High School lax predictions and prospects...........

by **AFLAX12** on Fri Feb 03, 2006 11:59 pm

How are the high school teams looking this year? any predictions of who will go all the way? who are the top prospects?

**Sponsor**

by **Gopherlax29** on Sat Feb 04, 2006 6:03 pm

just got home today and Rob Graff mentione "Blake, Totino and Osseo" as well as how good "Hurley is." But it was by no means a veyr formal statement of talent. Probably just the first names he thought of for top teams. Blake is number 1 until someone beats them, plain and simple.

by **Dulax31** on Sat Feb 04, 2006 8:47 pm

My pick to win it all this year is Osseo, they will have a powerful offense with some of the most talented players in the state. Look for them to be a power.

by **Gopherlax29** on Sat Feb 04, 2006 8:57 pm

Thanks for the bode of confidence Fleck. This years team should be a fun to watch and hopefully can rake in the "W's"...we just lost Totino and Blake off of our schedule, don't know why, just an error with the scheduling I presume, it happens. Dempsey does a lot for that aspect so no harm, I think we might be getting back the Totino game!? Good luck to all teams, and hope everyone learned as much as I did today at the coaches clinic...

by **Jester** on Sat Feb 04, 2006 10:45 pm

Chemistry aside, just looking at the All State teams, some schools have a lot of skill returning, and some others lost big contributors -

Mahtomedi - 4 grad, 1 returning
Apple Valley - 4 grad, 1 returning
Blake - 2 grad, 6 returning
Eagan - 2 grad, 4 returning
EP - 3 grad, 1 returning
Breck - 3 grad, 1 returning
Edina - 0 grad, 3 returning
Osseo - 1 grad, 4 returning
Montiquois - 0 grad, 3 returning
Mounds View - 2 grad, 4 returning
Holy Angels - 0 grad, 2 returning

Remarkable number of young players seem to have been leaders on their teams last year, so the competition level should only rise. Osseo will be very good, no doubt, but all Blake needs to do to repeat is not get too high on themselves.

by **DwinsChamps** on Sun Feb 05, 2006 6:56 pm

Wayzata competed very well last season, and lost only a small handful of seniors to graduation. They are surely a top ten MN team next season, IMO.

by **Rob Graff** on Mon Feb 06, 2006 10:50 am

Gopherlax29 wrote:just got home today and Rob Graff mentione "Blake, Totino and Osseo" as well as how good "Hurley is." But it was by no means a veyr formal statement of talent. Probably just the first names he thought of for top teams. Blake is number 1 until someone beats them, plain and simple.

Johnny:

You are correct - I was picking names of good teams at random to illustrate a point . You are correct that my comment was an "informal statement of talent" - nothing more, nothing less.

My comments were not intended to be a ranking or other type of statement about HS teams.

Should we put toghether a USLIA poll about MN HS teams? Where voters are not directly affiliated (not current coaches/players for HS Teams) with the current HS league?

Might be fun.

Rob

by **Gopherlax29** on Mon Feb 06, 2006 4:42 pm

I am glad I had an accurate interpratation there otherwise I would have felt like an idiot throwing my own team out there. Also, Rob, nice work on Saturday with the speech, I learned a lot about defense, which is important to me...Also, that speech about our league should be said elsewhere as it brouth a lot of ideas to my mind that I would have never even thought about and I played in the league!

by **Pinball** on Mon Feb 06, 2006 6:35 pm

what were the comments? maybe all of us could benefit if we heard them.

by **Gopherlax29** on Mon Feb 06, 2006 8:08 pm

Rob can ellaborate if he pleases. He basically said stuff about how the caoches in our league care so much more about us as players and students even more, especially when in comparison to D-2 and D-3 schools and that players should stay in the league and get a solid degree. I know this is very short and he threw oout disclaimers about how certain schools are better for certain people obviously but if your dream is to be a teacher in minnesota a small liberal arts school for D-2 lax in North Carolina isn't the best idea etc... "School and life is more important than lax" would be a good way to describe it I guess. Sorry for the ramble but I didn't want to misconstrue (sp?) his words and make him seem like a 'bad' guy or anything.

by **Adam G** on Mon Feb 06, 2006 10:42 pm

That sounds like something well thought out and reasonable that Rob would say... If those were the words, they make very good sense

by **Rob Graff** on Tue Feb 07, 2006 10:48 am

Johnny - 2 for 2 - basically right on. It was my intent to be positive and also realistic.
To elaborate from my notes.

