Desko

[cuseguy]

SU is fighting a 2 front war and losing. With state schools like SUNY Albany involved kids can go there for a hell of a lot cheaper. On the other end of the spectrum the talented players that can afford it will go Ivy.

The Ivies are also doing more to help recruits on the financial end.

 

[DoctahLexus]

^ This is a great post that hits on much mark though my take is that top talent in cny is scarce compared to other areas. Reflected in AA lists .Wish we could expand reach into LI, Canada, Conn, NJ and even PA

I think there is still excellent talent in upstate new york but there seems to be less depth of skilled players on most high school teams when compared to Long Island, the greater Baltimore area, and increasingly so in the New England/Penn prep school scene. The level of play is much higher overall in those areas and more college ready talent is produced as a result. Upstate NY’s aging and overall decreasing population could certainly play a role in that, among other factors. In spite of that the actual top talent in the area still stacks up with the rest of the nation. Connor Fields, Ben Reeves, TD Ierlan, Connor Canizzaro, Dylan Donahue, Luke Goldstock, Jake Pulver, Scott Firman, Nick Mellen, Sean Eccles, Zed Williams, Zach Miller, and the list goes on (to some extent at least). If you were to put the Upstate NY (for simplicity sake calling upstate everything but the greater NYC/long island area) NCAA allstar team of the last 3 or 4 years against any other regions all star lineup, we would have a shot at winning, and I don’t think there is any argument against that. But if the second/reserve teams in this imaginary competition went against Long Island’s or MD’s, or New England’s, their second teams would probably win, and unfortunately there is not much of an argument against that either.

Still we are seeing top talent come out of the area to this day. Two of the most promising freshman this year (Chase Ierlan goalie at Cornell and Chase Scanlan middie at Loyola) hail from Upstate NY, and Griffin Cook has shown some signs of a bright future. Jon jon Lombardi at Cornell is another highly rated recruit hailing from Rochester who could have a breakout year. I don't think it's gotten to the point where a kid playing in Upstate NY who is dominating the competition in high school will likely fade away when going up against the best of D1 competition from other areas. It is still an area of the nation not to be overlooked by recruiters. But I agree it cannot be the area we live and die by for recruiting. Clearly the staff agrees as they further pursue talent from MD and New Jersey, along with continuing our recruiting of those trustee Canadians.

 

[ClvrUsrnm]

Lombardi went to Irondequoit for his freshman year, but left for Salisbury School after Craig Whipple resigned as coach.

But speaking of Irondequoit, Jack Brennan is a Maryland recruit. I don’t think any big time recruit from Irondequoit has ever gone to Syracuse. Jeff Long went to Navy. Paul Cantabene went to Loyola. Andrew Whipple and Joe Walters went to Maryland. Nick Ballou was an All-America defenseman who went D3 because he couldn’t afford Syracuse. And that was in the 90s.

 

[ivorytower]

A variety of thoughts here:
UVa's success has us all thinking about transition. We shouldn't be too quick to make the comparison. Starsia's exit had some bad karma related to it --as in homicide.
If a call is made correctly, maybe UVa exits the tourney as a quarter-finalist, and we keep wondering when they will turn it around. Their victory is not a sea change. Nonetheless, for years the tourney has been decided by great players making great plays, and that happened again this year. Great players have been elusive to SU in recent years.
What bugs me is how many teams have great players wearing #22. No doubt they were inspired by Mikey and the rest. Why didn't any of them come to SU?
We were good this year. We were close. I am hopeful that we may be one of the teams playing on Memorial Day Weekend in 2020.

Sometimes just one can make put you over the top

Let me asked the forum these two questions

1) If we had JUST ONE of the Tewaarton finalists (Spencer, Ament, Ierlan, Sowers, Bernhardt) on this team would we have made the Final Four and had a legit chance then to win the natty ?

2) If your answer is yes, does that mean that Desko has actually done a good job assembling and developing a group that is elite but just lacking that one superstar?

 

[ClvrUsrnm]

Yes and yes. No doubt Desko can coach and develop talent. He just sucks at pulling those elite guys in. If just Scanlan had come this year, they probably get to the Final Four.

