Recruiting 2023-2025

[Otto22]

I think this is the second time I've seen this question asked. There are others on this board much more informed than me on how the coaching staff works, but my guess is the assistants do a majority of the legwork. March has proven himself to be a dogged recruiter and I imagine he focuses much of his time on the offensive side of the ball.

Odierna is new to the staff and brings in the biggest unknowns, he was definitely focused on a different group of players before he got to SU. I think in Petros absence the new third assistant Aquaviva was visiting a lot of recruiting clinics and tournaments. It will be interesting to see how Odierna transitions to the recruiting circuit as a Syracuse coach, I'm sure the top players are no stranger to him, he just has to adjust a bit. Interesting that the first two players to commit are an LSM and goalie.

Where Gait fits in, I'm not totally sure. I get the sense that he is a "CEO" type, which means he probably lets his assistants forge their own path. If you trust the guys working for you that shouldn't be a problem. I would guess he weighs in more on the offensive side of the ball, but he must have an idea of how he wants to play defense so he'll also have opinions there. Who extends offers and what not is a good question, I have no idea. I picture Gait focusing on the bigger name kids but I have no idea. I think Desko let his assistants do most of the recruiting work as well, and came in as a closer.

Would be interested if anyone has any solid information about how SU recruiting works.

Thanks for your input. A few observations you made are what concerns me. One, definitely at the end of Desko's run, not sure anyone was recruiting, so not sure that is a model to follow. Two, SU is not going to recruit on an ACC level if Gait is not going to be heavily invested in the "grind" - no way. Acting as a "CEO type" might work at Duke, ND, & UVA at this time, not working at SU. Gary has to put the time in on this front or forget it. I think many here are discounting Petro's absolutely relentless work habits that created an uptick in recruiting the past couple of years. And yes, people saying what is going on currently in this class that it is "too early" to worry - you are wrong. In fact, it is getting "late" very early from what other teams have already hauled in for the '25 class.

 

[GrowTheGame]

I think this is the second time I've seen this question asked. There are others on this board much more informed than me on how the coaching staff works, but my guess is the assistants do a majority of the legwork. March has proven himself to be a dogged recruiter and I imagine he focuses much of his time on the offensive side of the ball.

Odierna is new to the staff and brings in the biggest unknowns, he was definitely focused on a different group of players before he got to SU. I think in Petros absence the new third assistant Aquaviva was visiting a lot of recruiting clinics and tournaments. It will be interesting to see how Odierna transitions to the recruiting circuit as a Syracuse coach, I'm sure the top players are no stranger to him, he just has to adjust a bit. Interesting that the first two players to commit are an LSM and goalie.

Where Gait fits in, I'm not totally sure. I get the sense that he is a "CEO" type, which means he probably lets his assistants forge their own path. If you trust the guys working for you that shouldn't be a problem. I would guess he weighs in more on the offensive side of the ball, but he must have an idea of how he wants to play defense so he'll also have opinions there. Who extends offers and what not is a good question, I have no idea. I picture Gait focusing on the bigger name kids but I have no idea. I think Desko let his assistants do most of the recruiting work as well, and came in as a closer.

Would be interested if anyone has any solid information about how SU recruiting works.

I’m imagining it’s a bit like a car dealership.

Odierna/March/Acquaviva do most of the legwork and maintain relationships. Then Gait comes in as the Sales Manager to close the deal/offer the player a spot/goes to give players some love at games (i.e. when he visited Mullen) once committed. But, this is a best guess not a known fact in me saying it.

On Odierna as a recruiter: he has long established roots in LI, some good references from former players he directly recruited (including a starting PLL goalie), and this bit from his Manhattan bio is also encouraging “A renowned clinician, Odierna has also organized and developed the Hoboken Shootout, the FLG Premier and FLG Legit 120 showcases.”

Manhattan has also recently landed (before he moved to Cuse) some really under valued commits from SoCal, so he clearly has tapped into a market Cuse can also take advantage of with the type of athletes that come from that area. Can’t wait to see if he starts getting any Mater Dei/Torrey Pine type players into Cuse.

