DII Recruiting - an Ode to IL

Intro

SPEAKER_00 0:10

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 our Terry Foy, Danny Morant. Hey Danny. You cracked me up, brother.

SPEAKER_01 0:27

How are you? How's everything in Northern Virginia tonight?

SPEAKER_00 0:30

Uh while we're recording this, Danny, we're just a few days away from Halloween. So my wife loves this holiday more than Christmas. We've got more, and she builds and builds and builds, and it gets pretty cool. So we're in we're in the midst of that right now.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

Some people get crazy with Halloween, man. Some people go over the top, you know, and it's like a big thing for some people for sure.

SPEAKER_00 0:52

There's a competition in my neighborhood between my wife and a neighbor down the road. And I had to like, I'm going back to the old when the wall was still up between the Soviet Union and the U.S. And I'm trying to get detente going because we're spending money. It's like spending money on weapons. We're spending money on decorations to beat the other guy.

SPEAKER_01 1:09

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hey man, it was good to see you this weekend.

SPEAKER_00 1:12

Yeah, a lot of fun. A lot of fun. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:14

A couple of high C's.

SPEAKER_00 1:16

Great to watch a little fall ball.

SPEAKER_01 1:19

Yeah, it was fun, man.

SPEAKER_00 1:20

It was nice weather. Yeah. Yeah. So let's move on. Obviously, Terry Foy, he's the CEO of Inside Lacrosse. And this whole episode, Danny, is an ode to Inside Lacrosse. First, let's just start off. They do a great job promoting La Crosse and reporting on it. However, they really lack in their D2 coverage, as we split it's non-existent almost. It's like a blurb here here and which actually that may help us out because that may promote our podcast more. But they've been they've been doing a podcast, a series of podcasts and episodes, talking to NCA coaches on their perspectives on recruiting. They've last year they did just D1 coaches. This year they're doing D1 and D3, but no D2 coaches again. Doesn't surprise me.

SPEAKER_01 2:12

No love for D2.

SPEAKER_00 2:14

I have to admit, that all kind of frustrated me a lot.

SPEAKER_01 2:17

Yeah, it sucks. It sucks because this division is good, man. Yeah. And like exactly I see I see stuff on Instagram like D2 isn't real. Like, what are you talking about? There's Division I caliber players all over Division II. Exactly. Whether these kids fell through the cracks or the recruiting process didn't work out the way they wanted it, or whatever, for whatever reason. But D two has grown immensely in the last five years. How many teams have we got?

SPEAKER_00 2:46

They're not only more coming, but this is what's interesting about their podcast, their episodes, is it really did kind of point to the differences, the nuances between D1 and D3, and how they have to recruit and what they're looking for, what their timelines are. And so I try to reach out, see if they wanted us to do it. No response to date. So you and I just decided screw it, we're gonna do it ourselves. And we've done these before, right? We've done ones where we've talked from the parents' perspective, you and me, we've done it from the student athlete's perspective and what they should be looking for. This episode, I think, will reveal the ins and outs from a coach's perspective.

SPEAKER_01 3:24

Yeah, definitely. You know, I think you know, and especially since now we're starting to reach high school kids and high school clubs and high school coaches are starting to listen to the program. I think this is going to benefit a lot for them.

SPEAKER_00 3:36

I totally agree. I think this may help them see how they can look at D2, what they when they can start looking and what they should be doing. But we've got a couple coaches that are come on and

Coach Joe Perruzzi of Lewis

SPEAKER_00 3:47

talk to us. We've got one to get us started right now. He's a coach who started his program just five short years ago, Danny. Yeah. And he brought his team last year not only to the conference championship win, but to the NCA quarterfinals.

SPEAKER_01 4:05

Yeah, man.

SPEAKER_00 4:06

He had a great year last year. Coach Joe Peruzzi of Lewis. Coach. Oh, thank you, guys. Good to see you having me on. Yeah. We love it. Yeah, it has been. It's been a minute.

SPEAKER_01 4:19

Yeah, how you guys doing? Good, man. The Lewis Flyers had some hell of a year last year. Congrats on that, coach.

SPEAKER_03 4:25

Yes, sir. I appreciate it, man. I got great assistant coaches and great players that do a great job making me look good. So uh we got we got a great thing going, man. So I'm I'm excited for the future there.

SPEAKER_00 4:37

So, coach, let's get right into this. You kind of heard the intro. Can you give us a sense of your timeline at Lewis? When do you start looking at a class? And when do you then progress them along and talk about committing and when you maybe sign them as a commit?

SPEAKER_03 4:55

Yeah, you know, we always joke that um, you know, we're never done recruiting and our recruiting stops on the day before school starts. Um but but the truth is, is there's only so many spots, there's only so much money, and every year it's different. Um, how many kids you're losing, how many grad transfers, maybe one and done's you picked up, um, things like that change that number and dynamic. Um, and I think every coach is always, you know, if you're graduating 15, bringing in 18 or 19. I think you always kind of bring in a couple extra, um, you know, career-ending injury or guys transferring out or whatever it is. So I think you always try to try to cover yourself there. But um, you know, truthfully for us, you know, we've had years where we've gone into the junior summer with five, six, seven commits. We've had years where we've gone into the summer with one, you know. But um, I think the contact is starting at some point in your junior year, whether that's that fall, like, you know, before we see you in the fall events. Um, you know, IMLCA just does such a great job um with that event down at the convention that it keep me busy my whole Christmas break because, you know, I just watched some of the best kids all around the country play. Um, and then, you know, we we we try to get guys in the spring um to some home games, you know, seeing that game day environment, seeing that atmosphere, seeing how we do our scatting reports on Friday, you know, what a pregame practice looks like. Um, and then also, you know, engaging with the team, staying the night with guys, you know, going to the calf, eating our food.

SPEAKER_01 6:29

Right.

SPEAKER_03 6:30

Right, right. Trying to soak in a day in the life of a Lewis lacrosse player, you know what I mean? Um, and then seeing that game day experience. And um, you know, sometimes we'll get guys that are like, hey, I love it. I'm ready to go. Sometimes guys play their whole junior summer out and they visited us in March, and they'll they'll call and commit in in August and September. So um, I would say the heat of it happens um from August to September. I think there was a stretch this year in this recruiting class where we had like nine commits in like six days. Um, and we went from like, you know, five in the class to 14, and it was like, whoa.

SPEAKER_00 7:07

Wow, and is that was that for the 2020 25 class or the 2026 class?

SPEAKER_03 7:13

That was 25 this August. Um we kind of ran a prospect day in the middle of August, kind of right before school started, kind of a couple weeks after the summer circuit, and kind of trying to find that sweet spot. Um, and that worked really well for us. And um, you know, I think every year we're trying to recruit a starting lineup, you know, um, and then you're trying to kind of take those next five to eight guys, or like, what are our needs? You know, what what how many poles are we losing? How many D middies are we losing? Um and I think finding guys who can play a variety of roles, you know, um, two-way midfielders, or you know, having those tweener poles where, yeah, he could play LSM, he could play close, you know. Um, a lot of our a lot of our offensive players or high school attackmen, they don't come in and play attack for us right away, you know, and teach them how to play some midfield and then get their feet wet, get them comfortable, and then a couple guys graduate and maybe we give them a crack at attack sophomore junior year or something like that. So I think versatility is just something that we really value. Um, guys that can play a variety of roles, guys that have a lot of strengths um that you can that you can use in a variety of different ways. That's interesting.

