A Conversation with Pro Lacrosse player - Shayne Jackson

SPEAKER_02 0:11

Welcome, welcome, welcome to another episode of In the Crease with Danny and Kevin, a coast-to-coast discussion of D2 Men's lacrosse. I'm your co-host, Kevin Stenstrom, and with me as always is the maestro of D2 Lacrosse, or at least this podcast, Danny Moran. How's it going, Danny?

SPEAKER_03 0:30

Hi, Kevin. How are you? How's it going in Northern Virginia tonight?

SPEAKER_02 0:34

It's going well. It's going well. How you been?

SPEAKER_03 0:37

Everything's good, man. Ready to talk lacrosse, baby.

SPEAKER_02 0:42

All right, Danny, here we go. We always talk about the quality of players in D2, and it certainly showed with a lot of the players we had on last season during the season, as you recall. Now we get to go one step further and talk to current professional players who played collegially in Division II. I guess you could call it our pro series of episodes coming up. And we have several lined up over the next few weeks, but tonight we get to start off with Shane Jackson. A graduate of Limestone, he then took his talent to the NLL, MLL, and PLL. And if you look at what he accomplished while at Limestone, you can see why. In the 2011 season, he was named USILA First Team All-American, USA La Crosse Magazine National Division II Player of the Year, and an All-American, Conference Carolina Co-Player of the Year, and he was a finalist for the Tawaritan Ward. I mean, that's the list.

SPEAKER_03 1:41

There's not enough shelves on James House, though, to hold all the accolades. Jane Jackson, welcome to the program. We really appreciate you coming on.

SPEAKER_00 1:52

Thanks a lot, guys. I'm happy to be here.

SPEAKER_02 1:55

Yeah, it's it's awesome to have you on. We really appreciate it. I mean, it's red, your resume is quite the resume, and you have quite the background. Now, you grew up in Canada, in Ontario, and then I think you went to Onondaga Community College for two years and then went to Limestone. Can you just walk us through that journey, your lacrosse journey, starting off in Canada, how you went from Onondaga and then how you got to Limestone?