 

[Otto22]

Thanks for your input. A few observations you made are what concerns me. One, definitely at the end of Desko's run, not sure anyone was recruiting, so not sure that is a model to follow. Two, SU is not going to recruit on an ACC level if Gait is not going to be heavily invested in the "grind" - no way. Acting as a "CEO type" might work at Duke, ND, & UVA at this time, not working at SU. Gary has to put the time in on this front or forget it. I think many here are discounting Petro's absolutely relentless work habits that created an uptick in recruiting the past couple of years. And yes, people saying what is going on currently in this class that it is "too early" to worry - you are wrong. In fact, it is getting "late" very early from what other teams have already hauled in for the '25 class.

 

[SULAXAHOLIC]

Thanks for your input. A few observations you made are what concerns me. One, definitely at the end of Desko's run, not sure anyone was recruiting, so not sure that is a model to follow. Two, SU is not going to recruit on an ACC level if Gait is not going to be heavily invested in the "grind" - no way. Acting as a "CEO type" might work at Duke, ND, & UVA at this time, not working at SU. Gary has to put the time in on this front or forget it. I think many here are discounting Petro's absolutely relentless work habits that created an uptick in recruiting the past couple of years. And yes, people saying what is going on currently in this class that it is "too early" to worry - you are wrong. In fact, it is getting "late" very early from what other teams have already hauled in for the '25 class.

Might want to rethink this post since Desko’s last recruiting class was number 1 in the country don’t let facts get in the way of your good stories. Tell me for a fact exactly who Petro recruited??? Do you think the massive
Influx of Canadian talent is because Petro was at Syracuse or because of Gary ??? The defense was worse under Petro then Rogers

 

[Otto22]

Might want to rethink this post since Desko’s last recruiting class was number 1 in the country don’t let facts get in the way of your good stories. Tell me for a fact exactly who Petro recruited??? Do you think the massive
Influx of Canadian talent is because Petro was at Syracuse or because of Gary ??? The defense was worse under Petro then Rogers

First, you are way too sensitive. Loved Coach Desko, but his last 5 years the "recruiting" was almost non - existent. And it showed with the program slipping from being at the top to about the top 10. Those are the facts. I am aware how invisible the SU staff was on the recruiting trail and at the recruiting events during this time. That changed with Petro. And Petro's presence brought the accountability of the staff up to a higher level. We will revisit this conversation in a few weeks.

 

[DMVCuseLax]

Might want to rethink this post since Desko’s last recruiting class was number 1 in the country don’t let facts get in the way of your good stories. Tell me for a fact exactly who Petro recruited??? Do you think the massive
Influx of Canadian talent is because Petro was at Syracuse or because of Gary ??? The defense was worse under Petro then Rogers

I know Petro got Figueiras to flip and I believe Beck was his recruit in the 22 class. No idea about the 23s.

 

[JeremyCuse]

I know Petro got Figueiras to flip and I believe Beck was his recruit in the 22 class. No idea about the 23s.

He played a role with several recruits, laxaholic is clearly not a petro fan but he was definitely more impactful in the recruiting game then he is giving him credit for.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[4evaOrange]

Cmonnnnn

 

[SULAXAHOLIC]

He played a role with several recruits, laxaholic is clearly not a petro fan but he was definitely more impactful in the recruiting game than he is giving him credit for.

He was an assistant coach of course he had an impact in recruiting I just don’t see where he’s good at it. His recruits at JHU were worse than Syracuse and people constantly criticize Desko and his staff so why isn’t it fair to criticize him. The defense regressed under his coaching and he had one of the best ball stoppers in Syracuse history with Mark.

 

[JeremyCuse]

He was an assistant coach of course he had an impact in recruiting I just don’t see where he’s good at it. His recruits at JHU were worse than Syracuse and people constantly criticize Desko and his staff so why isn’t it fair to criticize him. The defense regressed under his coaching and he had one of the best ball stoppers in Syracuse history with Mark.