SPEAKER_00 8:32

Yeah, you mentioned prospect days, and uh can you tell me how important you think prospect days are? That you are do you think that's an important puzzle in the in the Lewis recruiting tools?

SPEAKER_03 8:48

It's huge. And I think a lot of coaches would agree with me because um, you know, we're at the summer, we're sitting in a chair in a hundred degree heat, just watching you play. You know, we don't know what's under the helmet, we don't know how you're engaging with your teammates on the sidelines all the time. We don't know how coachable you are. Um, we know you're talented, you know, but talent is is just one piece of it, you know, because in order to make it work at the college level, you got to be like detail-oriented, you know, you got to be coachable, you gotta be willing to get out of your comfort zone. So um, by putting players through college level drills and asking them to communicate or have their posture or things at a college level, some guys rise to the occasion and they do it and they say, okay, coach, I got you. And they apply it. Other guys might be kind of stuck in their own way or maybe not be that coachable, or they might need some longer time to make those adjustments into their games. So you're seeing that and and you're engaging with the kids more. I know we get some engagement level at some showcases where we get to coach kids, and that's a lot of fun. And that's where I think a lot of coaches can have some success. Um, but the prospect days, in my opinion, are invaluable because obviously the kids that are coming, there's some interest in your program, right? So you know they're interested in D2, they're interested in Lewis. Um, but again, like, you know, we might be recruiting seven midfielders and we might get five or six of them to a prospect day, and now you're seeing them dodge one after the next one after the next. You know, you're seeing them compete on teams or on the same team. And you're kind of like, man, I like this kid maybe a little more, or man, they're both really good, or man, they play well together. And we've had guys, yeah, we've had guys commit, and then they're like, I want my roommate to be him. You know, we had a lot of fun together at that camp. We play really well together. Um, and now they're best friends, freshman year, a year later, right? So um, I think that part of it is really interesting too. And you know, we have our players work the camps and we have our players, you know, share their recruiting stories at the camp. And some of them were highly touted, some of them we didn't know that much about. And they showed up at our camp and we're like, damn, kick and play, you know. Right, right. So it's it's it's it's cool. Those sort of little gems sometimes, you know. Oh, we get one every year, kid that we don't really know that much about, or chose a better camp, or maybe we've heard about him and haven't got to see him play a ton, or we've only seen his film, and then we're like, oh man, this kid's this kid's really a nice player. So um the camps are invaluable, and and you know, I think there's a lot of value depending on the showcase. Um, you know, those showcases that are a Friday before the Saturday, Sunday tournament, like to me, those haven't been crazy valuable for me as much as maybe some of the more in intimate showcases. I think they're run a little better. I think that they're the whole point of that event is the showcase, whereas like a team event, the showcase is kind of like sometimes a little bit of an afterthought. Um, you know, so we've got we've got this thing going with the D2 showcase now.

SPEAKER_00 11:56

I was gonna ask you about that because they, you know, post our stuff all the time and we repost theirs a lot of times on where their showcases are. I was just curious of the D2 showcase and if that's a valuable tool.

SPEAKER_03 12:08

Oh man, it's been incredibly valuable for me and my recruiting. But um, I got to give a shout-out to Coach Ward at Florida Southern, you know, started this thing like six years ago and just kind of had a dream and a vision of like getting more visibility to D2. And, you know, it started with one event in Philly and then it kind of expanded to the Midwest and North Carolina. Now we've even got a fall one going in Florida, and um, I was kind of able to get in on it once uh Lindenwood kind of made that jump to Division I kind of opened up a pathway looking for someone to get something going in the Midwest. So um it's aided my recruited. It's it's my recruiting, it's also opened up different recruiting markets for me, you know, going down to Florida and getting a Florida kid that's interested in Lewis. Um and and just knowing that every kid at that event is like interested in division two, right? Interested in that competitive lacrosse, high academic, but that that kind of balance that we stress and promote in division two, knowing every kid there is into that, you know. So I think that's really attractive for us coaches to kind of have our niche a little bit there with guys that are they know D2, they know who went to the tournament, they're into it. Um, so I think it makes it easier for us coaches to to sell our programs to those players knowing that hey, they are interested in in division two and what our division kind of brings to the table. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:33

Hey, coach, let's put it, let me uh put a situation in front of you. I'm a high school kid and I I'm interested in Lewis, and I send you an email. Hey, coach, I'm really interested. I think Lewis would be a great fit. I play for such and such a high school, and I play for such and such a club team, and I'll be at these tournaments this summer. Now, let's say you go to those tournaments. How long do you sit there and look at that kid? Because there'll be what 40 games in that tournament, right? On seven, eight different fields. You only have X amount of time. So how long would you stay and look at that kid?

SPEAKER_03 14:12

Well, I think the first piece, and and I don't fault these kids for trying to get their name out there, but right now, like most Division II schools, we're kind of turning the page, right? We're finishing up 25s, kind of starting to look ahead at 26s, and man, I am getting a lot of 2027 emails, and it's just kind of like, hey, it's not your time yet, buddy. You know, so it's like I appreciate you giving me your schedule or whatnot, but like, you know, our focus is kind of with the 26th class. So that's kind of the first piece, you know, is like some of those younger guys.

SPEAKER_00 14:44

That's great information, though, coach. That is great information right there.

SPEAKER_03 14:47

Well, and I think, you know, we might see him in the showcase or something and and keep tabs on him, like that's a kid for next year, or we might invite those kids to our prospect day in August as we're kind of finishing that one class and starting the next.

SPEAKER_00 15:00

Look at the next, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 15:01

Sure. And and that's helpful, but it's just hard to like invest time on fields 11 through 17 when all my games are going on fields one through 10 on this side of the park, right? So I think that's the first thing. And again, like I appreciate those kids putting their name out there, but you know, we're trying to kind of focus, stay in the moment a little bit, be where our feet are at, and just trying to focus on that one class. So that's the first thing. Um, you know, we try to, if it's a kid that I haven't ever seen play before, like, yeah, I want to try to give him the benefit of the doubt. And if he's a kid from maybe a non-like pipeline area for us, um, I might try to find him seeing a Midwest team that I already wanted to go see play and kind of do the two for one where hey, this kid's from the South. We know we have a handful of kids in the South in our program, but our basis of our team is Midwest and around. But you know, we're trying to kind of parlay that together where okay, I can watch this team and still see that kid play a little bit, right? Um, and you just do the best you can, honestly. You know, if I could be in two places at once, damn, I'd be so much better at my job. But, you know, I I can't. And you know, you see some of those East Coast schools that are out there with two, three coaches, they're two, three hours drive, you know, for us that's a that's a flight, so we're probably not bringing two or three coaches, right? And um, so you know, you just do the best you can. And I think um, you know, if I can watch them for a half here and a half there, and obviously, you know, you make the all-star game, that's that's always great, right? To see you play in that type of environment. But um, you know, I certainly want to do my best. And if I've got 15 kids that have reached out to me and, you know, trying to just see as many of them as I can, and and you know, I don't really put a timetable on it because I'll go to watch a game that I want to see, and it's not a very good game, or team's up 10-0. And you're like, all right, well, maybe this isn't the best environment to evaluate him in, right? Right. For better or for worse, right? So I think you you're trying to kind of you have a plan going into the tournament of who you can see and when and where you're gonna be and when you're gonna change fields. And there's a team that you're recruiting six kids from, like, yeah, you might block that whole hour and not flip chairs or or watch halves because you're like, hey, we've already had two or three of these guys on campus. We're we've been working on four and five, too. Let's let's invest a little more time in these guys because we know they're really interested or they've already come to campus and now we're reevaluating them from fall to summer. Um, so you know, you try to make the most out of your limited time, right?