SPEAKER_00 2:22

Uh yeah, I mean in Canada, a lot of the a lot of the players they play hockey in the winter and then they put their, I mean, back in the day, now they play year-round. But uh when we were growing up, they kind of put away their hockey gear and play lacrosse during the summer. So all the rinks they would um you know take out all the ice and then play on the concrete. And um, so I I a lot of kids they start when they're five, six years old around here. So I I I was kind of late to start. I didn't start till I was 12 years old. Um so I once I mean once my hometown had a uh had a um like a team, they started an organization, Clarenton Minor Lacrosse. Uh so once they started, um I kind of just gave it a try. It was house league my first year, and then uh my second year, they started a rep team. So um once I made that, I kind of just took off and started playing every summer and tried to get better and better. And then all through high school, I was very small. I was still very raw at the game. Uh, I didn't really we didn't really play field across, so I wasn't going getting recruited. There's at a time when uh you you don't you don't make your you didn't make your own highlight tapes. Um now now it's a lot easier. You can just throw it up on YouTube and coaches can see you whenever, wherever. But when I was going through, you had to be seen by a coach almost live. Um and I only went to one kind of recruiting tournament, so I never really got that exposure just because I was new to it. Um and then a bunny, and then a buddy of mine, he went to high school with me and he went to Onondaga. And um, I mean Cody Jameson, Sid Smith, um a bunch of those guys, Nick Godell, they went to Onondaga, and that's when they made like one of the cool like YouTube videos about Onondaga. So that was kind of the first I had heard of it. And they they were coming off back-to-back national championships. And the guy I went to high school with, he said he was going there. So he went there a year before me. He just said, Hey, you should come here, it's a great spot. Um, coaches are great, it's all about lacrosse. And touch lacrosse. Yeah, I mean, yeah, Chuck Wilver, he did a great job there with um, you know, surrounding himself with good coaches. They had the Mike and Joe Volano uh brothers, and then uh Nick Gotto, who I learned a lot from. But um, yeah, I went there on a visit, got in touch with Coach Wilver, went there and kind of I just that's where I was going. Um, I didn't have any other options to be honest with you. So it was if I didn't go there, you don't, you know on JUCO, they don't do scholarships, so it's kind of like if you want to go there, you can kind of go there. Uh Coach Wilver said, Yeah, we'll take it. And so at that time you kind of think you're on the team, and you know, in your head you're gonna start, but then you show up to try out and there's over a hundred guys, so you quickly learn, like, oh, I gotta, I gotta, I gotta earn my way here, or you might not make the team. And then you're stuck at the school, and just going to school. If you're not on the team, then that that wouldn't last too long. So uh I went there and um I went there and we had a lot of great guys, a couple Canadians, um, some made of American kids that are that played box. So it was kind of the transition was kind of easy for me. If you have 10 or 12 box guys as well, you kind of you know you connect on that level, like okay, we all play box, play junior. So that made the transition easier, and you know, the coaches were great. Um, and then yeah, two good years there. We won back-to-back national championships. Uh then after my second year, um, it was kind of the same thing out of high school. I never really I obviously wanted to go D1. Um, you know, Syracuse is obviously right in the same same area as Onondaga, so that's always the dream is to go there, but then never, you know, I never got a uh a look from then, which is um, which was fine, but um I didn't really have many D1 offers, so I went to a couple Division II schools. I think I went to uh NYIT, right, um Fife Pfeiffer, yeah, and um, and then my third one was Limestone, and um I went on my visit to Limestone, and it's kind of the same story. They had a few BC guys, a few Ontario guys, but the BC guys they're playing junior A. And uh we had a mutual friend there. They had played uh the Quitlam Madden Axe with uh Mark Matthews, who's from uh my area here, and we had known each other, so we kind of connected there, and it was one of those things where you step on campus, you meet all the guys, you just it kind of just felt at home. So um, yeah, I talked to Coach Clark, and then at that time, uh Coach Barrett, Chris Barrett, he's the coach at Belmont Abbey. Yep, yep. Yeah, and um, you know, he was really big in getting me to limestone. He was the one doing a lot of the contact, picked me up from the airport, talked talked to me on that hour drive from the airport. He made me feel really comfortable. And um, yeah, once I met all the guys, it was um you know, I did it just felt the like the right spot for me. And then um they gave me a good offer and um I I took it. I was very excited, kind of because I was back at home during the fall because I was so lightly recruited recruited. I was back at home in the fall to taking classes because I had nowhere to go really. Right. Um then so then limestone gave me the offer and I I uh jumped at the opportunity.

SPEAKER_03 7:53

Yeah, plus the weather's nicer.

SPEAKER_00 7:55

Yeah, it was huge, yeah. Being in Canada and and upstate New York, they said South Carolina, it's pretty hot here year-round, so that was a big seller for me. Yeah, and it was a small, it's a smaller town, it and there's not too much to do there, so it's kind of all about lacrosse, but I'm c I come from a small town, so I'm I was kind of used to it.

SPEAKER_03 8:14

So I've been to Gaffney. I've been to Gaffney. Yeah, it's a small, it's a small southern town, like you just like you said. Yeah, but but the program that Coach Clark had built there, and those guys, they built some hell of a program, uh, so much of a program that they were instrumental in getting regions put in so they could get start getting national looks. Yeah, because they were so good, yeah, and there was not a lot of teams in the South at the time. So they were really instrumental in that that that university, that college, and in getting the South really on the charts with Division II. And Limestone's been a national powerhouse year in and year out.

