Recruiting 2023-2025

[JeremyCuse]

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.

A couple quick things

Otto is partially correct, Desko was not a recruiting guy and was absent for most of the major tournaments and showcases. It was noticed by recruits and fans and was bantered about on here for years, probably before your time here. In the latter years of the Desko era recruiting fell off a cliff and Desko's lack of involvement definitely played a role as many time Rodgers was by himself at showcases while schools like UVA and Duke had their entire staffs there. It was why March was brought in who made an immediate impact on the trail when he went out with Rodgers.

As for the 2022 class, Desko did become more active the last few years after the staff was put on notice by the AD and changes were made (see his pursuit of a certain Loyola transfer and him traveling to Canada to watch a summer league game which was unheard of). That said Spallina was really the catalyst for that class and brought along a lot of players with him and March really did a good job selling the school to guys like Leo, Dwan and others who had tons of other big time offers.

From what I was told regarding Petro, he has played a role in multiple transfers including Will Mark the SSDM who came in with him and several other players. Believe he was also the lead guy in Donny Scott's recruitment, but March has also played a big role and has had some real good success on the Island and with the prep school guys. Petro's D coaching was bad to shaky here at best, though I would have liked to have seen what last years group could have done with a more balanced FOGO %.

As for this years class I don't think many people are in a panic and ot be honest I don't see the gloom and doom that you mentioned. I think it was clear this class was always going to be a bit of an uphill climb. Two straight years of no post-season, losing Petro late, class itself very Prep heavy and Upstate again kind of a wasteland and Canada down as well. I am not overly concerned but have heard some of the same rumblings about Gait and his lack of fondness for the grind of recruiting that I heard with Desko. I am certainly not in a panic about it but when y ou look at the competition within the ACC for players much less the Ivy's, Maryland, a resurgent Hop as well as schools like Michigan and OSU, Gait's gonna have to be all in to compete to get the 5 and elite 4 stars.

He's done an excellent job attacking the portal but it also has to be a balance. Most of the transfers each year are Grad guys, even this current class all are but 2 and that includes Kohn who I think might have another year and English. You don't want to get into a scenario where you need the portal every year like Rutgers, it's not sustainable and as proof of that they are getting shut out right now on the trail and haven't landed one upper echelon NJ recruit. Again I don't think SU situation is in anyway comparable but the loss of Petro from a recruiting standpoint hurts and SU as I noted only got 1 5 star last year with him. I suspect next year class will be more representative of what to expect one the new DC has a year under his belt at this level and the team hopefully makes a deeper post-season run.

 

[Powellfan]

For whatever it is worth, below are the dates that each recruit committed on. Things do seem to be moving a lot faster than last year, but its clear it takes some time to build a class. I'm guessing there will be a bit of a slow down this week until Sunday, as more kids will want to visit schools, but I may be wrong.

Name Commit Date
Koby White 3/10/2022
Brayden Ferguson 9/9/2022
Payton Anderson 9/12/2022
Vincent Bolognino 9/12/2022
Drew Angelo 9/20/2022
Cameron Ryan 9/22/2022
Dillon Stephens 9/26/2022
Matthew McIntee 10/5/2022
Owen O'Farrell 10/26/2022
Jack Schell 12/16/2022
Ryan Pels 5/3/2023

 

[DoctahLexus]

A couple quick things

Otto is partially correct, Desko was not a recruiting guy and was absent for most of the major tournaments and showcases. It was noticed by recruits and fans and was bantered about on here for years, probably before your time here. In the latter years of the Desko era recruiting fell off a cliff and Desko's lack of involvement definitely played a role as many time Rodgers was by himself at showcases while schools like UVA and Duke had their entire staffs there. It was why March was brought in who made an immediate impact on the trail when he went out with Rodgers.

As for the 2022 class, Desko did become more active the last few years after the staff was put on notice by the AD and changes were made (see his pursuit of a certain Loyola transfer and him traveling to Canada to watch a summer league game which was unheard of). That said Spallina was really the catalyst for that class and brought along a lot of players with him and March really did a good job selling the school to guys like Leo, Dwan and others who had tons of other big time offers.