SPEAKER_00 17:36

Yeah, so that's great information. I I gotta ask this question, then I'm gonna go back kind of to the the process. There's a basically a process for you, but I I kind of feel as we're talking about D2. Now, this comes from a personal story. When my son was about a sophomore in college, it was probably the first time I saw a D2 coach at a fall event he was playing at. And I really had no idea what D2 was when he was a sophomore in college. He ended up going to D2. High school. Sophomore in high school, thank you. Yeah, sophomore in high school. Had no idea he was he was what D2 was, and he ended up going to D2. Is there do you have to convince players that D2 is a viable option? Or do you think nowadays there's enough information out there that they see that as, oh yeah, I know D1, D2, and D3, and D2 is one of the options I'm really looking at?

SPEAKER_03 18:27

Yeah, I don't think there's that much of a convincing thing to it anymore. Um you know, truthfully, I think the academic profile of Division II has dramatically increased in the past 10 to 12 years. And I think that's kind of what was maybe the knock on D2 way back when, um, which I think is a little unfair. But I I don't think I don't find myself having to do that. I think um, and I'm a second only speak for myself, but the D2 schools I worked at have been, you know, very good academic schools. So we haven't had to, you know, look up the rankings, you know, we haven't had to sell it much because you can you can Google that, you know. But um I do think that, you know, getting an offer, being able to get athletic scholarship is is kind of the you know, thing we're kind of holding in our back pocket that that sometimes um you know, different strokes for different folks, you know, some families can afford that $60,000 a year academic experience that that D3 has. But, you know, with us being able to stack merit in athletic like a lot of division two schools can do, I think that can entice the offer where you can, you know, go into a private school for a state school cost, right?

SPEAKER_01 19:44

Like I think I'm a parent of three boys that went to Division II. Right. Right. The stacking was a real big, big you know, thing for up for my family.

SPEAKER_03 19:54

No doubt. So I think that piece of it, and I think most schools, I don't want to speak for everybody, I think most schools can do that. I think there's a few that maybe have some different, you know, it's an institutional thing. But um, you know, for us, I think that's kind of our our sell is like we want to try to make this you know affordable for you, and you're still gonna get an elite lacrosse experience. You're still gonna get an elite academic experience and um a lot that you know, Chicago might have to offer. I think a lot of coaches are selling the surrounding area, the metropolitan area if they're if they're in one, and what that could do for you for an internship perspective. Or, you know, we we we kind of tell our kids like, hey, everybody's gonna graduate in four or five years with a piece of paper. You know, what are you gonna have that's gonna separate you from all those guys who just graduated with a piece of paper? And a lot of that is, you know, your surrounding area, your internships, or the event that you volunteered at, like what you can kind of put on your resume. So I think, you know, location is is obviously a significant factor when deciding the right fit for you or finding that right institution that's gonna meet your needs. So I think that that goes into it as well.

SPEAKER_00 21:00

Just more great information. Really appreciate that, coach. Now I wanted to ask you kind of a process. Is there a specific process? Like you see a player that you like. Um, either they reach out to you, you see your film, there's someone, is there something like, well, now we're gonna get them on a recruiting call, we're gonna talk to them, then we want them at a prospect day, and then we want them to come, you know, have an overnight stay, or is there all those part of the process? Do they come at different times? I'm just curious how you like to do it and how you how you usually do it.

SPEAKER_03 21:31

Yeah, you know, I think there's definitely been uh a trial and error to that with us a little bit. And I think some years, you know, you hear a lot of yeses, some years you might hear more no's. Um, you know, there's been years we've been chasing kids that end up division one and maybe haven't invested enough time in like those D2 kids, and then we see them commit to a you know conference rival or something like that. So you know, I I think you you live and learn a little bit with that, but I think. Obviously in the fall, you know, we're chasing those guys that might have some division one opportunities. And um, you know, hey, do you want to be a bigger fish in a small pond, maybe and and and have some opportunities earlier in your career, or maybe the finances work out a little higher for us here?

SPEAKER_01 22:19

Um, you know, to me that makes makes so much sense to be the big fish in the small pond. You know what I mean? Why go to Syracuse and sit unless you just want to go to Syracuse? You know what I mean? Unless that's what you want to do. You might be a legacy, your mom or your dad might have gone there. But like to me, it's like if I I I've been playing lacrosse since I'm a kid. I've gone to all of this stuff. When I get to college, I want to play or at least have an opportunity to play.

SPEAKER_03 22:44

Yeah, no, I agree. Um, but I also think for every kid that goes division one and maybe it doesn't work out and they go in the portal and they we see him in D2. I also think there's some kids that were confident in themselves and they waited and they worked and they did get that D1 opportunity and they did make it work there. So I think that the shoe can be on both feet, you know. But um, I I do feel like um, you know, we that Lewis have never really shied away from playing young guys. Obviously, when you build a program, that's all you got. So, you know, you might we might be a little more used to it than other programs, but um, I think for us it's just about like competition, man. You know, if you start for us for a year as a freshman, like that doesn't mean you're gonna be a four-year starter, man. We're gonna bring in kids the next year that are gonna be good. And I think for some parent, for some parents, that's like hard to wrap their head around and they're like, what do you mean? You already got a lefty. Why do you need another one? I'm like, well, when he tears his ACL or if he gets hurt, I still need to put a great team on the field that can compete for a championship. So we're gonna recruit high-level players every year. Um, and I think that that gives you depth, that gives you options, that gives you versatility. But I think for us, man, like, you know, we're we're trying to get those high-end kids to just come see us early in the process. And I think I've never, you know, tried to be overly aggressive or I don't really put kids on a timetable, especially early in the process. Hey, we have zero commits and it's November of your junior year, but you have 48 hours to make a decision, otherwise, your spot's off the table. Like to me, it's like we're not in a rush. So why am I rushing you? You know, if I rush you into committing and then this isn't the right fit, well, that's not good for me, and that's not good for you. I would rather you go check out that D1 school. I would rather you stay in Baltimore a couple more days after our tournament and check out a couple D3 schools. Now you've seen a little bit of everything. Now, now you know, man, I really like that. That wasn't as important to me as I thought. And overtaking those visits, you kind of learn your fit. Um, because we'll talk to guys in fall and they're like, hey, you know, I really want to go south or I really want to get away from home. And then they look at some other schools, and then now we're talking to them in the summer and they're like, no, I'm actually thinking I really want to stay closer to home now. And you're like, Oh, you know, that's that's different, that's changed. Um, I went on some campus, I went on some campus visits, coach. I checked some things out, and now I have a different perspective. So um, and it's worked against us too, where you know, maybe maybe kids found something else. But that's right, at the end of the day, if it wasn't the right fit for him, then like it wouldn't be the right fit for you either. Like you said, coach and your team.

SPEAKER_00 25:32

And so that an educated uh student is better for you. Like when he gets to figure that out, like see other things and then make the decision.

SPEAKER_03 25:41

Well, and the funny thing is, I've now been at Lewis. This is my seventh year, it's our sixth season. I think I've coached now like four or five guys that kind of blew me off originally and committed somewhere else. And then things changed with them for either a grad year or they wanted to come back home, or um, they changed their major, and we've been able to get them for a year or two or three or four. Um, and it's kind of funny because I bust their chops. Like, yeah, no, of course. Ignore me. Now look, you're off conference, huh? Wait a minute.