SPEAKER_00 8:57

Yeah, and that was one of the big things for me as well. I didn't want to just um, you know, I didn't want to just go to school just to play lacrosse, and you know, I wanted to go somewhere like had a chance to win as well. Yeah, yeah. Coming from on doggive, you it's just yeah, it's it's it's expected that you win every single game, and I had I loved that. Um, you know, like you said, Danny, like back in the south was always it was just four teams made the playoffs. So four the south you're the best in the south, then you're automatically in the semis, so you kind of get a you have a good chance of going to that national championship. And the way Coach Clark and uh Coach Storier and Coach Barrett ran that program, it was like a D1 program almost. You get you got your strength conditioning coach, and that's what I wanted. It was all across, it was all about you know, your grades first, and then it was all about winning um second. So um that's that was the big draw. Is that as long as I felt comfortable and they were all about winning, so that's what made it easy to go there.

SPEAKER_03 9:56

Yeah, and you had a great, great career there, uh getting on the Tawarton list there, you know, and being one of the only division two players ever, I think, out of Limestone that ever made that list, or in Division II, maybe. I don't know if there's been many, if any.

SPEAKER_00 10:14

Yeah, I mean, that was I got for me. I'm not a player that uh is gonna. I need guys, I need guys around me that I like playing with. I know it's not you know all me. Yeah, we had we had good guys like Riley Loewen, Jackson Decker, Tor Reinhold. Um, they all played, uh they're all from BC and they played junior and they played pros. Riley and Tor still do. Um and then we had other guys like uh Randy Waugh, Tonami and Lang, and we had just we had good players around that kind of made it easy. Um so that that that was the the biggest reason for my success was the people I played with. And and and a lot and a lot of it goes on the coaches too, because Coach Storrier and Coach Clark, they let us um they kind of they didn't, you know, box us in to run in certain they kind of we kind of had like a free-flowing uh offense, and that's what you know we all like to play.

SPEAKER_02 11:14

Yeah, so talk a little bit about I'm curious, especially after you said about you know getting to Onondaga and there being like a hundred kids trying out, and you you knew you had to you had to make the team, it was gonna be, you had to work. So you come in as a transfer for your last two years in a team that's kind of already set, you know, I know how that goes, but you if you've so talk to me about talk to us about that and and transitioning in and finding a spot. Was it pretty much guaranteed that you'd have one? Or I assume with the talent they had there that it was also one of these things I've gotta find my niche and and find my place to to contribute.

SPEAKER_00 11:51

Yeah, I mean I I mean that was my mindset going in. I I don't, you know, some coaches will tell you that you're gonna start right away and this and that, but I I didn't want to go in with uh I didn't want to go on with my that mindset that you know this is my spot and you guys gotta you know cater to me. I want to just go in, I wanted to fit in with the guys, and I just wanted to work hard and uh play lacrosse. And I I felt as long as I did that, then you know the rest would take care of itself. But I I just what my main focus going in was just you know getting to know the guys and um you know just trying like to fit in, like I said, and there are there's still 70-75 guys on the limestone team. So you still you still have to earn your you earn your spot. And if you don't produce, and that was you know the big thing for me is you know, the big transfer coming in, you gotta you gotta you know show up, work, and produce. So I that's I just wanted to do that. Um I I wanted to earn it. I didn't go in with the mindset that this is my spot at all.

SPEAKER_03 12:53

Now, let me ask you this, Shane. Did you enjoy your time at the Division II level? Did you know some guys they love it? Hey, this is it for me. And some guys are like, you know, I feel like I'm playing down, you know. Like, how do you feel? How do you feel playing at the Division II level?