From what I was told regarding Petro, he has played a role in multiple transfers including Will Mark the SSDM who came in with him and several other players. Believe he was also the lead guy in Donny Scott's recruitment, but March has also played a big role and has had some real good success on the Island and with the prep school guys. Petro's D coaching was bad to shaky here at best, though I would have liked to have seen what last years group could have done with a more balanced FOGO %.

As for this years class I don't think many people are in a panic and ot be honest I don't see the gloom and doom that you mentioned. I think it was clear this class was always going to be a bit of an uphill climb. Two straight years of no post-season, losing Petro late, class itself very Prep heavy and Upstate again kind of a wasteland and Canada down as well. I am not overly concerned but have heard some of the same rumblings about Gait and his lack of fondness for the grind of recruiting that I heard with Desko. I am certainly not in a panic about it but when y ou look at the competition within the ACC for players much less the Ivy's, Maryland, a resurgent Hop as well as schools like Michigan and OSU, Gait's gonna have to be all in to compete to get the 5 and elite 4 stars.

He's done an excellent job attacking the portal but it also has to be a balance. Most of the transfers each year are Grad guys, even this current class all are but 2 and that includes Kohn who I think might have another year and English. You don't want to get into a scenario where you need the portal every year like Rutgers, it's not sustainable and as proof of that they are getting shut out right now on the trail and haven't landed one upper echelon NJ recruit. Again I don't think SU situation is in anyway comparable but the loss of Petro from a recruiting standpoint hurts and SU as I noted only got 1 5 star last year with him. I suspect next year class will be more representative of what to expect one the new DC has a year under his belt at this level and the team hopefully makes a deeper post-season run.

I hear you and agree as always. It is true I do not know much about how it went down with Desko. Was certainly less in the know back then. With Petro I think my point still stands that it has not been smooth sailing recruiting even with him in the fold. Donny Scott is the only guy with serious recognition and we even lost the other guy in that category, Quentin Killrain in '23. None on his level for the class of 24. I am sure he was the main guy for Will Mark and Murphy, as well as some of the D guys this year like the Mount St Marys product. Feel like Gait could have been a deciding factor in landing Matt Wright given his canadian roots, but that is speculation on my part. It's similar to how I feel about the D. If things were massively successful in the recruiting department I would be sadder to see Petro go, but they were not and therefore I think we stand to improve in the long term with him out of the picture. Our one high end 5 star was both on offense and from the prep school scene, which makes me think March was a bigger factor there.

I agree that the portal is not a sustainable route and have said plenty on that subject, but the main thing that separates this years portal grabs from a Rutgers OSU or Jacksonville is the quality of the guys we landed. Mule, Wright, English, Stevens, the Tufts fogo, these all had to be battles to land. They are the top tier of names in the portal this offseason and you do not land those guys without them having some trust in the head coach and the head coach making a good impression when we make our pitch. I would feel less confident if we were getting all fringe guys to plug and play for a year, but the majority are high end. It takes some level of work from a head coach to land those guys, which makes me have doubts about the rumors of his work ethic as a recruiter.

 

[DoctahLexus]

class itself very Prep heavy and Upstate again kind of a wasteland and Canada down as well.

Smaller small point: IL will always act like it is a down year for Canada. They neglect or underrate nearly all canadian players unless they were involved in certain prep schools or recruiting events. Gait is now the coach for the Canadian U20 team and could have an inside look at top players who are undervalued by IL. Anyone we land from Canada this year I would be automatically excited about, ranking or no ranking.

 

[Powellfan]

Does anyone have any insight into Miguel Iglesias? He's a public school kid, from JoJo Marasco's alma mater (Somers High in NY) and plays from Prime Time on the club circuit. Reminds me a lot of Anthony Raio, another player who has gotten some attention on this board - good size (6'2), very good dodger and can absolutely hammer the ball. Looks like he could play all over the field (same with Raio). IL has him ranked 25. Impressive highlight tape.

 

[Zack80]

Does anyone have any insight into Miguel Iglesias? He's a public school kid, from JoJo Marasco's alma mater (Somers High in NY) and plays from Prime Time on the club circuit. Reminds me a lot of Anthony Raio, another player who has gotten some attention on this board - good size (6'2), very good dodger and can absolutely hammer the ball. Looks like he could play all over the field (same with Raio). IL has him ranked 25. Impressive highlight tape.

