not put a short stick on him when he was back from the injury. He knows exactly where to be offball and will make you pay if guarded by a short stick, similar to Taylor at ND, who almost never was guarded by a short stick. I do not think Deere is on his level yet in any of those categories. Also Spallina and Anderson will be more than capable of drawing slides and I think Anderson has shown some skill as a passer.

With Hottle it is still early in his career. If you want a guy who will draw slides with a short stick match up to go along with Leo and Rhoa, he is the guy for the job. I think he is not at his ceiling yet, after only playing offensive middie for one season. He would be pretty much guaranteed to never go against a long pole on the first line.
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You are right about the games played, my fault there. I got my numbers wrong, he was on track to score 33 goals with 10 assists last year if he played every game. Would have been in line with what Christian Mule and Cole Kirst had produced for SU as that third attackman next to Spallina and Hiltz.
 
Powellfan said:
Think this is better for Syracuse than him going to UNC. Bummer to have missed out twice, but it is what it is. Duke still has a lot of questions at attack I think.

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seemed like a dook type of guy from the get go on this. at least he won't have to compete for a spot now.
hope he's healthy, fair winds and following seas.
 
So that is 2 defensemen transfers for UVa, Murname from Colgate and Meredith from Jacksonville.
 
JeremyCuse said:
Two new FOGO's in the portal include Necco Cottage from Stony Brook who is from NY.
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I’m really hoping that Cottage is our guy. 3 star ‘24 on IL who was committed to Marquette & Towson before signing with SB. Went 15-29 in 7 games as a frosh. I found the bolded below interesting in his bio, especially since his HS Smithtown West usually faces a pretty formidable schedule.

Necco Cottage - Men's Lacrosse - Stony Brook University Athletics

Necco Cottage (2) Face-off - 2025 (Freshman): Appeared in seven games... Tallied five ground balls and one caused turnover. AT SMITHTOWN WEST: Five-year varsity
stonybrookathletics.com stonybrookathletics.com

“AT SMITHTOWN WEST: Five-year varsity lacrosse player... Two-time captain... 2024 All American... 2024 Faceoff Man of the Year... 2x All County... 3x All division... 4th all-time in New York State history for faceoff wins... 2nd all-time for faceoff percentages in New York State history (92 percent).”
 
necco-wafers-2020-spangler.jpg.webp
 
W'boro'Cuse315 said:
I’m really hoping that Cottage is our guy. 3 star ‘24 on IL who was committed to Marquette & Towson before signing with SB. Went 15-29 in 7 games as a frosh. I found the bolded below interesting in his bio, especially since his HS Smithtown West usually faces a pretty formidable schedule.

Necco Cottage - Men's Lacrosse - Stony Brook University Athletics

Necco Cottage (2) Face-off - 2025 (Freshman): Appeared in seven games... Tallied five ground balls and one caused turnover. AT SMITHTOWN WEST: Five-year varsity
stonybrookathletics.com stonybrookathletics.com

“AT SMITHTOWN WEST: Five-year varsity lacrosse player... Two-time captain... 2024 All American... 2024 Faceoff Man of the Year... 2x All County... 3x All division... 4th all-time in New York State history for faceoff wins... 2nd all-time for faceoff percentages in New York State history (92 percent).”
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He maybe looking for a starting spot and if so there are other more likely landing spots but if he's OK being in a platoon this could be a great spot because Mullens one flaw is he violates a lot, there's gonna be at minimum a handful of draws to take jus via that plus actual rest situations. He's definitely a guy I hope SU kicks the tires on.
 
W'boro'Cuse315 said:
I’m really hoping that Cottage is our guy. 3 star ‘24 on IL who was committed to Marquette & Towson before signing with SB. Went 15-29 in 7 games as a frosh. I found the bolded below interesting in his bio, especially since his HS Smithtown West usually faces a pretty formidable schedule.

Necco Cottage - Men's Lacrosse - Stony Brook University Athletics

Necco Cottage (2) Face-off - 2025 (Freshman): Appeared in seven games... Tallied five ground balls and one caused turnover. AT SMITHTOWN WEST: Five-year varsity
stonybrookathletics.com stonybrookathletics.com

“AT SMITHTOWN WEST: Five-year varsity lacrosse player... Two-time captain... 2024 All American... 2024 Faceoff Man of the Year... 2x All County... 3x All division... 4th all-time in New York State history for faceoff wins... 2nd all-time for faceoff percentages in New York State history (92 percent).”
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That's a lot of mind changing! Three commitments and then entering the portal after one year. Looks like he didn't want to be the backup for the Sea Wolves (they return Robbie Smith who went 60%). The other backup who had more draws entered the portal and committed to Providence. Those are good high school numbers. I guess the big question is if he didn't want to play second fiddle at Stony Brook, is he okay being that at Syracuse?

The other player to enter was Trent Grainger from Richmond. He's a senior but was previously at St Bonaventure and as a freshman he had a pretty good year - 53% on 244 draws. That was all the way back in 2022 though. Not sure what happened at Richmond, he only played in one game this past year, not sure if it was injury related. Not a very hard schedule at St. Bonnies, at not much recent playing time, but still has experience.

Not much to choose from right now in the portal, but I think I'm more preferential to someone like Chase Mullens who has experience at a big time school (Penn State). The numbers weren't great last year, and he'd probably get the same amount of playing time, but he has shown the ability to be over 50% for a Big 10 team. If John Mullen gets hurt I'd be more comfortable with someone like that instead of a player from a lower school who put up good numbers. I feel like Richiusa was that player - he was 50% at Canisius, but never could get close to that number at SU. But yeah, SU has to grab SOMEONE at some point, right?
 
Powellfan said:
That's a lot of mind changing! Three commitments and then entering the portal after one year. Looks like he didn't want to be the backup for the Sea Wolves (they return Robbie Smith who went 60%). The other backup who had more draws entered the portal and committed to Providence. Those are good high school numbers. I guess the big question is if he didn't want to play second fiddle at Stony Brook, is he okay being that at Syracuse?

The other player to enter was Trent Grainger from Richmond. He's a senior but was previously at St Bonaventure and as a freshman he had a pretty good year - 53% on 244 draws. That was all the way back in 2022 though. Not sure what happened at Richmond, he only played in one game this past year, not sure if it was injury related. Not a very hard schedule at St. Bonnies, at not much recent playing time, but still has experience.

Not much to choose from right now in the portal, but I think I'm more preferential to someone like Chase Mullens who has experience at a big time school (Penn State). The numbers weren't great last year, and he'd probably get the same amount of playing time, but he has shown the ability to be over 50% for a Big 10 team. If John Mullen gets hurt I'd be more comfortable with someone like that instead of a player from a lower school who put up good numbers. I feel like Richiusa was that player - he was 50% at Canisius, but never could get close to that number at SU. But yeah, SU has to grab SOMEONE at some point, right?
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Honestly at this point be it a guy like Mullens with high end experience or a guy from a lower school ala Richiusa SU has to bring in someone. Even a guy like Grainger would at least give a depth option, there's no rationale for going into next year with only 2 FOGO's especially when the projected back up struggled albeit in limited draws.
 
That was a rollercoaster of a tweet to read. At the very least it means we are going after a middie/other offensive player in the portal.
 

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