SPEAKER_00 26:11

Uh um, let me put you on hold for like 30 minutes and I'll get back to you.

SPEAKER_03 26:15

Right. So um, you know, I do believe that there is a little bit of um, you know, like I'm supposed to coach who I'm supposed to coach. Like everything happens for a reason. And um, you know, we we want to do right by the kid, we want to do right by our university, and we want to make sure that it makes sense from a geographic sense, from a financial aspect, from a you know, everything, academic profile, and and hey, I really want to study this, but you don't have my major, and I love your lacrosse team. And it's like, well, well, how's that gonna work if this is what you want to do and we don't have your major? And luckily for me, we have 85 majors, so I don't really run into that too often. Um, but you know, I have been at schools that have maybe been more limited in that, and and then the kid makes a lacrosse decision, and then after two or three semesters, like, yeah, maybe this wasn't the right fit. And you're like, well, yeah, we we kind of talked about this a little bit in your process. So I think just learning from that over the course of my career as an assistant or even a head coach or a younger head coach has just kind of given me the perspective of like, I want you to go see some other schools. I want you to go interact with some other programs and coaches and be able to see where we stack up with that. Because if you've done all that and and we're still at the top of your list, yeah, well, this is probably gonna make a lot of sense for you, man. You know, and I think just just thinking about it like that.

SPEAKER_01 27:41

Now, now we have the portal too, which has become a big, big part, especially for teams who want to be relevant, you know. I think you know, you see Tampa and you know, some of those limestones, they go into the portal quite often, you know, just looking to get that extra piece. Has that become a problem, do you think, or do you think it's a a good thing?

SPEAKER_03 28:05

Personally, I think it's a good thing. Um I I the way I've always viewed it as the lifeblood of your program is gonna be your young guys, it's gonna be your freshman class. Um that's what keeps you relevant, that's what gives you depth, that's what you develop. That's that's who we are. Um, I've always looked at the portal and any transfers as supplementing your roster and making your team better, or filling in that missing link that maybe you swung and missed on in your freshman class and you didn't get a face-off guy, or um you know, right? You got two close defensemen, but you never, you know, you had three LSMs on campus and none of them came and you never really got that guy for the middle of the field. Um, you know, so we we have transfers from D1, D2, D3, Juco, um, you know, but I I've never tried to rely on transfers. I've always tried to use it as a as a supplementation. And um, truthfully, most of the kids that have walked away from our program at Lewis have gone to a bigger school or closer to home. Um, there's only been a handful of guys that have left to go play at other programs. But um, you know, I had a kid depart from our program this summer and wanted more playing time and helped him talk to a couple schools, helped him through his process. And um, I'm not a guy who has hard feelings, you know, he came back and got his championship ring with us a couple weeks ago. And um, I hope he lights it up this year, you know. So I think I think for us, like there's no ill will or anything like that. But we've definitely, you know, we're a really transfer-friendly school. We take a lot of credits. Um, so I think we've been attractive for a lot of transfers. And um, you know, we've gone the JUCO route, gone, gone through, you know, the portal. And I think it's just about finding the right fit and and um being being diligent with it, you know, just like we do with our high school guys, like we're gonna call the club coach, we're gonna call their high school coach. Um, you know, some of the best recruiters on our team are the dudes in the locker room that have have engaged with him in different settings. Oh, coach, he's a great kid, man. He's so fun to play with. He brings he brings energy, man. He would fit in really well here. Um and that stuff really helps. And um, so I think that's that's important. But for me, the portal has always been, you know, supplement your roster, not not rely on it. And and I think that's been valuable for us because I mean, look, two are two are out of our top like four leading scorers last year were were you know transfers. Um, but at the same time, got a lot of damn good players we developed over four years too. So um it's a mix. And I think that there's been summers taking three transfers, summers taking five or six or seven. Um, and it just really is case by case basis. So um I think it's been great for um everybody because everybody's better, honestly. And uh the teams are getting better fits. And like I said, I just feel like the guys who are supposed to be where they're supposed to be end up there. You know what I mean? Yeah, I agree, I agree. I agree.

SPEAKER_00 31:16

Coach, this half hour has flown by. It's been great talking to you. Good seeing you again, too. Great seeing you again. And all I can say is we really appreciate your insights. I think that's really gonna help our listeners, and especially those that are in high school right now. So thank you so much for sharing your insights.

SPEAKER_03 31:34

Hey, thank you guys for having me on. And um, I know you guys hear this a lot from a lot of coaches, but man, we just really appreciate everything you guys are doing for Division II Men's Across and um getting getting us out there a little bit more to a lot of different listeners and um changing the perspective and changing the landscape. So really appreciate you guys. Thanks, coach.

SPEAKER_01 31:54

You know what? When Kevin and I started this, we never knew we would get to this point. We were lucky. We said, hey man, you think a coach would come on? We're like, I don't know. Let's send up a few emails. And here we are four years later, and this is your second time on the show. And uh we're just we're honored to have guys like you come on and talk lacrosse and talk about your program and talk about the different things about lacrosse with us, and we really appreciate you.

SPEAKER_03 32:21

No, anytime, guys. Thank you so much. And um, always looking forward to those uh those conference previews, so can't wait to hear him.

SPEAKER_00 32:28

Coming up, coming up

Coach Chris Barrett of Belmont Abbey

SPEAKER_00 32:30

soon. Next up is a coach who is no stranger to D2. He played and coached at Limestone, but now has been the head coach, I think, for about the past 14 years at Belmont Abbey, where he has continually Danny, brought his team to the conference championship and the NCA tournament. So yeah, so I think he's gonna give some great perspective on on this subject. So let's bring him in. Coach Chris Barrett. Coach, great to have you.

SPEAKER_04 33:01

I appreciate it, guys. I appreciate it. I uh I love listening to you guys. I love what you guys do for D2 lacrosse uh in general, and anytime I can jump on with you guys, I'm happy to be here. Uh appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 33:13

Yeah, we we do, and you're so responsive. Now that I figured out that the best way to contact you and get back to me is text, you you respond quickly. So it was great.

SPEAKER_01 33:22

Kevin, I gotta admit, Coach Barrett has been one of the better helpers for our our podcast. He has gone out of his way several times behind.

SPEAKER_04 33:32

I think I was on the first ever one.

SPEAKER_01 33:34

You may have been, yeah. You were one of the first anyway. Yeah, but you've helped us in so many ways, uh, you know, off the uh record and behind the scenes and stuff like that. So we all we owe you a lot of thanks. We really appreciate what you do for us.

SPEAKER_04 33:49

Well, I'm a D2 lifer, and uh so I love to see the promotion of it. And there's a lot of great lacrosse players, a lot of good lacrosse, and a lot of great lacrosse coaches in division two. So anytime we can highlight that, I'm all about it.

SPEAKER_00 34:03

Awesome. So let's get into it. I didn't ask this to Coach Peruzzi, but I'm kind of curious. We did ask him, what is the timeline for a class? Does it really start like D1's got that September 1st for the junior class of talking to him? They might see him in a tournament maybe before that in the summer, and they start talking to him. Can you give us a sense of when you start talking to uh a recruit in a certain class? Is it you know before their junior year? When is it? And how does that progress to when they come to Belmont Abbott?

SPEAKER_04 34:36

I would say like we're always working on the current class. Um, with that being said, yes, there is communication with us in let's say the 2026 class that is juniors right now.