It would be nice to see him at UMd.

 

[Otto22]

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.

You are wrong. Desko & crew were ghosts in his past 5 years. As mentioned by another poster, it changed a little in last year when put on notice. This is not breaking news stuff, very well known in the recruiting circles. Look at his 2 best players late - Curry (dad is a SU HOF), not much recruiting here. Dordevic, basically discovered by Ryan Powell.
Petro was and is a great recruiter and worker. He was doing great things for SU, outworking everyone on the staff. SU's classes with him were better on average than what was coming in the 8 years prior. If he stayed, the classes would even gotten better, as the team performed better.
The portal, that stuff is going to cool down a lot when the covid year bubble is exhausted (basically this year).
Bottom line, just hope Gary recognizes the competition. SU is not catching the likes of MD & John Tillman for an example, if Gary is going to be the "CEO Coach" - no way, no how. just like in sales, the results will match the effort. How have the results been so far?

 

[DoctahLexus]

You are wrong. Desko & crew were ghosts in his past 5 years. As mentioned by another poster, it changed a little in last year when put on notice. This is not breaking news stuff, very well known in the recruiting circles. Look at his 2 best players late - Curry (dad is a SU HOF), not much recruiting here. Dordevic, basically discovered by Ryan Powell.
Petro was and is a great recruiter and worker. He was doing great things for SU, outworking everyone on the staff. SU's classes with him were better on average than what was coming in the 8 years prior. If he stayed, the classes would even gotten better, as the team performed better.
The portal, that stuff is going to cool down a lot when the covid year bubble is exhausted (basically this year).
Bottom line, just hope Gary recognizes the competition. SU is not catching the likes of MD & John Tillman for an example, if Gary is going to be the "CEO Coach" - no way, no how. just like in sales, the results will match the effort. How have the results been so far?

Petros defense here was terrible. All the efficiency stats and what have you back that up. The offense improved significantly from year one to year two of Gait. Meanwhile the D improvements were minimal at best, with Will Mark often bailing us out from more embarrassing results. Our face off play did nothing to help, but the numbers were terrible with a good fogo in 2022 as well, and we could all point to errors in team defense leading to goals after plenty of games last season. You could say the same for his defenses late in his tenure at Hopkins, the school that fired him for lack of results.

And as I said the recruiting he did in the class of 23 and 24 was not some massive boost to how things were previously. Especially on the defensive end. Besides Donny Scott there have been no other guys with a high 4 star or 5 star rating on defense. A similarly rated guy flipped from Syracuse as well (Quentin Killrain). Trey Deere is our best recruit in that year and he has specifically referenced his meeting with gait as a reason for coming aboard. Our best 24 is also on offense. If you have evidence that Petro was the main reason we added Anderson I would love to hear it.

If this was Petros best work as a brilliant recruiter then I am not impressed. Even if we did have a couple other high end defensive guys in these next two classes, I still would not mind him leaving since the defense itself was so ugly. We now have a young and promising DC who is ready to prove himself both on the field and as a recruiter. I feel much better about our long term success with Odierna than I would with Petro. Short term recruiting we will see, but the defense on the field next season should be much improved. Get your shots in while it’s 10 days into the new recruiting cycle.

 

[nyclax]

the fact that he flipped 4-star 2023 wyatt hottle and then led a 2024 recruiting class with six 4-stars and a 5-star immediately after such an embarrassing 4-10 season is a direct reflection of his ability to connect with kids on the trail and sell a vision to them... without him, recruiting for the 2024 class would have been an unmitigated disaster that set the program back big time. that must have been the best recruiting class in the history of 4-10 seasons... IYKYK

 

[JeremyCuse]

the fact that he flipped 4-star 2023 wyatt hottle and then led a 2024 recruiting class with six 4-stars and a 5-star immediately after such an embarrassing 4-10 season is a direct reflection of his ability to connect with kids on the trail and sell a vision to them... without him, recruiting for the 2024 class would have been an unmitigated disaster that set the program back big time. that must have been the best recruiting class in the history of 4-10 seasons... IYKYK

Yup, again fair to criticize the defenses he put in the field but he's a heck of a recruiter and his presence their will be missed big time.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Look!!!