Your history on Petro is incorrect, JHU was still bring in top end classes but his recruits weren't panning out. He was particularly hurt by early recruiting. That said they were still highly rated per IL and other services. I have no issue critizing him, defensively it didn't work here but your using revisionist history

 

[SULAXAHOLIC]

Ohhhhh so recruiting is all about how highly IL has them ranked Im sorry I thought it was about on field success . No wonder Desko is gone guys like Rice Donahue Salcido weren’t even on IL’s radar

 

[JeremyCuse]

Ohhhhh so recruiting is all about how highly IL has them ranked Im sorry I thought it was about on field success . No wonder Desko is gone guys like Rice Donahue Salcido weren’t even on IL’s radar

Again your moving the goal posts, he brought in highly rated recruiting classes at Hopkins even at the end but some of the recruits especially defensively weren't working for whatever reason and Hop started to fall apart. As I noted many felt it was because of early recruiting and Petro targeting recruits who didn't live up to the rankings. Blame falls on Petro for that but your acting like his classes were ranked in the mid teens or something.

Desko issue was that SU stopped getting elite recruits period and had to go with transfers and elevating 3 stars and diamonds in the rough that worked for a while before finally catching up.

 

[SULAXAHOLIC]

So it’s better to have highly ranked recruits not turn out then develop players my bad Atleast Ty Xanders thought they were gonna be good too makes sense now

 

[JeremyCuse]

So it’s better to have highly ranked recruits not turn out then develop players my bad Atleast Ty Xanders thought they were gonna be good too makes sense now

No its good to have both. Both Petro and Desko were fired because they stopped bringing in upper level recruits, Deskos case or the ones they did bring in were not panning out in bigger numbers then were sustainable ie Petros Case. Not sure why this is so hard to understand.

 

[SULAXAHOLIC]

Funny I thought Desko retired atleast that’s what Syracuse’s stellar AD said PS my previous post was sarcasm I’m extremely fluent in it. I just can’t see where Petro is regarded as a great recruiter let’s compare programs in Dave’s final year. Syracuse was undefeated and number 1 in the country Hopkins was 2-4 and had just lost to Syracuse at home 15-9 but atleast he had the number 1 recruit in the country. I don’t see what’s so hard to understand

 

[JeremyCuse]

Funny I thought Desko retired atleast that’s what Syracuse’s stellar AD said PS my previous post was sarcasm I’m extremely fluent in it. I just can’t see where Petro is regarded as a great recruiter let’s compare programs in Dave’s final year. Syracuse was undefeated and number 1 in the country Hopkins was 2-4 and had just lost to Syracuse at home 15-9 but atleast he had the number 1 recruit in the country. I don’t see what’s so hard to understand

Look if you don't think Petro was a great recruiter I don't know what to tell you. I'm no Petro superfan I'm a Cuse fan and can't stand Hopkins but it's common knowledge that he was a top end recruiter while at Hop. Great recruiting classes don't always mean wins see UNC and Breschi.

Comparing 2020 seasons makes little sense, Hop was awful that year and SU looked pretty good albeit in 5 games but who would argue otherwise?

 

[SULAXAHOLIC]

My definition of good or great recruiting is recruiting players who excel on the field not because some trash magazine hypes a player up with a number. How does an individual players play over four years contribute to team wins and losses pretty simple metrics

 

[Otto22]

My definition of good or great recruiting is recruiting players who excel on the field not because some trash magazine hypes a player up with a number. How does an individual players play over four years contribute to team wins and losses pretty simple metrics

You really are tangled up in delusion.
1. Desko & crew were ghosts on the recruiting trail. Why the program declined dramatically (no Final 4 in Desko's last 8 years with the team). His last game, SU loses by 10 goals in 1st round to Georgetown. The next week in the quarters, GT loses by 11.
2. Petro's defenses you criticize: when you play the offenses of MD, UVA, ND, Duke, UNC with an inferior roster (Desko left the program with) and a face off unit that wins 36% in ACC play - forget it. No defense can play those offenses with a 36% face off unit.
3. The #1 recruiting class you mentioned that Desko "brought in" - as mentioned by another poster, Petro flipped some kids for that class, including the highest rated defender in the class, Figueiras.
4. How many recruiting events have you attended the past couple of years? I attend a few. Petro was there from morning until the end. Along with Marsh. Never saw Gary. I did see Tillman, Breschi, Tambroni, Tiffany, Milliman, Warne, etc, etc...
5. So back to my original concern: SU has an uphill climb here. The program on the field success has be absent for quite a while. The in - conference competition is fierce, considering the schools involved. IF the head coaches are all in at UNC, Duke, UVA, ND, throw in MD - SU needs to go above and beyond their effort level. Is Gary doing this? Is he investing in knowing the kids and the families? Just Odeirna & Marsh out on the trail, ain't going to cut it. Gary may be doing all these things, which would be great. But from a casual observation, I have my doubts.
Proof is in the pudding, speculation will not be required. We will know within a couple of weeks, if the "effort & grind" was put into the recruiting. As of today, how are you feeling??