SPEAKER_00 34:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 34:49

Um, but we're currently working on the 25 class, and which is you know, signing day is is around the corner here for for that to start um here in early November. Um, and really, like for us, it's we're out in the summer, we're we're watching guys. Um and then really at the end of the summer, as we're getting into August, as school starts here, and and for us in the middle of August, we're we're starting to have those guys that we identified from seeing in the summer that we've been talking to, you know, periodically through emails, um, their junior year, and we're trying to get those guys on visits in August, and we're starting to you know get them to apply transcripts, uh, make sure everybody has the NCA clearinghouse pin number. That is one that I'm still I still don't think every recruit knows about, you know, and that's something that I feel like 50-50 um when they show up to campus sometimes, um, you know, on official visits, that they know what what the NCA clearinghouse is or they or they don't, you know. Um why don't you explain a little bit about that? So I kind of I put it this way I put it as so there's there's two things you got to get by. There's the admissions office, and then there's the NCA clearinghouse. Both of those places need your transcripts. Got it. Belmont Abbey's admissions office is going to accept you into the college. The NCA Clearinghouse is going to determine your eligibility. Make sure you have all your core courses, um, your GPA. Make sure you're a full qualifier or a partial qualifier, right? Most of the times it's full qualifier. Um, but I think I think it's important for athletes to know about that because you know that's something you can register for at the end of your junior year or even the beginning of your senior year. Get in there, and and God forbid, you're you're missing a core course or something like that. You still have that whole senior year in front of you where you can possibly adjust your schedule to get that extra core course in when you don't sign up till you know you got a month left of your senior year, and then you sign up and then you realize you're missing that core course, you're you're you're praying that there's something in the summer and you know, or something like that. And that's that usually doesn't work out all the time, you know. Um, so the earlier the better uh on that. Um and it also you know gives the coaches a read to make sure that you know we're gonna give you scholarship money. We we want to make sure that you're gonna be eligible, you know, and and and and to play right away and those type of things, um, which is you know important to know all that stuff. Um, you know, and I think uh, you know, it coincides with being able to offer a scholarship and those kind of things, got to be registered for that. Um, if you want to do an official visit, you got to have a pin number. If you wanted to like come on a campus and and and spin spend the night, um, do something like that, you you need the NCA clearinghouse number. So at some point, and I tell this to them like it's not just a lacrosse thing. This is a division one, division two, any sport at the NCA level, you got to have an NCA clearinghouse account, you know. Um and that's where like I think us in division two sometimes are are possibly recruiting those athletes that if they're looking at four schools, well, two of them could be division three and two of them could be division two. Well, you don't need the NCAA clearinghouse pin number for division three, but you do need it for division two. Got it. You know, so that's where and it's not like it's free, you know. You're you're you're having to pay. I think it's $150 to to register and um get signed up. So, you know, at that point, I think if you have a list of five schools and four of them are division three, I think you want to really look at that list if one of them's division two and and see, you know, what's the likelihood I'm gonna choose this division two? Because if not, then maybe I'm crossing them off the list because I don't want to go through that whole eligibility center process, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's uh that's one thing that I think could be uh, you know, these guys in high school could could be educated more on is just simply knowing what what that is, what that does for them, um, you know, and it really declares their eligibility.

SPEAKER_00 39:02

That's that's fantastic information. Fantastic information. So, but let me ask you this is do you think that September 1st, do you think a lot of players that you're looking at have those D D1 aspirations? And so they're waiting to see if they get the call before they even look at D2, or is that not really something that you have to worry about?

SPEAKER_04 39:22

Yeah, I think that happens, you know, for sure, you know, as far as like, hey, you know, we're able to communicate with them a little bit earlier. Um, but at that point, you know, they're really just becoming juniors, you know, when the when those division one guys are calling them. So um I don't think us at the division two level are waiting up till midnight and calling calling those guys just yet. Um, maybe, maybe some are. I I don't know. There are. There's gotta be a few at least. I'm sure there are. Um, but I would imagine that those guys are you know really waiting for the division one calls and texts at that point.

SPEAKER_00 39:58

Um yeah, and that's kind of what I meant, coach, is like almost like a a cascade down effect, right? So they wait for those calls like a month later. Now you can start looking at some of those players, give them a call, you know.

SPEAKER_04 40:10

And I I I think that you know, the guys that we get are maybe the ones that you know, maybe they had uh a Johns Hopkins dream, and and maybe they didn't get that that that um email or or phone call from them, but they got it from a division a different division one school that's in a part of the country they're not interested in. Right. And you know, here comes a division two school that maybe fits their their profile a little bit better as far as where they want to be, what they want to study, those kind of things. And I think we do benefit from having the opportunity to go and get kids like that for sure. You know, I think all of us division two coaches are also sitting back and gonna try and analyze and look at how this whole new roster limitation and scholarship bumps and all that kind of stuff is gonna work in division one, right? Because yeah, um I think we're all curious to see how that's gonna go and and if there will be a trickle-down effect. Um, you know, if it's or really, I don't think any of us know how it's gonna go, but I think we're all interested to sit sit back and see if we're gonna be able to benefit from it, you know.

SPEAKER_01 41:15

The schools with the big resources are gonna obviously do better, you know.

SPEAKER_04 41:20

Right. I'm I'm it's scary in the fact that like you hope you don't have a situation where it's now you have the Yankees, the Red Sox, and everything else.

SPEAKER_02 41:30

Right, right, right.

SPEAKER_04 41:31

Or, you know, I don't know if the Red Sox is a good analogy for this year, but no, I got you. Yeah, you know what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_00 41:37

I I wish, coach, that's all I'll say. I wish it was still that way between the Red Sox and the Yankees. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 41:43

Um, you know, but I I guess we'll see how that goes. You know, I I think I've been asked that a couple times, and I think my answer has always been, yeah, we're interested. We just want to see kind of how it's gonna work, you know.

SPEAKER_00 41:56

Yeah, I think everyone's waiting for that shoe to drop and see what actually happens.

SPEAKER_01 42:00

You know, coach, I'm a Long Island guy, and you know, every kid on Long Island, all they hear about is D1, you know, D1. Even my middle guy, when he started getting recruited, we went, we went onto a D1 prospect day at Siena. He didn't even want to see the campus. He he did four hours there. He's like, let's go. Yeah, I was like, you don't want to take a walk to the like the campus and see what it's like. He's like, nope, let's get out of here. So, like, here you are, you're thinking, hey, D1 is everything. You get to a D1 school prospect day, and he just couldn't wait to get the hell out of there.

