What a mess. And what an opportunity. The NCAA's decision this week to announce that ALL current players get an extra year of eligibility, no questions asked, for up to their current amount of financial aid, is insane. It's insane on a few different levels.
For starters, every school that does not offer graduate level courses just lost their best seniors to more prominent opponents. Secondly, all the underclassmen who just saw their path to playing time halted for the foreseeable future are hitting eject. And third, Ohio State has the opportunity to snag a few key seniors the next four years to make some real waves in the lacrosse world. Let's go down the rabbit hole.
To start off, let's just combine points one and two. If you thought things were crazy on the transfer front now, you ain't seen nothing yet. OSU has already lost a goalie in Christian Tomei, who saw no playing time this year. The Buckeyes are also looking at adding St. Joseph's senior goalie Mike Adler. Adler was a shade under 60% last year in save percentage, making him an incredible option to bring in if Josh Kirson does not come back.
And he well could move on. As 11W's own mentioned earlier in a column, none of the current Buckeyes are on a full ride. And, per the NCAA, while they may get their current amount of financial aid, they are not able to receive anything more.
This puts many seniors in a bind, as returning for another year could add even more thousands of dollars to their current student loan debt. Unlike any of the revenue sports, none of these players get anything close to a free ride. The choice between a possible championship and a definite paycheck is really tough when you're paying for the privilege of competing.
Listening to Inside Lacrosse's Ty Xanders talk on a podcast this week, the estimate was that 25% of lacrosse players would come back, maximum. I think it could be closer to 10, but it really depends on what the mood of each team is, and each conference.
For, as tough a choice as it is for any senior who is good to poor to make a decision, it may be even more difficult for those seniors who are great to exceptional.
They have to decide if they want to continue lacrosse at all, or end their career on this note. Many schools that offer lacrosse don't offer graduate school. Or only offer it in one field. Nearly all, if not all, of Colgate's seniors are already in the portal. Most of the Patriot League seniors are in the same boat. Will Yorke, the stud attackman from Bucknell, is in the portal now.
These players, in most or all cases, will graduate and have to choose between working or paying to play another year of lacrosse at a completely foreign institution. And that's really hard. Some certainly will. Others will not. No one really knows anything except the financial and eligibility rules now.
Complicating this even more is the fact that the Ivy League does not allow graduate students to compete.
If that policy doesn't change, then the senior class the next four years has to either slow down their academic load, or graduate and transfer out if they want any more playing time. Each player gets their own financial aid package, instead of a scholarship, so who knows what they are looking at financially. But are they willing to go an extra year somewhere else to chase a championship? I have a feeling the vast majority won't.
Again, however, this will depend on the Ivy League amending its longstanding rule for spring sports. Who knows how that will go. But it is a very real possibility that players like Michael Sowers, TD Ierlan, and others could be in the market for a team willing to take them.
With essentially grad transfer free agency, the next domino to fall in this mess is going to be the underclassmen transfer frenzy. We already see it with the transfer of Christian Tomei. A bunch of players that thought they were going to get playing time early in their careers now have to re-evaluate.
Even if the Ivy League changes its rule, and fewer of those players come up, there are still a bunch of institutions that will have players seek to play a 5th year elsewhere. Several DIII All-american players are in the transfer portal, including some middies that could definitely help Ohio State, were the staff so inclined. If you're a freshman, you now have to decide what you want your college career to look like.
Do you stay in the Big Ten, ACC or Ivy League, knowing you may get recruited over by multiple underclassmen and a grad transfer stud from somewhere else? A great many will look for greener pastures, probably looking to move into those institutions that don't have the graduate schools to offer and therefore will be losing seniors.
Or you could see some underclassmen at the big powers looking at moves to conference rivals. Whatever happens, it's going to be big. The transfer portal has already crashed once, per Ty Xanders, and I have no doubt it will happen several more times.
So with all this doomsday talk, what's the upside? The upside is that Ohio State has a whole lot to offer potential transfers, especially in the midfield.
Right now, there are no established offensive middies. Griffin Hughes had an absolutely fantastic year this year, pouring on goals from out of nowhere. Johnny Wiseman had some success, but with the new offense had his point total regress somewhat. Hopefully another year will help him. Grant Mitchell saw a bunch of playing time, but probably should have had a couple more goals. Connor Mitchell was doing some great things before his broken hand sidelined him. This additional year probably helps him the most.
Despite some solid pieces, there are no All-Americans in that list. At least not yet. Which means some of these middies in the portal could really hit the jackpot by sliding into a top-tier conference on a team just needing a couple pieces in the midfield to be a force. I would love to see the Buckeyes make a couple moves.
That said, who seems to be on the radar? I already mentioned Mike Adler. I know for a fact there's been contact with Adler, and depending on what Josh Kirson does, the Buckeyes may be in the market for a starting keeper. A save percentage approaching 60% is nothing to sneeze at, and based on recent activity, I think this one is pretty much sewn up. That means, most likely, Josh Kirson will not be returning.
Another name the Buckeyes may be in the market for is Jimmy McAfee of Amherst. He is a 1st-team All-American in DIII ball as a short-stick defender, and would most likely be an instant spark opposite Ryan Terefenko. Making a top-10 defense even better is something you will always want to do, especially as the SSDMs kind of underwhelmed a bit this year for me.
Finally, a name I KNOW will be transferring, but will be a hot commodity, is Griffin Brown of Colgate. Brown was a stud coming out of HS (#24 in IL's top 100), and has performed very well for the Raiders. Brown had 21 goals in 6 games as an attackman, and would certainly add some pizzazz to the offensive midfield if he could hack the position change. That's something that would be very helpful indeed. Contact has definitely been made, but we will see what other schools offer.
To end on a positive note, as noted in today's Skull Session, we heard for sure that some of the biggest names on the men's lacrosse team are coming back for one last rodeo. Tre Leclaire, Ryan Terefenko, and Jeff Henrick are ALL coming back to the Buckeyes next year.
This means that Leclaire will most likely set a near unreachable mark for goals (maybe), Terefenko could be the most decorated Ohio State player in history, and the LSM position is cinched up for at least another year. These are HUGE additions, and their impact can't be overstated. This year's 2021 preview is going to be LIT, and I can't wait to see what names, if any, are added prior to fallball. Stay safe out there.
Go Bucks!!