 

[nyclax]

petro is one of the best recruiting salesmen in the game. hes terrific in the room. families love him. the guy is a closer. when he wants a kid he often gets him. he doesnt lose many recruiting battles. he was pulling top 5 classes to hop till the end. his connections to the club world are unmatched. hes prob the best known coach in TWO of the sports biggest hotbeds- maryland and long island. i know of a bunch of cases from over the years where a kid was on the fence between two schools and petro was the difference

thats not the same as being a great developer of talent or even coach in general. obv something went wrong toward the end for him at hop. but he never lost his ability to win recruiting battles against other top teams and coaches. ask guys like tillman, starsia, shay, what they think of petro as a recruiter. they will have some stories

another way of thinking about it is...if raio ends up at unc and not cuse you'll know who to blame

 

[SULAXAHOLIC]

You really are tangled up in delusion.
1. Desko & crew were ghosts on the recruiting trail. Why the program declined dramatically (no Final 4 in Desko's last 8 years with the team). His last game, SU loses by 10 goals in 1st round to Georgetown. The next week in the quarters, GT loses by 11.
2. Petro's defenses you criticize: when you play the offenses of MD, UVA, ND, Duke, UNC with an inferior roster (Desko left the program with) and a face off unit that wins 36% in ACC play - forget it. No defense can play those offenses with a 36% face off unit.
3. The #1 recruiting class you mentioned that Desko "brought in" - as mentioned by another poster, Petro flipped some kids for that class, including the highest rated defender in the class, Figueiras.
4. How many recruiting events have you attended the past couple of years? I attend a few. Petro was there from morning until the end. Along with Marsh. Never saw Gary. I did see Tillman, Breschi, Tambroni, Tiffany, Milliman, Warne, etc, etc...
5. So back to my original concern: SU has an uphill climb here. The program on the field success has be absent for quite a while. The in - conference competition is fierce, considering the schools involved. IF the head coaches are all in at UNC, Duke, UVA, ND, throw in MD - SU needs to go above and beyond their effort level. Is Gary doing this? Is he investing in knowing the kids and the families? Just Odeirna & Marsh out on the trail, ain't going to cut it. Gary may be doing all these things, which would be great. But from a casual observation, I have my doubts.
Proof is in the pudding, speculation will not be required. We will know within a couple of weeks, if the "effort & grind" was put into the recruiting. As of today, how are

How many final fours did Petro goto in his last 8 years???
Rogers needed 1 season to turn a much worse defense into back to back championships both of which are more recent than Petro’s.He couldn’t even flip his own kids and you want me tout him as a great recruiter ? He is an overly emotional beached whale on the sideline who is 1 mantrum away from coronary arrest. Just going to have to disagree to disagree

 

[4evaOrange]

Man this thread got more depressing with this arguing.
Why don’t we stare at my avatar and just appreciate it?

 

[DoctahLexus]

Give it a couple weeks and the vast majority of the stuff being said here will seem like a hilariously massive freak out. We will get our guys and be totally fine. There are several good teams who have had the same start as us.

If Petro was such a recruiting savant then where are our super high end defensive recruits in the 2024 class? I still do not believe that he was also the main reason we landed our top offensive recruits, especially since March has made some great moves recruiting high end guys before he got here. Being unable to put together an actual good defense on the field will always more than cancel out any benefits he was bringing us as a recruiter. It was a good day for us in the long term when he decided to move on.

Do all these talented players come to us through the portal without everyone on staff grinding their asz off, including Gait? Not going to bring up instances where players mention gait as a reason for joining since the people I would be trying to convince are locked in and stubborn as hell. He will have nonsense thrown his way on here until he wins three nattys back to back. It is what it is. Plenty of stuff here is not even worth touching.