SPEAKER_04 42:31

And some kids don't want to go, like, some kids could be division one level lacrosse player, but maybe don't want to be at a school that has 20,000 students. Right. You know, and they're and they're lost in the shuffle, and they're they're uh the professor knows them as the last four digits of their social security number, you know. Right. I think we're we're we're like the division two schools, you know, we we are a little bit of a smaller school where you're gonna have that you know community involvement and relationships and with professors, and people are gonna know who you are, you know, and I tell them they're gonna know who you are for good and for bad. You know what I mean? So like you better make it good, you know. But you can use it to your advantage, too. Absolutely, absolutely. Um, I think it's you know, you you make those relationships with professors, they they know you by the first name, and you know, they're helping you with with get internships, or when things pop up, they don't have, you know, I don't know, 700 different students. They have their you know little little uh they actually know you, yeah. They know who the students are, you know, right. They're actually and I think some kids, some kids fit better, you know, into that, you know. Um you know, I know even you know, I I'll obviously, you know, I think when you're a little kid, you're you're thinking, you know, you're watching ESPN. So what's on ESPN? You're watching Division One Lacrosse, right? So like you're you're you're dreaming to be a Division One Lacrosse player, right? And I think even I, you know, we all had that dream. Um, but at some at certain points, it's okay. Yeah, what what's a better fit for you, you know, because exactly we're we're not gonna do this our whole lives, you know, like this is a a stepping stone into really what we're gonna become, you know, and and what we're gonna you know what we're gonna live the most of our life being, right? So I I think that it's important for and I try to tell guys all the time, like it's not about making the decision fast, it's about making the right decision for you, you know. 100%. And I think that's that's important, you know. What part of the country you want to be in? What do you want to study? You know, like if if you uh you know you hurt your knee and you you couldn't play in one more lacrosse game this season, would you still be happy here? You know, and I think that that's a I think that is probably more important than anything else because if you're happy where you're at, everything else is around you is gonna, you know, that much easier to be successful at, whether that's academically or or on the lacrosse field. Like it's it's tough to be at a place where you're miserable and then be happy for the two and a half hours that you walk into the locker room and out to the practice field and back in.

SPEAKER_00 45:05

And then right, which which isn't a guarantee. I mean, my son blew out his ACL, MCL meniscus his senior year, and he was done. Beginning of a senior year. Yeah. So I I totally agree with you, coach. Let me switch this a little bit. Um, Danny mentioned it, prospect days. Do you see those as important uh evaluation tool for you uh in your program? I think they're huge.

SPEAKER_04 45:28

Um, because if you're coming to prospect day, that tells me and the staff that you're interested in Belmont Abbey, right? Right. Um, and now you're you're you're coming and you're playing in front of us alongside of us while we're coaching you. We have some of our current players out there, so that way you can pick their brain in between, you know, reps and drills and things like that.

unknown 45:49

Right.

SPEAKER_04 45:49

And it also allows us to kind of bring in a bunch of kids that we're considering for a class and watch them play with or against one another and really start to you know make uh an evaluation on okay, well, we like this guy, and then we like this guy, and then we like this guy, you know, so to speak. Um, so I think prospect days are are awesome because I think you you get to come to campus, you get a you get a you get to look at campus, the campus that you're interested in, you get to be with the coaching staff, some of the current players, you get to be at the facility, you get to tour the whole thing. Um, so I I think they're I think they're awesome, to be honest. I do.

SPEAKER_01 46:26

Yeah, and they go to go to have lunch in the town. Right, right, right.

SPEAKER_04 46:30

Go check it out, you know.

SPEAKER_01 46:31

Nice quaint little town. I've been up there a few times hanging out. It's cool.

SPEAKER_04 46:34

It's and I don't even mind, you know, I don't even mind if they're you know, they're in town and they're hitting my prospect on Saturday and they're going to Wingates on Sunday and they're you know visiting, you know, XYZ on Monday before they have to go to the top of it. I think that's healthy, you know. And I I I think us coaches get nervous when we talk to a recruit and he's like, Yeah, I'm only talking to Bellman Abbey. It's like, well, either I'm really special or B, there's something wrong that I don't know about here, you know. Um, like we we want guys to go and experience other campuses and talk to other coaches and see other things because I think at the end of the day, that is gonna tell you what you really want to do and where you want to be, right? Because I, you know, as the transfer portal out there and we have all that stuff, I think those coaches would really prefer the kid that comes in as a freshman and he's gonna stay there for four years. Like, yeah, if we can put up a transfer here and there, like that that's going to happen, right? But you know, I don't think us coaches really enjoy having to go through that whole, you know, transfer portal, this, that at the end of the year, that you know, this guy there, this it's it's it's a lot, you know. We want, I don't know. I I guess I always I always like an extra add-in. And I was raised on Long Island like yourself from a parent that when you commit to something, you're gonna see it through, right? Like that, that's when you sit and and and don't commit to it until you really have looked through it and you're 100% sure that that's what you want to do. But once you commit to something, you know, there's no such thing as we're quitting or we're leaving. Like that that just wasn't well.

SPEAKER_01 48:04

That's the old school way, coach. You know, a lot of a lot of these kids aren't like that these days. It's a different world from the world that you and I grew up in.

SPEAKER_04 48:12

Yep, no, I know, I know. And it's it's it's different, you know. It's a shame.

SPEAKER_01 48:17

It is, you know, like work ethic with some kids just don't exist.

SPEAKER_04 48:21

Like, I mean, some of the you know, some of the ones right now, some of the best guys out there were because they they got they didn't play their freshman year and they worked their butts off, right? And they got better and they became program guys. And next thing you know, they're you know, by the time they're walking out their senior year, their name's on the wall in the locker room. Like it's you know, so those are some of the best stories and the best guys that have the best experiences, you know. Like, I you know, you look at some of these guys who played college football at three different schools, it's like, what which alumni weekend do you go back to? That's that's always been my question. Yeah, which one do you go to? I mean, maybe they're three different weekends. I don't know, you can hit all three.

SPEAKER_00 49:00

I you know, I don't know. That's interesting. So let me ask you this. How do you build a recruiting class? And does it change from year to year?

SPEAKER_04 49:10

Like yeah, I I I think you know, for us, I want to start with a you know, we want to build a starting lineup, you know, and I think uh, you know, a starting lineup or you know, a goalie, three close, um a midfield line, an attack line, obviously LSM face-off guy. And then I think each year is gonna debe dependent, right? Like maybe we had a couple more midfielders walk out the door, or or maybe we uh we needed an extra attackman, or or hey, we now we got to go four close defensemen, you know. Like I think that could change from year to year. But I think our our mentality at Belmont is we we wanna we wanna build a starting lineup in each class. Um, you know, and obviously, like when you play a lacrosse game, you can't play with three offensive midfielders, right? So, like, you know, there might be four or five with the face-off guy or something like that. Um, or maybe there's a guy who could play both attack and midfield, you know, um you know, whatever that is, or or maybe maybe you'll maybe we're looking at uh, you know, we got four attack moves, but we're looking at a guy who's like really athletic, and we're like, you know, maybe he's playing midfield when he's younger before he gets to the attack. Um right. Now you have defensive midfielders, which are really important, right? So, you know, sometimes guys are recruiting that. I think maybe at the division two level, they kind of more so develop into a defensive midfielder. Um, but I think that's that's kind of our approach at Belmont Abbey um on how we we try to build our class. And and it does change from year to year as far as you know, maybe positional needs or something like that, or or maybe we had a you know a goalie transfer and and something like that, and now we needed an extra one, like you know, that that that could be the case. Um, you know, so that but but for the most part, that's kind of our approach, and then we'll kind of veer in the direction we need to veer based on each class, graduating class prior to that.

SPEAKER_01 51:00

Interesting. Hey coach, I'm a I'm a high school kid. Um sending you a letter. Hey, I'm gonna be, I play at such and such a high school, I play for such and such a club team, I'm gonna be at these three tournaments over the summer. Let's say you're at one of those tournaments. Are you gonna see that kid?

SPEAKER_04 51:17

Heck yeah.

SPEAKER_01 51:18

Heck yeah. How long, how long would you stay to watch? Because, you know, you got 50 fields, you got 60 teams, you know, I'm sure there's a lot of people.