SPEAKER_00 13:11

I I I I didn't think, I mean, and because I was so you know raw and new to kind of feel a little across an NCAA, it was, I mean, I didn't really know any better. And um, you know, even at oh uh at Al and Daga, we had a bunch of D1 guys that you know all the guys passed, just lead them down certain ways, and they ended up there. But you know, so I kind of had uh we had D2 transfers, we had D3 transfers. So being at Alan and Doggy, kind of you saw like there's uh there's really not that much separating each division. Um, some some guys it could be grades, some guys it could be, you know, under under recruited. There's so many different variables to why guys were at their school, and to be honest, so you know, the D1 guys, especially the top five, top ten programs, they obviously have a lot more resources, um you know, as far as like equipment, strength conditioning go, nutrition. Right, right. Um, you know, I I I really there's still some very skilled guys in D3, there's still some very skilled guys in D2. So I mean the the separation, I I don't think, and in my experience, wasn't you know that much different throughout all the divisions?

SPEAKER_02 14:26

Interesting. Do you think that your journey, almost in my the way I look at it, and the way you kind of described it, right, as a almost building blocks from what you started in in Ontario to high school to going to Onondaga and then going to limestone, do you think that kind of uh stepping stones, stepping blocks help prepare you for the NLL and the pros?

SPEAKER_00 14:54

Uh yeah, I I I mean I think so because you know at each level you gotta you gotta earn your earn your way. And I mean, I I think at the end of the day, the top players in D1, what separates them is the amount of work they put into it, obviously their skill set, but I've seen so many very skilled guys that don't put in the work and they kind of just you know fizzle out. Right, you know, you still see it, you still see it to this day. If a guy, big recruit goes D1, he's not playing as much, then he looks to transfer. Yeah. Yeah. It's the same thing in division two and division three. That you know, the top guys, they just you know, you gotta work for it. If you stop work working for it, then you're gonna, you know, you're gonna get left behind. And so, you know, going on in Daga and not knowing anyone, being so new to Field Across, you know, you kind of you gotta you just want to make the team and then you go from there, and then you wanna be, you know, you want to be one of the top players in that league, and then you want to be the top player. I'm I kind of just want to go in and be one of the top players in each league that I play in. That's a mindset I have is going, you know, work towards that. And yeah, maybe the different the going to two two different schools, meeting new people, seeing different things, right? Um, you know, probably helped me out along the way going into pros.

SPEAKER_03 16:10

Oh, 100%. I had to. So now let me ask you this. How do you get to get to the pros? Do they call you up or do you sign up for like a get on a draft list, or is there a list of guys that they say, hey, listen, these are the guys we think is good enough to get into the NLL?

SPEAKER_00 16:31

Well, a lot of how does that work?

SPEAKER_03 16:33

Yeah, how does that work?

SPEAKER_00 16:34

For us Canadians, it I think uh more comes, especially for the NLL, um, it comes from playing junior box. So a lot of like the you know, NLL coaches, GMs, they a lot of them um are from the Ontario or BC, like, or they're they're from Canada. So then they go back and they coach junior teams, they coach senior teams, you're going to different games. So that's kind of how you for us Canadians is uh you know playing box across at home. Um for the Americans, I know you know, I've heard stories where G anal GMs will just go and see a guy play field and like his athleticism, like his size, like his stick works, and then you you kind of you know, you you just take him in the draft, you kind of see what happens. Um, so I think for us Canadians, it's more from box across, but it's certainly the American guys that are are new to box across, a lot of it comes from what they do in their respective field teams.

SPEAKER_03 17:34

Unbelievable, man. It's unbelievable. It's quite the journey, none nonetheless. Now you get to the NL and you're playing with some great, great players. Um, what's it what's it like playing with Lyle Thompson, man?

SPEAKER_00 17:49

It's it's it's awesome. For a while there, we had I was playing with um Jordan Hall, Johnny Pallas, Lyle, Brandy Statz, Miles Thompson, Kal Matisse. And wow. That was the year we played and we won it. Um yeah, we I've been so lucky playing with you know Lyle the past uh six years now. Um his athletic his athleticism is is you know something I've never seen before, and just the way he kind of the balance he has on the floor to to you know go get around guys and shoot from different angles. Um it's pretty it's pretty remarkable. And the biggest thing for me is how good of a teammate he is. Um he knows, you know, it's not it's not all him, it's not the Lyle show where he wants you know everyone working together. It's he understands that um you know to have success in that in the NLL, it's gotta be a team effort. Um along with his athleticism, his um, you know, his him being so humble is what really separates him.