 

[ForCuseSake]

Sometimes just one can make put you over the top

Let me asked the forum these two questions

1) If we had JUST ONE of the Tewaarton finalists (Spencer, Ament, Ierlan, Sowers, Bernhardt) on this team would we have made the Final Four and had a legit chance then to win the natty ?

2) If your answer is yes, does that mean that Desko has actually done a good job assembling and developing a group that is elite but just lacking that one superstar?

1.) Yes (my order of preference is exactly how you listed them)
2.) Yes - I think Desko has done a good job with the talent he has.

Like others have said Desko's recruiting misses are the biggest issue. I would like to see a new (younger) recruiting coordinator.

If Lelan leaves for a head coaching gig then I think Desko will get a young guy (Ryan Powell?) to fill the recruiting void and perhaps take over the defense himself. I think the program will quickly trend upward if something like this happens.

 

[ivorytower]

Yes and yes. No doubt Desko can coach and develop talent. He just sucks at pulling those elite guys in. If just Scanlan had come this year, they probably get to the Final Four.

I was thinking more along the lines of one alpha whether that be one of the Tewarrton finalists or a likely future candidate ie Moore who impacts . Austin Staats may have been that guy

Scanlan imo while skilled benefitted greatly from playing off Spencer

Just keep thinking if we had that one top offensive player then the narrative on Cuse would be completely different because we have several really good players

 

[ClvrUsrnm]

I agree to a degree on your Scanlan point. He certainly benefited from Spencer, but he can create on his own or get open for step downs/hitches.

 

[PhatOrange]

Unless people actually know what kind of financial aid is being given out it’s all just speculation.

A lot of tired excuses.

Re talent, anyone can identify the top talent. Landing them is what counts.

And let’s be real here, no former Syracuse player is going to put their name on negative quotes.

 

[Laxwizard22]

Sometimes just one can make put you over the top

Let me asked the forum these two questions

1) If we had JUST ONE of the Tewaarton finalists (Spencer, Ament, Ierlan, Sowers, Bernhardt) on this team would we have made the Final Four and had a legit chance then to win the natty ?

2) If your answer is yes, does that mean that Desko has actually done a good job assembling and developing a group that is elite but just lacking that one superstar?

To answer your first question, 100% yes. You could definitely argue that Ierlan should be ours, as he was relatively unheralded coming out of Victor the same year as Trimboli. Then combine that with who SHOULD 100% be wearing orange (Wisnauskus, Gaudet, Scanlan, maybe Staats) then I have to argue that we’re hands down the best team in the country. It’s just a matter of finishing those recruiting battles, and staying connected. I know that was an issue with Scanlan.

 

[cuseguy]

Sometimes just one can make put you over the top

Let me asked the forum these two questions

1) If we had JUST ONE of the Tewaarton finalists (Spencer, Ament, Ierlan, Sowers, Bernhardt) on this team would we have made the Final Four and had a legit chance then to win the natty ?

2) If your answer is yes, does that mean that Desko has actually done a good job assembling and developing a group that is elite but just lacking that one superstar?

No guarantees, but it definitely would have put SU in better position to make a run.

 

[ForCuseSake]

To answer your first question, 100% yes. You could definitely argue that Ierlan should be ours, as he was relatively unheralded coming out of Victor the same year as Trimboli. Then combine that with who SHOULD 100% be wearing orange (Wisnauskus, Gaudet, Scanlan, maybe Staats) then I have to argue that we’re hands down the best team in the country. It’s just a matter of finishing those recruiting battles, and staying connected. I know that was an issue with Scanlan.

TD Ierlan was a two time AA and back-to-back All Greater Rochester selection - 2016 Player of the Year.

He was more heralded than Trimboli.

 

[Jables]

Yes and yes. No doubt Desko can coach and develop talent. He just sucks at pulling those elite guys in. If just Scanlan had come this year, they probably get to the Final Four.

No guarantee Scanlan even starts on SU. I think that is part of the problem with Desko.