1. Noone gets rich from playing lacrosse. So, academic must be the #1 priority. Let me repeat. Academics is why you are at school. They are my priority as a coach. People who play for me for 4 years graduate (athough it sometimes takes 5 years for people in special majors such as education) That is the "statistic" of which I'm most proud.

2. If you've always wanted to leave the state and go to school out of state, do so. And know that you have my support. But if you want to be a teacher in Minnesota, why go to a small school in NC that noone's heard of in Minnesota? If the only answer is "to play lacrosse" I'd suggest rethinking that decision.

3. In response to a question - Every USLIA coach I've had the pleasure to speak with values education and cares deeply about their players. (note JP's concern about Dejon Hush in Washington on the PNCLL board, and other stories I could tell)

That's because most, if not all, use their education to earn a living and, as a result, value it. Also, becuase most are volunteers - they don't have to be successful to keep their jobs. This freedom allows them to allow their team to put the books first.

I made some other points about the development of lacrosse in Minnesota as compared to LI by contrasting the number of schools that play and the number of letters of intent signed by players in that region.

I was very complimentary of how far we've come as a state in lacrosse development. But I also pointed out we're not at the point where MOST of the best athletes in our high schools play lax (which is where the "hotbeds" are). Rather SOME of our best are playing lax and that's a big step up from the past.

Probably some other stuff, but those were the big points.

by **Laxman5112** on Tue Feb 07, 2006 2:51 pm

I will say that you are correct in saying that going to a small bad school to just play lacrosse is not a smart thing to do. But there are to things that you are not saying. One is that there is a Varsity program out there that can give you a good education and let you play ball and not have to pay through the nose to do it. 2K a year to ride the pine and freeze your tail off at UMD does not sound like fun to me. I do think that Rob has built himself a very nice program over the years and he does give a small look at what Varsity ball is like. But to tell kids that it is anything like varsity is just false. Also don’t get me wrong I think UMD could beat some Varsity teams but that does not make them a Varsity program. From travel to scheduling to cost and facilities life on the varsity level is very different from club. If you want to stay at home there are some very good options in Minnesota from St. Johns to UMD but it is not varsity. If you want to play at a consistently higher level and get out of Minnesota there is a spot for you on a team someplace that meets your academic needs. My point is do what you want be smart about the school you pick and make sure it meets your needs but don’t be afraid to go for it. I also think that your direct rip on kids who want to go to Lees-McRae and not to UMD is totally uncalled for. I am sorry you are losing good players but do not negatively recruit.

by **LaxRef** on Tue Feb 07, 2006 4:06 pm

Laxman5112 wrote:I also think that your direct rip on kids who want to go to Lees-McRae and not to UMD is totally uncalled for. I am sorry you are losing good players but do not negatively recruit.

I think you're making unwarranted inferences here. I didn't see him rip on those kids; he just said it was a questionable decision if the only reason they were going to the school was to play lacrosse.

by **Laxman5112** on Tue Feb 07, 2006 4:45 pm

When you say "go to a small school in NC that noone's heard of in Minnesota" Sounds like a bit of a rip. Lets not get caught up in this, he is trying to get kids to stay home so he has a better shot at landing them. I also do think he does want kids to do well in college but as we see below UMD and Lees-McRae are about the same. But one is in good weather and one is in bad weather. North Carolina or hmm northern Minnesota. I wonder what school will get out on the field sooner. Rob has done great things for MN lacrosse and runs a fine team but lets not confuse recruiting with great advice.

Location
City, State Duluth, Minnesota Banner Elk, North Carolina
Region Midwest South
Type
Public vs. Private Public Private (Nonprofit)
Religious Affiliation Presbyterian Church (USA)
Campus Life
Setting Suburban Rural
U
Admission
Percentage accepted 79 72

ACT™ Composite Scores 20 - 25 19 - 24