SPEAKER_03 18:56

Yeah, then you get him uh on the field, get him out of box, get him on the field, he's almost unguarded. Yeah, you just he's almost unguardable.

SPEAKER_00 19:03

Yeah, in the field, you kind of just um you know, kind of stay out of the way. Um if they if they send the double, you just try to make sure you're in a good spot for him to so he can make an easy so you can make an easy pass.

SPEAKER_03 19:17

Yeah, he makes it look so smooth, he's so smooth of a player. You know, you see different types of players, different types of athleticism, guys are shifty and fast, and then you get the ball rabble, big, strong bull dodges, and then Lyle makes it look like, yeah, man.

SPEAKER_00 19:33

Yeah, he just floats out there, yeah. Like electricity, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:37

Like the snoop dog of like the snoop dog of lacrosse. He's just like, I got this man, just like smooth, you know. Like that's what he reminds me of. And just to play with guys like that, that's gotta be a really great thing, man. It must be great to inside to say, Hey, I'm playing with the best of the best.

SPEAKER_00 19:56

That's awesome. And you know, not only that, but you you play against them. I remember growing up my first few years playing against John Grant, John Taveras, and you know, Josh Sanderson, Colin Doyle, just guys like that. It was like, oh, like these were guys that I grew up watching back home when I started playing. So to be, you know, in that league with with guys like that is was uh pretty crazy. And it's you know, I'm very lucky. A lot all of us are lucky to still be playing um to this day.

SPEAKER_02 20:26

Well, and and obviously what you've done in the NLL. I mean, you were the MVP in the NLL in 2020, so you've done well for yourself. And like I think you just said before that it's and you kind of also said it with what uh Lyle does. It's it's also the people around you that get you there. But what was that like? Did you expect that coming? And it that must have been just been an unbelievable honor.

SPEAKER_00 20:51

Uh no, I I didn't expect it coming at all. I remember getting a call from our owner, John Orlada, and our coach, and said, Hey, call us back, it's it's important. So in my mind, to be honest, I thought I was getting traded or something like that. I I didn't I thought the worst from the start that they told me, which was it kind of kind of caught me off guard. But um, you know, for me it was just one of those years, it was you know, that it was the guys around me. I had Randy, Lyle, Miles. Um, you know, they're on the right side, so they're the ones looking for all the cutters, and a lot of my game is off ball. So, you know, without them giving me good passes, it would have made a lot different. But um the the summer, the year before, and the summer before, I I played a lot. Um, so I played in the NLL and then we played for the MLL and the Atlanta, the Atlanta Blaze. Right. And I was also playing uh Six Nation Senior A that summer. Wow. And then after that, we had the World Championships. And then so after the World Championships, I really only had about you know a month in between seasons. And that I to me that was the biggest thing is just because I go to got to training camp and it was kind of just like I've already been doing this. Whereas, you know, some guy, some guys, they they haven't played since May, May or June. Yeah. It's a longer, it's a longer break. So I kind of was already in, you know, box shape. Um yeah. So I kind of um, you know, right from the get-go, it kind of uh went my way. I was shooting well, I was you know, getting the looks, so it's just one of those years where everything was going in for me, and right and the guys around me were able to uh you know to find me and we were all working together really well.

SPEAKER_02 22:39

That's awesome. So let me ask you this. Let me ask you this. Was the NLL growing up in Canada and then playing box and playing uh was that always something you were striving for as a goal?

SPEAKER_00 22:54

Uh yeah, I mean Yeah, I always wanted to play um in the NLL and I knew you know playing NCAA and then playing, you know, junior A and then senior A, that that's kind of the path you gotta take to play. So that was always that was always my my main goal was to you know obviously to get us to get a scholarship and then from there play in the NLL. So um I wanna I want to say that's what a lot of the Canadians, that's what a lot of Canadians are looking to do.