SPEAKER_04 51:26

And that's that's even more of a reason why I'm gonna go watch that kid. Because he's reached out to me, he showed an interest. You know, I'm gonna go watch that game. Obviously, look, keep an eye on for that kid, but I'm obviously gonna watch his teammates, the team he's against. Um but that's that guy is absolutely gonna be on my list. I mean, that's something we'll do. Like we're going to an event. Um, if we don't already have a list going, you know, we'll type the event into our uh our Google there and whatever all the emails that pop up from that event, we start writing the names down, the position, what year, what club team. You know, all of a sudden I got you know, four guys from you know, resolute that email me, well, I'm gonna go watch a resolute game, you know. Um, hey, I got you know three guys from this 91 team here that that you know, we're gonna go watch that game, you know. Um, so I I absolutely is the answer. Um and I'm gonna we're gonna stay until we see them, you know. Like obviously if it all works out, the schedule and that kind of stuff, but I know what you're talking about when you get to those tournaments that you know it gets crazy where they're at three different sites and and things like that, you know, and and all that kind of stuff. But you do the best you can and and you try to go and see those things, those guys as much as you can in the summer. Um, and then in the hopes that they're gonna turn right back around and and come at the end of August to see campus and come to Prospect Day and those kind of things, you know. So that's but yes, to answer your question, we're absolutely gonna go and and see that kid, you know, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 52:54

I think I think you just answered one of the kind of answered this question I'm gonna ask you right now. But is there any other advice besides if they're really interested in Belmont Abbey, communicating with you? What advice you give to high school players who are thinking of playing in college lacrosse?

SPEAKER_04 53:10

So one thing that I can I can't underestimate is is the relationships us coaches have with whether it be club coaches or or high school coaches. So I think you know, anytime we're getting messages from a club coach or a high school coach, and you know, saying, hey, you know, if this kid reaches out to you, this is a guy you want to look at, we're absolutely gonna do that, you know. Um I think that you know, my my phone number is is on the website. So if a kid wants to shoot me a text message, as you can, as you just told you know me in the beginning of this, I'm I'm much better, I'm much faster at responding to text than I am uh email. Then like for me, I feel like I can do email on the phone, but I feel like for me, I'm I'm an I'm an old school guy. I'm gonna sit down in front of the computer and do emails, where like text to me is like I'm gonna do that on the phone. Where I think probably the younger coaches are probably doing both on their phone, you know. Right. Um, you know, I think it's it's kind of know who your audience is at that point a little bit, you know. Um, and and and but for me, you know, messaging us, and then obviously like anytime you're communicating with us, if you're gonna um, you know, copy me and one of my assistants at the same time, I think that draws us to attention because even if if I'm in meetings all morning, my assistant that might be the first thing he says to me when I walk through the door at noon after a couple of morning meetings, like, hey, did you see that email from so-and-so? Because he was copying on it too, right? Yeah, I think that's always a good thing to kind of include the staff because you know, some guys may get to it faster than others or may be able to push the head coach towards that a little bit faster. Uh, right. You know, because not to say that we're all the busiest guys in the world, but we do have a lot of things that come up from time to time. And like, I mean, to be able to sit down and do emails is is awesome with a cup of coffee if we have that opportunity, you know, especially when we're balanced at fall ball and you know, weight room and and guys getting the study hall and making sure the current guys on campus are getting what they need academically. Like, there's there's a lot to do, you know, a lot to do and a lot to make sure these guys are all taken care of. So um, but that's I would say that's the best way. Obviously, I'm not discouraging anybody from emailing me. I'm not saying that I can't turn on the computer and and respond to an email. That is not what I'm saying, but I am much faster at at uh text and and those kind of things.

SPEAKER_00 55:38

Well, coach, I I'll tell you, you know, being in business for years, you know, obviously when I was in the Navy, I we were kind of antiquated. I mean, email halfway through my my my Navy career is when that started happening. So what I would say though is you learn how people communicate best. Yeah is it phone, is it text? Is it email? Is it in person? Now, obviously they can't come to you in person, so there's got to be other ways to do it. So I think that kind of the information you just provided, I think tells a lot, even not only for Belmont Abbey and you, but you know, if they're really interested in a school, look at different forms uh of communication to make sure that you're right. Be persistent.

SPEAKER_04 56:21

I mean, at the end of the day, like the worst that's gonna happen is that coach is gonna say, Hey, sorry, we're our recruiting class is full, we we don't think this is a good fit. But you'd rather know that. Exactly. Of course, so so that way you can now adjust your search and adjust what you're considering and and kind of go from there, you know.

SPEAKER_00 56:42

I will I will tell you, coach, my son went to a prospect day for a D1 school. The coach said, Hey Ronan, you did a great job. You did a great job. We're we'll be in touch. Never got in touch. Ronan contacted them, assistant coaches, never ever got back to them. And the thing that makes me mad is the fact it could have been an easy thing, just like you said. Hey, Ronan, I'm sorry, we filled our class, but we don't have a spot for you. Yeah, a no is is good information. Maybe not what you want to hear, right? But now you can move on.

SPEAKER_04 57:18

Exactly. And I think that's you know the biggest thing. Like, you know, us one thing that I know frustrates us coaches is like, hey, we we built this relationship with a guy, we're recruiting him, we're talking to him, we're talking to him, and now we're getting down to the point where you know, hey, you know, what's the play here? Are we gonna you you want to come, you want to get a scholarship offer? Like, what you know, do you want to go down the financial aid route? Well, once we get to that point, all of a sudden, it's crickets, you know, or what the young kids say, they get ghosted. Yeah, like you're getting ghosted. And at that point, it's like, wouldn't it just be easier to send a text and say, Coach, hey, um, I appreciate everything, but um, I'm I'm you know, really considering just school, you know, XYZ at this point. Right. Like, yeah, we might sit back and slam our fists on the desk and cry for a minute, but at least we're not gonna send you a text for the next 10 straight days being like, hey buddy, what's going on? Like, you know what I mean? Like that becomes awkward and annoying because I mean, shoot, like, even if you are gonna now answer me after 10 days, like we're gonna have to initially get over that in the beginning of our conversation. Like, hey, you know, where'd you go? Were you in Jamaica for 10 days? Like, what's going on? Like, you know what I mean? Like, if you like you know, I can't rely on you to send a text back, like, can I rely on you for other things? You know, like I I think it's I think us coaches are all wired to kind of think that way a little bit. Like, you know, like if we're gonna trust you with the ball in the fourth quarter in a 9-9 game, well, there's gonna be a lot that goes into that. It's not just at practice, but it's like, how do you handle your responsibilities on a day-to-day basis? Do I trust you to do that? Like, right if I were to call you, do I trust if you're not sitting in class that you're gonna call me back? Or, you know, or am I gonna you know, wait till the next thing be like, hey man, did you see my call? And him be like, Oh, oh, oh, I'm sorry. Like, no, no, no. Like, that's not building the trust, right? You know, that's I'm not giving you the ball, you know, in the fourth quarter at 9-9. I like, yeah, I don't know. Maybe I think too much into that.

SPEAKER_00 59:17

You know, no, no, coach, you know, I I think we just talked about just like uh I'm sure every lacrosse player that's reached out to schools wants that answer, and they don't want to be ghosted, right? Yeah. If they had a communication. Well, uh, same thing. I told my son once he committed, I said, call, text, or email every coach that wants you right now. And there was there was a handful, five or six, that he was still talking to, and let him know. Let him know in the next two days. It's not gonna be easy, but I but that that is an important step because what does that do? It doesn't ruin a relationship.

