Office Hours: Answering 3 Common Recruiting Questions

I'm not a nice person. I'm a good person.

Sometimes I get stuck doomscrolling.

(Don’t worry, this isn’t going to get political. Actually, yeah, worry about that if you want; I’m not here to litigate your anxiety.)

düm-skrōl - to spend excessive time online scrolling through news or other content that makes one feel sad, anxious, angry, etc.

It’s not a good habit in the best of times, much less whatever we’re living through right now. I find that I tend to do it when I’m extremely frustrated with my day job, which, as you all know, is writing about lacrosse. But it’s not just writing. It’s talking to all sorts of people in the lacrosse industry. It used to be just coaches, other writers, editors, and a player here or there. Now I talk to basically everyone in the sport who will talk to me. I don’t have much of a filter, so people tend to ask me what I think of things when they actually want my opinion nowadays as I have become increasingly reticent to divulge it on social media.

Because all social media is lying to you.

It’s why you watched that Jake Paul-Mike Tyson trash fest this past weekend. It’s why you’re either really high on the election outcome or you’re really low. You might have felt those things anyway, but your interaction with them was heightened by your screen time. Perhaps that’s a bit harsh of generalization. But there is a kernel of truth in there that may resonate.

I bring all of this up to shine a spotlight on one of the things that sends me into a doomscroll. There are three questions I am frequently asked by parents now that I’m on the lacrosse recruiting beat and actively involved in the recruiting process of my players. So I thought I would respond to them in an honest way because, unlike some other people in the process, I don’t have a vested interest in where anyone plays.

I only want my players to go to programs that can help them develop as men. I understand other people want other things, and that is okay. But this is my newsletter, and I’m going to tell you how and what I think. And I’m not going to be nice about it. So don’t send me a friend request for your new Bluesky account just yet. We have things to discuss.

“Am I doing enough for my kid to get recruited?”

In most cases, the answer is a resounding, “Yes.” If your kid is in middle school and/or about to head into high school and playing club lacrosse, they’re in a decent spot. Their development doesn’t depend solely on playing club, but it certainly helps them accelerate to the top of their potential during that process. Club lacrosse has become less of a keeping-up-with-the-Joneses measure and more of a necessity when it comes to the recruiting process. Reps get you better. Club gives you a lot of reps. Periodt.

Now, when it comes to showcases and prospect days - I think the answer fluctuates. Showcases have their place in the ecosystem. The best ones are held the day before a recruiting event because at least coaches are guaranteed to be there. But here’s the thing about showcases - they’re usually attended by NCAA assistant coaches, a profession with more turnover than your local McDonalds. That’s not a shot at assistants - they’re very good at what they do - but an extra showcase will add to the already ridiculous churn of their existence. If you’re going to play in a showcase, make sure you tell all the schools that you want to watch you that you’re going to do it.

As for prospect days, I know plenty of people say that they’re a waste of time. But if you really want to go to that school and you really can’t get their attention, showing up and being the best player at their prospect day…is going to at least help pay for the volunteer coach’s salary. So. That’s a win for that guy.

“Is my kid a D-1 player?”

If you’re asking me, then, uh - No. Probably not. They would know by now. More importantly, their coaches would know. Where it gets a little nebulous is the kind of player that’s right on the line between high-level D-3 and lower-level D-1.

And, if I’m honest, there are so many of those players, particularly in New England, that it is dizzying. And most of the time the tiebreaker is size. If you take two players with equal ability in their position, the same academic standing, and similar playing styles - but one kid is 6’ 2’’ and the other one is 5’ 10’’, D-1 coaches will always pick 6’ 2’’.

Their tiebreaker after size is - “How much of a pain in the ass is one player over the other?”

The second tiebreaker is - “How big of a pain in the ass are their parents?”

It’s not always that simple, but it’s not as complex as you might be led to believe, either. Super-talented players always get a shot. Super-athletic players always get a shot. If you’re in the middle, or lower than that, in terms of size and ability - it’s going to be very hard for you to get to the D-1 level.

The position that you play also factors in. Numbers-wise, the position with the most players on any roster is midfield. The two positions with the least number of players on an average roster are face-off and goalie. So, just by sheer numbers, it’s much harder to be recruited if you’re a goalie than if you’re a two-way midfielder.

“Do full-ride athletic scholarships exist in lacrosse?”

No. Stop asking me that. You know better than that, don’t you?

Oh. You don’t. Okay, well let me break it down for you.

There are roughly 75 D-1 teams.

Let’s be generous and say there are 45 players on each roster (some have more, but this is a good median).

That’s 3375 total D-1 players (roughly).

If all 3375 of those players were on full 50k scholarships, that would cost 168,750,000.00 dollars.

Ain’t nobody spending that kind of money on or in lacrosse.

Even the top schools don’t give out full rides because, frankly, they don’t have to. The top lacrosse schools are also…the top schools in the country (minus several ranked state schools, a few high-academic schools without D-1 men’s teams like Stanford and Columbia, and specialty schools).

The lacrosse equipment industry is only worth 315,000,00.00.

Hockey is 2.1 billion. Football is 18.5 billion. Soccer is 56.6 billion. That’s just the equipment. Soccer players just wear boots! How is that feasible? Because the world plays soccer. Chunks of North America play lacrosse. The math doesn’t lie.

Look - you’re not getting a full ride. The absolute best that you can hope for is an exceptional academic financial package bolstered by some extra athletic aid to bring down the overall cost. Maybe you score an NIL deal or two to offset whatever is left. But full athletic scholarships aren’t a thing in the sport of lacrosse.

You will never get one.

But that doesn’t mean you should stop trying.