SPEAKER_02 23:26

Well, yeah, we had we've had uh several players that are playing now that are Canadian that they they've all said that like that's kind of their goal. That's what I was just asking. I think that's awesome. That's a great thing to strive for. When do you did you know that you could play professionally? Was there some time when you were um playing junior A or your time at Limestone? I know it's a field, but what when was it that you felt like, oh, I can make it to that step to the next level?

SPEAKER_00 23:54

Um, it was after my last um NCAA game. So once you're done junior lacrosse, that's the age 21, you go on to play senior lacrosse. So that's 21 all the way until you just retire. Um so after my final college game, I moved out to DC and I played senior A senior A out there with uh the Langley Thunder. And they had like they have NL guys on each team throughout the league. And um, you know, I had a pretty good summer out there. I was uh I had pretty good chemistry with Lewis Ratcliffe, which I think he has over a thousand points in the NLL. And Ethan Ayanucci at the time had the the uh goal record for the NLL and Garrett Billings, I think he had the assist record for the NLL. So playing with those guys, they made it a lot easier, and you just kind of you just kind of gain confidence, you know. You you play the whole summer out there and you're playing against NLL guys, and then uh we were lucky enough to make it to the man cup. Uh that's the Canadian Senior Championship, where you played Peter Bro, and then they had like John Taveras, John Grant, Sean Evans, Scott Evans. They they had a full NLL lineup, and I had a I had a uh decent man cup, and it was just one of those things where I kind of I felt like I could play um you know with with them and keep up with them. And then, you know, as that summer goes on, the guys that are up for that draft, you kind of hear rumblings, and then they have rankings of players, and I was getting ranked pretty high. So we kind of, you know, you kind of thought that there was a pretty good chance here that you're gonna get drafted. So uh that that summer I kind of just wanted to be a sponge and learn from all the the guys in the league. And we had a great year. We won a lot of games, made it all the way to the finals. We came up a little short, but um, it was a great experience for me, and it helped me tremendously going into the NL.

SPEAKER_02 25:48

So let me ask you this. Let's switch over to the professional field game and the MLL. You've played for several teams uh prior to coming to the going to the PL, right? You played for the Philadelphia Barack last year, Atlanta Blaze, Charlotte Hounds. Did you have the same, was that one of your goals too, to make it the MLL? Or is that something that you it's almost like a bonus? I'm just curious on on your mindset for that because I it's such a different game than the box game. You play both. I'm just curious.

SPEAKER_00 26:20

Yeah, that that was just um a bonus because you know I didn't think that, you know, I'm not a six foot three, six foot four dodger, athletic, like a big athletic dodger. I'm more of a smaller, you know, inside crease attackman. So I didn't really think, and especially coming from D2, I didn't really think I didn't really hear of a lot of guys coming from D2. It was more honestly D3 and then D1. So it was just kind of a bonus, but I got lucky. Charlotte Hounds, um, the athletic director now of Limestone, Mike Sereno, he was kind of coaching the team, so he kind of gave me a shot. I played one game, and then that's where I moved out to DC. And then um, you know, the flight would have been too much doing that all summer, so they they uh let me go, and then I didn't play for a few years, and I played a couple games with the Atlanta Blaze, and then when the PLL started, I got uh you know, just an opportunity with all the you know the MLL guys going over to the PL. Right. All the MLL teams had roster spots opening up. So um, you know, for a while, I mean if if I had been called for the MLL, I would have you know been playing. But I was my my focus was more senior A box and field was kind of just bonus for me. Right. Um but then that 2019 summer with the Atlanta Blaze, we had Spencer Ford uh coaching Liam Banks. Um and I had known Spencer Ford from a couple of years previous with the Atlanta Blaze, and they wanted us to play and they got a good team together. We had a lot of guys go on and play in the PLL, and um yeah, it was just a really fun year for us, good group of guys, and yeah, um, yeah, that led to the PL. The Cannons offered me a spot. It's a pretty track.