SPEAKER_01 59:55

Right. And it's part of becoming an adult as well, and it's communicate, communication is key.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:00

And you know how many times that I've recruited a guy that ultimately told me no, and I said, you know what, I wish you the best of luck. And then a year later, when that kid wasn't happy at the place he was, he came back and decided to enroll at Belmont Abbey. Like, I can't, I that's happened more than a handful of times, right? You know, um, so it's not like us coaches are gonna be on the other line and we're gonna cuss you out when you tell us the answer. Right. Like that's I mean, shoot, maybe that does. I mean, maybe there is a guy or maybe you want to now and then, right? Right, you know, but I think for the most part, we're gonna say, hey man, we wish you the best of luck. We appreciate it. Maybe we don't agree with it, but you know, we're gonna wish him luck and go on his way. And and at the end of the day, if it doesn't work out, he's gonna remember that, right? And and I might be the first one he calls, you know. So um, that's absolutely happened for sure. You know, one of you know, a really good player from Long Island that happened with, you know, I also did coach his older brother, um, so that helped, but it's happened a handful of times.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:03

Yeah, yeah, sure it does. Well, I'll tell you what, coach. I said this to Coach Peruzzi, I'm gonna say it to you. This went by way too fast.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:11

Yeah, one one one thing I really gotta talk, one thing I just want to mention too, like that we're doing in division two that I think you know, division one has and and maybe division three, but you know, we have specific showcases now, three in the summer, one in the fall that are division two showcases. So if you're coming to one of those showcases, we know as coaches that are there, because we're gonna have 15 to 20 different coaches represented, sometimes more, that these guys are interested in division two, and those kids are gonna know when they come there, they're gonna have division two coaches watching them. And there are one-day showcases, you know, you it's not gonna interrupt your your um your club program season or anything like that. There are one day offs. There's one in Charlotte, Pennsylvania, uh Chicago, Illinois, and then we do one in the fall in Florida. Those have been huge successes for the Division II landscape. I've been seeing tons of kids going from the showcases, playing Division II, being successful with Division II. Um, so I think that's one thing. If you're really serious about Division II, that's a showcase you want to consider because you're gonna get at least more than a third of the Division II head coaches or assistants that are out there at these showcases.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:23

No, I can I can attest to that because I was at a D2 showcase in in in uh North Carolina three years ago, and it was great. I mean, it was a ton of coaches there. Yeah, there was a ton of kids, ton of talent.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:35

And uh he's that's I wanted to make sure we talked about that before I sign up.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:39

No, coach, I appreciate that. Coach Bruce you hit on that a little bit, and I think it's important just what you said. It's not just the one spot and one date. No, no, you most lacrosse players can get to one right that's closer to them, and that's that's the beauty of it. And I think that is a is a great thing to mention and a great thing to end with. Coach, thanks so much for coming on as always. We really appreciate you helping us out and and giving us your insight.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:07

I appreciate you guys and continued uh the good work for Division II Lacrosse. I know us coaches and and the D2 players all appreciate it and love listening and thanks, Coach Chris Barrett, Belmont Abbey.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:18

You have been such so helpful to us over the last couple of years. We really appreciate everything you do for us and continued success. And uh we'll be watching you this year. Thanks so much.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:28

Thank you, you guys.

Shout outs

SPEAKER_00 1:03:30

Danny, I think that was great insight from both coaches, don't you think?

SPEAKER_01 1:03:35

Ah, that was excellent. If you're a kid out there getting recruited, something to listen to, something just you know, give you guides and help you along the way to get recruited. I mean, these two coaches are very successful in Division II, uh, do a lot of good things, have been there in their prospective programs for a long time now and have you know have grown their programs into something special. And they do it through recruiting, kind of right.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:04

And what I think was great is they pointed out a lot of different things that we hadn't touched upon in our other recruiting episodes. And I think one of the best things they talked about both is, which I thought was great, and I saw this when my son was recruited at the D2 level too. One, they not really give a timeline for you know, they're not in a big hurry until probably near the end of the until they are waiting. Yeah, but two, they want it to be as good a fit for the player as them trying to get a good player, right? Like they want to go, look, they want them to make that decision to go to that school.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:48

Because they don't want the kid to come and not feel like it's a a good fit and then wind up leaving. Right. So so it's important that kids, you know, go to a couple of different showcases or go a couple of different prospect days and get the feel of the campus and the kids and the coaches and and make the decision based on a lot of different things. You know, each kid is different, and you know, their financial situations might be different, parent situations might be different. So I I think I thought it was great what the both coaches said. They're really are student friendly, aren't they? They're thinking more about the students. They're thinking more about the student. I mean, they're they're thinking about their program. The coach said, I want a starting program, starting a team in every class. Yep. You know, so yes, they are interested in the butt you know, they're student friendly guys. And and that's super important. If I'm a if I'm a student, I want to know that I can go to a coach and talk to them if there's something. And then and these guys are student friendly guys, and that's important for a recruiter.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:55

I totally, totally agree. And I I think that was just a that was. One of the best things. I think what you just said, it's one of the best things I get out of that. That they're student friendly and they're willing to communicate.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:06

Yeah. And like let's say a kid is not happy there, just want whatever the fit, whatever, whatever the reason may be, these coaches are helping them find a new place to go. Yeah. They're giving, they're helping them. They're calling coaches. They're saying, hey, you know, check him out. He's with our program, whatever, whatever the pro problem is, you know, he's moving on and he's interested in you guys. And give him a call, you know, and they're helping them.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:32

Yeah, I totally agree. Totally agree. It was just uh I loved this episode with those two coaches. I think it really two coaches that have really been good to us.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:42

You know, like Peruzzi, I love the guy. I just think he's a great guy. I think he's wonderful for the gamma lacrosse. I think he's doing great things at Lewis. Um, and Chris Barrett, he's he's an icon in division too. I mean he's been around a long time. He's put out really, really good teams, you know, and just two perfect coaches, one from the north, one from the south to talk about recruitment. I thought it was a great, great show tonight, Kev. Yeah, totally agree.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:10

Okay, shout-outs.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:12

Do you have any shout-outs? No shout-outs tonight for me, Kev. I've got I'm tired. It was a long weekend.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:20

I hear you, buddy. It was a fun weekend, but it was a long one. All right, I've got one shout-out, and this shout-out goes to Coach Cody Golan of the Point Park University Pioneers in Pittsburgh. The point park pioneers from Pittsburgh. Guess what? We missed this, Danny. He was hired as their first ever men's lacrosse coach that's coming to D2 next year, 25-26 season.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:53

The point park pioneers out of Pittsburgh. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:59

He reached out to us to tell us that that was happening. That's awesome. That's awesome. And even better, he sent a picture of their stadium, which is right on the banks of the Monongahila. Sounds nice. Beautiful, beautiful field. Just it also sounds cold. That I was wondering too. When you have a February game, could be interesting. But I I I give him a shout out because we love getting intel like that. If we haven't said it yet, bring it to us. And that coach was smart to come. He's now got my email address. We've already communicated. What's the coach's name again? I'm sorry. Cody Golan. Cody Golan. All right, we'll get you on next year, coach.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:48

And he was an assistant there. So oh wow. So he's bringing some of that Navotny uh yeah. Magic with him.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:56

All right. All right. Interesting.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:59

Yeah. So that was uh it was a it was great to get a get a DM from him on on X, and it was great talking to him quickly, and he's excited to come on the show, and he's excited to start his program.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:10

Ah, good shout-out.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:11

I like that one. And with that, Danny, for this episode, that's a wrap. That tonight was a good one. That's a wrap, Dev.