 

[SDCuse114]

I think there is still excellent talent in upstate new york but there seems to be less depth of skilled players on most high school teams when compared to Long Island, the greater Baltimore area, and increasingly so in the New England/Penn prep school scene. The level of play is much higher overall in those areas and more college ready talent is produced as a result. Upstate NY’s aging and overall decreasing population could certainly play a role in that, among other factors. In spite of that the actual top talent in the area still stacks up with the rest of the nation. Connor Fields, Ben Reeves, TD Ierlan, Connor Canizzaro, Dylan Donahue, Luke Goldstock, Jake Pulver, Scott Firman, Nick Mellen, Sean Eccles, Zed Williams, Zach Miller, and the list goes on (to some extent at least). If you were to put the Upstate NY (for simplicity sake calling upstate everything but the greater NYC/long island area) NCAA allstar team of the last 3 or 4 years against any other regions all star lineup, we would have a shot at winning, and I don’t think there is any argument against that. But if the second/reserve teams in this imaginary competition went against Long Island’s or MD’s, or New England’s, their second teams would probably win, and unfortunately there is not much of an argument against that either.

Still we are seeing top talent come out of the area to this day. Two of the most promising freshman this year (Chase Ierlan goalie at Cornell and Chase Scanlan middie at Loyola) hail from Upstate NY, and Griffin Cook has shown some signs of a bright future. Jon jon Lombardi at Cornell is another highly rated recruit hailing from Rochester who could have a breakout year. I don't think it's gotten to the point where a kid playing in Upstate NY who is dominating the competition in high school will likely fade away when going up against the best of D1 competition from other areas. It is still an area of the nation not to be overlooked by recruiters. But I agree it cannot be the area we live and die by for recruiting. Clearly the staff agrees as they further pursue talent from MD and New Jersey, along with continuing our recruiting of those trustee Canadians.

We’re long overdue for Canadian offensive talent. Who was our last Canadian (excluding Six Nations players) starter on offense? Stephen Keogh in 2011?

Look at all the Canadians that have passed through or currently playing at US schools since then: Tre LeClaire, Jack Kelly, Jeff Teat, Zach Currier, Zach Herreweyers, Foster Cuomo, Connor Fields (dad is Canadian), Joel Tinney, Mark Cockerton, Chris Cloutier, Mark Matthews, Wesley Berg, Mike MacDonald, Jesse King, Logan Schuss, TJ Sanders, Chad Tutton, Matt Gaudet (ouch), Brody Eastwood, Jeremy Noble, Clarke Petterson... just to name a few.

Considering how close Syracuse is to the Canadian border and how integral Canadians have been to Syracuse Lacrosse and many of its national titles, it’s surprising how few Canadian talent we’ve had the last 10-15 years. Only ones I can name off the top of my head that started are Sean Young and Drake Porter. Hopefully Desko & staff are still hitting Canada for recruits. Could find the next Gary Gait.

 

[Laxwizard22]

Maybe the biggest one was Joe Fletcher. Unfathomable how we didn’t even give him a call. That stud defender was exactly what that group of teams needed (‘12, ‘13, ‘14, ‘15) or sometime around then

 

[DoctahLexus]

We’re long overdue for Canadian offensive talent. Who was our last Canadian (excluding Six Nations players) starter on offense? Stephen Keogh in 2011?

Look at all the Canadians that have passed through or currently playing at US schools since then: Tre LeClaire, Jack Kelly, Jeff Teat, Zach Currier, Zach Herreweyers, Foster Cuomo, Connor Fields (dad is Canadian), Joel Tinney, Mark Cockerton, Chris Cloutier, Mark Matthews, Wesley Berg, Mike MacDonald, Jesse King, Logan Schuss, TJ Sanders, Chad Tutton, Matt Gaudet (ouch), Brody Eastwood, Jeremy Noble, Clarke Petterson... just to name a few.

Considering how close Syracuse is to the Canadian border and how integral Canadians have been to Syracuse Lacrosse and many of its national titles, it’s surprising how few Canadian talent we’ve had the last 10-15 years. Only ones I can name off the top of my head that started are Sean Young and Drake Porter. Hopefully Desko & staff are still hitting Canada for recruits. Could find the next Gary Gait.

I don't think we necessarily need to separate Six Nation guys from other Canadians when thinking about Canadian recruits, especially since the play styles are pretty much identical (one handed, good in tight spaces, can catch anything from indoor game experience, enjoy playing through contact, not bashful, entertaining as hell, etc.) but it is definitely true that recently we haven't landed any of those Canadian stars you listed, which is surprising. I also cannot think of any recent non 6 nation Canadians, although we have had several of those (Bomberry x2, Warren Hill, Staats and his cousin, Jamison, Sid Smith) mostly through the OCC pipeline. Gale Thorpe seemed poised to be our next Canadian star (dad Regy Thorpe was a famous Canadian box player), but I guess injuries and academics got in the way. He transferred to Ohio State and was not on their team this year after some solid production in 2018. He was an absolute monster in high school and seemed destined for greatness.