SPEAKER_02 28:06

I mean, that's that it's funny that you you talk about that. I mean, when they merged the two two leagues, that's a winnowing down also of a lot of players in the MLL that didn't get to transfer over to the PLL and get picked up. But you did. So I'm just curious how that process worked and how you found out you were gonna get selected. Was there a was there a draft? I can't remember if there was a draft for that or not for players coming over or how that worked.

SPEAKER_00 28:35

Yeah, there was a there was like a dispersal draft. I think it was like four or five rounds. Um, I didn't go in that, so then after that, you kind of go into like a player pool. And I think I got lucky, that's when the cannons were just coming in, and their their coach was Sean Quirk, who I played against in the MLL the two previous summers. He was with Boston. Um, so I guess he kind of saw me play and he he um you know he took me from the player pool, and um that's kind of how you just there's during COVID, you go to training camp, and it was one of those things too where I I had to you know I had to earn a spot.

SPEAKER_03 29:12

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:13

Luck luckily did, and then had uh a little bit of visa issues, so I missed the first five games. But once the visa came in, I was um able to to join the team. And um yeah, it was it was a lot of fun my time in the PLL.

SPEAKER_03 29:28

I tell you, I love watching the PLL. It's so amazing to me. Everybody's a beast, everybody, everybody on the field is a beast offensively, defensively, they all know what to do, they all get after it too, man. These guys know each other, been playing each other for a long time, probably hang out and drink beers with each other afterwards. Yeah, but when they when they get on the field, they're going after it, man. Um what do you think of the PLL game, the speed and and just the the raw ability of just everybody on the field?

SPEAKER_00 30:02

Uh I I mean I I personally love the actual the game, the game itself with the short shot clock, shorter field. By the time you get your subs on, you really only have you know, let's say 30 seconds, and then at that point you're kind of used to it playing box. And um, like you like you said, the guys are they're so skilled that they're so athletic, where you know they're a lot a lot of them are very easy to work with. So um I I love playing in the PL. Um, I don't think I'll play anymore, but it was it was awesome. Um, you know, the the year I was with the cannons.

SPEAKER_02 30:39

It's funny, Shane. I I grew up in uh I grew up in New England, I grew up in Massachusetts. So when the Canons were the Boston Cannons in the MLL, I was the fan. And so when they came over, I had to become a Canons fan in the PLL. And the one thing I'd say about you, you talked about it, but being a crease player. There's so many times that I'm watching, and I'm I'm always about three steps behind the play. And you'd have goals that I'd have to watch on replay because you're playing off ball on the crease, making a cut, and all of a sudden you got the ball and it's it's a goal. And that's what I just remember watching you on the Cannons all the time. That's that's where you were your the value for that team.

SPEAKER_00 31:21

Yeah, that was that that was certainly my role. I think I set a record for you, you know, playing field and not dodging once the entire season. Um, so I was I would get the ball and get it out of my stick, and then we had guys like Lyle, we had uh you know, Rabel, we had Brian, we had we had we had both handlers. So that you know, and I mean that that's not really my role. So I just wanted you know to get the ball in their sticks, and then you know, maybe put my guy into a position to slide and then trying to find an area there. But a lot of times they their skill is so good they they're they're able to find it. So that was kind of my role, and I was you know what I was happy to do that, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:02

Well, I I think those are some of my the funnest plays for me to see. I love watching the ball move and it going in, not from a guy just dodging. I mean, that's great to see too, but when you can see the ball move, like I said, sometimes I'm I'm just not quick enough to see, and you you miss the guy who's cutting, but he's still cutting. It's you cutting and and you get the shot. It's just so so fun to watch when the ball's moving that way.