Actual news !!!

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[Powellfan]

 

[Otto22]

Petros defense here was terrible. All the efficiency stats and what have you back that up. The offense improved significantly from year one to year two of Gait. Meanwhile the D improvements were minimal at best, with Will Mark often bailing us out from more embarrassing results. Our face off play did nothing to help, but the numbers were terrible with a good fogo in 2022 as well, and we could all point to errors in team defense leading to goals after plenty of games last season. You could say the same for his defenses late in his tenure at Hopkins, the school that fired him for lack of results.

And as I said the recruiting he did in the class of 23 and 24 was not some massive boost to how things were previously. Especially on the defensive end. Besides Donny Scott there have been no other guys with a high 4 star or 5 star rating on defense. A similarly rated guy flipped from Syracuse as well (Quentin Killrain). Trey Deere is our best recruit in that year and he has specifically referenced his meeting with gait as a reason for coming aboard. Our best 24 is also on offense. If you have evidence that Petro was the main reason we added Anderson I would love to hear it.

If this was Petros best work as a brilliant recruiter then I am not impressed. Even if we did have a couple other high end defensive guys in these next two classes, I still would not mind him leaving since the defense itself was so ugly. We now have a young and promising DC who is ready to prove himself both on the field and as a recruiter. I feel much better about our long term success with Odierna than I would with Petro. Short term recruiting we will see, but the defense on the field next season should be much improved. Get your shots in while it’s 10 days into the new recruiting cycle.

You are uninformed. First, what you do not realize, Petro was recruiting for the entire team, not just defense. The man was a head coach - won 2 national titles. He was recruiting for the entire roster. Period. Kilrain, you do not know the specifics, so I would not worry about this "flip"
Two, the recruiting classes the past 2 years were significantly better than when Petro arrived.
Three, now pay attention boys & girls - what did Joey Spallina tweet upon petro's departure. Along the lines: "thank you coach for all the film sessions and helping teach me the game" - sorry your narrative is blowing up in your face. Petro was responsible for the recruiting across the board and most of the day to day coaching. Start asking around. You do not know what you are talking about whatsoever.
BTW - UNC just landed a 5 star.

 

[JeremyCuse]

 

[nyclax]

bair is good but no way is he the 7th best player in the class. xanders overrated him because he goes to his alma mater st. pauls

regardless, another 5-star for unc and i dont think theyre done

 

[DoctahLexus]

You are uninformed. First, what you do not realize, Petro was recruiting for the entire team, not just defense. The man was a head coach - won 2 national titles. He was recruiting for the entire roster. Period. Kilrain, you do not know the specifics, so I would not worry about this "flip"
Two, the recruiting classes the past 2 years were significantly better than when Petro arrived.
Three, now pay attention boys & girls - what did Joey Spallina tweet upon petro's departure. Along the lines: "thank you coach for all the film sessions and helping teach me the game" - sorry your narrative is blowing up in your face. Petro was responsible for the recruiting across the board and most of the day to day coaching. Start asking around. You do not know what you are talking about whatsoever.
BTW - UNC just landed a 5 star.

Lol. You have an axe to grind clearly and are not worth my time dude. I think we will just keep building our recruiting class and have a better product on the field next season, especially on defense. Can’t believe we landed a quality defensive player without petro. Tell your story to someone else.

 

[Shrmdougluvr]

bair is good but no way is he the 7th best player in the class. xanders overrated him because he goes to his alma mater st. pauls

regardless, another 5-star for unc and i dont think theyre done

Out of state tuition at UNC is $37k.

Room and board at St Paul’s is $65k ( i assume they have commuters but the website doesn’t have day student rates). So even without a schollie the Bairs will he saving money.

Tuition at Syracuse is $61k.

Until the value of a scholarship is normalized, SU will always have a distinct
Disadvantage. It’s a major defect for these sports that operate with limited scholarships.

 

[4evaOrange]

Anna and I approve.

 

[Zack80]

bair is good but no way is he the 7th best player in the class. xanders overrated him because he goes to his alma mater st. pauls

regardless, another 5-star for unc and i dont think theyre done

Bair seems to be ranked 18 on nlf and a 5-star, seems like a good player to get.