We just recruited Owen Hill who was a starter for the Hill Academy and I believe red shirted this year. Unfortunately we just lost a potential Canadian star in Josh Zawada, also from Hill Academy, but it is a good sign that we are going up there looking for kids. At least I think he has some Canadian/box lacrosse heritage despite being listed as from North Carolina. Lost him to Michigan of all places. That certainly wouldn't have happened last decade! Blaming everything on parity is a cop out, but it certainly has a big impact on recruiting. Losing top Canadians to Ohio State, Michigan, both Princeton (post Tierney) and Denver, UVM, and Albany, are entirely new problems this decade. They are not choosing those schools just to get playing time, a scholarship, and/or less expensive education. They chose them because they also still have a legitimate shot at getting to the final four.

 

[longtimefan]

Unless people actually know what kind of financial aid is being given out it’s all just speculation.

A lot of tired excuses.

Re talent, anyone can identify the top talent. Landing them is what counts.

And let’s be real here, no former Syracuse player is going to put their name on negative quotes.

Harvard, Princeton, and Yale cover all expenses for anyone who qualifies academically. Having endowments in the $100's of billions helps.

 

[Stealth4785]

Harvard, Princeton, and Yale cover all expenses for anyone who qualifies academically. Having endowments in the $100's of billions helps.

Harvard, Yale and Princeton all have qualifying low income tuition for a variety conditions. They range from no cost tuition to low cost (up to 20% in Yale's case) depending on family income and relevant assets. All of this is easily found on their websites.

 

[SkyTopBus44]

Harvard, Princeton, and Yale cover all expenses for anyone who qualifies academically. Having endowments in the $100's of billions helps.

Since they were letting in women’s soccer players who didn’t play soccer, I am sure they were not looking closely at the qualifications of lacrosse players at YALE. Thought it was a little fishy how we lost Gaudet when he went to Salisbury for a PG year. Shay has likely benefited from a friendly admissions office. Maybe the pendulum will shift as a result of this scandal and it might have an impact on the students that the Ivy’s can accept. Maybe Desko dropped the ball but for him to think he would lose a kid at that point to YALE seemed like a reach.

 

[SkyTopBus44]

Since they were letting in women’s soccer players who didn’t play soccer, I am sure they were not looking closely at the qualifications of lacrosse players at YALE. Thought it was a little fishy how we lost Gaudet when he went to Salisbury for a PG year. Shay has likely benefited from a friendly admissions office. Maybe the pendulum will shift as a result of this scandal and it might have an impact on the students that the Ivy’s can accept. Maybe Desko dropped the ball but for him to think he would lose a kid at that point to YALE seemed like a reach.

Gaudet was at Salisbury for 3 years never mind.

Still I thought TD Ierlan transferring from Albany to YALE was also shady

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Gaudet was at Salisbury for 3 years never mind.

Still I thought TD Ierlan transferring from Albany to YALE was also shady

The bloom came off the Dane Train rose.

 

[ClvrUsrnm]

At what point are we going to stop complaining and start debating things like who’s going to get the long pole next year, Dordevic or Curry? Or will Buttermore bump Trimboli to the second line? Things like that

 

[OrangeXtreme]

At what point are we going to stop complaining and start debating things like who’s going to get the long pole next year, Dordevic or Curry? Or will Buttermore bump Trimboli to the second line? Things like that

This is the "Complain about Desko" thread.

You must want the "Looking forward to 2020" thread. Two blocks up on the right hand side. Just past the gas station.

 

[CousCuse]

At what point are we going to stop complaining and start debating things like who’s going to get the long pole next year, Dordevic or Curry? Or will Buttermore bump Trimboli to the second line? Things like that

After the numbing pain from another first round exit and then watching Lars Tiffany with a National Championship for UVA has subsided. Around August, I'd say.

 

[ClvrUsrnm]

You mean the Ghost of Maryland won. Huge asterisk will always follow this one.