SPEAKER_00 32:28

Yeah, the hunts having the big, big nets, small boys. That's that's what uh that always helps.

SPEAKER_03 32:35

Well, Shane, thank you so much for taking the time and coming on in the crease uh tonight with me and Kevin. It's been a great uh wow, it went by quick. Um, we uh really appreciate you coming on. Uh I learned a lot tonight. I think uh listeners are gonna like this podcast. And uh just know that you know there's division two players that play high level across and they get to the they get to the pro leagues, whether it be box or field, you know, PLL, MLL, NLL, it's it's it's available for Division II type players or guys that play Division II ball. And and Shane Jackson, you're a great you know example of that. And we do appreciate you coming on tonight.

SPEAKER_00 33:18

Yeah, thanks. Uh you know, like I said, for me, I think the biggest thing is you know, once you find that school and whatever feels comfortable for you, as long as you put in the work uh and you improve, you know, every day, and um, you know, you're coachable, uh you'll just continue getting better as a player, and then all it takes is one person to see you, one person likely like you, and then you get an opportunity. So um, you know, that's kind of what um myself and a lot of us were able to do. But uh it's been fun talking to you guys. Thanks for having me on.

SPEAKER_02 33:52

Danny, that was awesome. I was really struck by a guy who is so accomplished in the sport of lacrosse, how unassuming Shane Jackson is.

SPEAKER_03 34:09

Man, I I'm blown away how first of all, what a great guy he was. But just again, his his fortitude, I think, is a good word for for Shane. His fortitude and you know what he has done to get his game to where it was. Took stepping blocks, you know, stepping stones little by little, wasn't really recruited, you know, just played box, really wasn't a field guy, got got started late, you know, and boy, oh boy, he put in the work and you know, with all his talents, and look where it got him, you know, it it took him from you know, Onondaga, which is uh, you know, one of the best, if not top three junior college lacrosse programs in the country. And then, you know, he he he goes to limestone, becomes a Tuarton finalist as a D2 lacrosse player, sets records for limestone, uh, and just you know, all American and every accolade. There's there's just not enough shelves uh at Shane's house to house his accolades.

SPEAKER_02 35:18

And then and look at what he did or helped do everywhere he goes. Onondaga national championship, limestone national championship, NLL with the swarm champions in 2020. MVP. MVP. You talk about it, but he and he talked about it himself. Uh how it's it's not just him, it's the team. That's the other thing. I said, I surround myself with good guys, I know where to be, I'm an off-ball guy, just get there. That's what I was really impressed with. I he'll guys like Lyle Thompson. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 35:57

He surrounded him guys with himself with guys like Thompson, you know. Come on. I mean, it's just amazing. That's what amazes me. Well, you know what? He's a thick player. If you watched him play, I mean he's amazing to watch. The ball doesn't stay in his stick for more than a nanosecond. It almost touches it and it's out. It's a it's a it's a unique gift that he has, you know.

SPEAKER_02 36:26

Every time I see him in a game and I see the ball go in the net, and I don't know who who put it in there, I'm like, that must have been Shane because he was three three plays ahead of me, three moves ahead of me. And that was probably insurance. About 80% of the time, I'm right. It's just Shane Jackson putting the ball on the back of the net. A lot of fun having him on.

SPEAKER_03 36:45

So, you know, absolutely. You know, this is the first of a couple of you know, a couple in a series that we're gonna do about Division II lacrosse players making the pros and and telling us about their, you know, their trip and their journey. And and tonight was a great night. Again, who better to have on our program to start it off than to change action?

SPEAKER_02 37:06

Yeah, you're exactly right. Just to start off in the next few weeks, we're gonna have several others, uh, Connor Farrell, Andrew Q, just to name a few. And and I think it's just gonna be a lot of fun to get their perspectives as well. So with that, Danny, that's a wrap. That's a wrap, yeah.