If it ends up being a down recruiting year, which is far from guaranteed, the main thing I would point to are issues that have been haunting us for about a decade or longer. Playoff performance and results in conference, changing recruiting landscape, academics, location, etc. Our success in the portal tells me guys still want to play for Syracuse. When it all plays out we will have our guys coming in for 2025.

 

[DMVCuseLax]

petro is one of the best recruiting salesmen in the game. hes terrific in the room. families love him. the guy is a closer. when he wants a kid he often gets him. he doesnt lose many recruiting battles. he was pulling top 5 classes to hop till the end. his connections to the club world are unmatched. hes prob the best known coach in TWO of the sports biggest hotbeds- maryland and long island. i know of a bunch of cases from over the years where a kid was on the fence between two schools and petro was the difference

thats not the same as being a great developer of talent or even coach in general. obv something went wrong toward the end for him at hop. but he never lost his ability to win recruiting battles against other top teams and coaches. ask guys like tillman, starsia, shay, what they think of petro as a recruiter. they will have some stories

another way of thinking about it is...if raio ends up at unc and not cuse you'll know who to blame

Petro will outwork most when it comes to recruiting. Gait will need to be present at the major recruiting events for Cuse to have success. He is the GOAT player. Time to be the GOAT on the recruiting trail.

 

[DoctahLexus]

You really are tangled up in delusion.
1. Desko & crew were ghosts on the recruiting trail. Why the program declined dramatically (no Final 4 in Desko's last 8 years with the team). His last game, SU loses by 10 goals in 1st round to Georgetown. The next week in the quarters, GT loses by 11.
2. Petro's defenses you criticize: when you play the offenses of MD, UVA, ND, Duke, UNC with an inferior roster (Desko left the program with) and a face off unit that wins 36% in ACC play - forget it. No defense can play those offenses with a 36% face off unit.
3. The #1 recruiting class you mentioned that Desko "brought in" - as mentioned by another poster, Petro flipped some kids for that class, including the highest rated defender in the class, Figueiras.
4. How many recruiting events have you attended the past couple of years? I attend a few. Petro was there from morning until the end. Along with Marsh. Never saw Gary. I did see Tillman, Breschi, Tambroni, Tiffany, Milliman, Warne, etc, etc...
5. So back to my original concern: SU has an uphill climb here. The program on the field success has be absent for quite a while. The in - conference competition is fierce, considering the schools involved. IF the head coaches are all in at UNC, Duke, UVA, ND, throw in MD - SU needs to go above and beyond their effort level. Is Gary doing this? Is he investing in knowing the kids and the families? Just Odeirna & Marsh out on the trail, ain't going to cut it. Gary may be doing all these things, which would be great. But from a casual observation, I have my doubts.
Proof is in the pudding, speculation will not be required. We will know within a couple of weeks, if the "effort & grind" was put into the recruiting. As of today, how are you feeling??

Among other things, there is literally no way Desko and co were “ghosts on the recruiting trail.” There is no such thing as a coaching staff not grinding to recruit. Did not land all the guys they wanted as we got farther away from our best years of success? That certainly is true. But don’t give me nonsense like they weren’t even trying.

Figueras was the one and only recruit that Petro flipped in 2022. The other flip was Thomson and I would find it hard to believe Gait and March were not the main factors there given his background. The rest in 2022 were all Desko Rogers and March and it takes a little more than being ghosts on the recruiting trail to land those guys. Petro gets credit for Figueras, but all those recruiting events he was at from dawn to dusk and he has not landed a similar high end defensive player in either the 23 or 24 class. Maybe just maybe they were beginning to look at his results on the field.

As of today I obviously do not feel great about the 25 class, but overall I feel pretty freaking good since we just landed a gazillion high end guys in the portal this off-season! Most of these were guys that every good team would want to have and there was certainly competition to land them. Proof is in the pudding indeed. These guys all wanted to play for Syracuse and coach gait, despite all these terrible things people claim about him here. We have an insanely stacked roster and are poised to make a run this year. Instead everyone is in doom and gloom mode about the first 10 days of a recruiting season for a class that feels more up in the air than previous years. It’s hilarious.