 

[Otto22]

Lol. You have an axe to grind clearly and are not worth my time dude. I think we will just keep building our recruiting class and have a better product on the field next season, especially on defense. Can’t believe we landed a quality defensive player without petro. Tell your story to someone else.

No axe. You just are uninformed.

 

[SULAXAHOLIC]

No axe. You just are uninformed.

The Petro hire was the only thing that ever made me question Gait it was an absolute horrible move that will have negative effects for several more years. He had zero intentions of staying the program would be way further ahead had he never come. Instead Syracuse is starting from scratch with what on paper looks to be a great hire but will take a sizable amount of time to completely undo Petro’s slide happy BS defense and implement a completely new system. You act like Syracuse fans don’t know what good coaches are Petro couldn’t hold a candle to Desko or Simmons who both have more then double the amount of rings Petro does. Syracuse was a bad fit for him and vice versa judging from the looks of him his health was suffering badly while he was here. So good luck at UNC can’t wait for SU to play them next spring. Till then Geese and Ducks

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

? for the Lax gurus here: do lefty goalies have an advantage, assuming most players face righty’s most of the time.

 

[Shrmdougluvr]

I'm not a lacrosse guru, but I was a recruited college athlete, and like to think I am very good at identifying talent quickly, and a lot of this Petro discussion (including some Gait recruiting stuff) is really overwrought.

My thoughts on Petro:

• It absolutely does not matter if Petro was as good as Rogers, Simmons, Desko, etc. None of them were going to be coaching and we needed a D coordinator. The comparisons are pointless when it comes to Petro's time with the Orange and his leaving.
• It was helpful hiring someone with head coaching experience who could help with administrative aspects.
• Everyone knew he wasnt long for the position.
• A lot of what I saw last year on defense was an absolute mess. Players appeared to have analysis paralysis and often made confounding decisions. The first quarter of the UVA game was remarkable. How a 20-year-old who's been playing for a decade doesnt instinctively realize that he doesnt have to slide to a player moving away from the goal, in the channel, on his off hand, is incredible. Yet we repeatedly had defenders doing things like that.
• I always find Petro to be very engaging when he speaks.
• Some kids liked to be coached hard, some don't.
• I could see Petro being a dynamic, hardworking recruiter. Some people really like to get after it. Guys like Saban and Meyer are legendary recruiters.
• "Grinding" is a weird way evaluate one's status as a recruiter. These guys should all be working smarter. And frankly, i dont consider sitting in a lawn chair on a sideline to be grinding. Most of these high end kids commit within a month, so how much "grinding" is there really. The vast majority of the best players can all be seen at a few events.
• I am sure Petro will recruit well to UNC. The school and program have a lot of selling points. UNC recruiting well, and Syracuse recruiting well, are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
• As a parent, my first question to Petro if he was recruiting my kid to Syracuse would have been, "If this is the place for my son, why isnt it the place for yours?"

Thoughts on Gait's recruiting:

• I'm ok with a CEO, closer type approach, so long as he really is engaged.
• He's still a huge name. The Air Gait. The equipment line. PLL award, etc.
• Whenever I hear Gait speak, I'm surprised by what a lacrosse dweeb he seems to be. I dont think that means that he watches hours upon hours of film, but he has a curiosity and he likes to innovate.
• To me that means he has a vision, and he gave us a timeline. I'm prepared to respect that.
• When he discusses recruiting, he certainly does not sound in the dark.
• In the end, the classes are the head coach's. His first two classes were excellent and good, and 2024 is good as well. The transfer portal for 2024 was great.
• He's values March very highly as a recruiter. I suspect Odierna will more than earn his keep as well.
• We're plugged in to Team 91, Six Nations/Haudenosaunee and Canadian youth. That alone should bear top 10 classes every year. We need to become a "go to" for Sweetlax and at least one of the Westchester/Fairfield County clubs (i.e., Primetime, Eclipse, Express North, etc.).

 

[ClvrUsrnm]

? for the Lax gurus here: do lefty goalies have an advantage, assuming most players face righty’s most of the time.

Yes. It throws shooters off. The top right corner for righties is no longer there