Roy Simmons III watched an NFL draft segment on ESPN. It reminded the Syracuse assistant lacrosse coach of what the recruiting landscape has become in college lacrosse.

‘They’re very thorough of what they’re doing on draft day,’ Simmons III said. ‘Lacrosse coaches are starting to sense there are a limited number of really good players out there. We need to do our research right.’

Simmons III remembers when the process seemed simpler. ‘Your first-born son is coming to Syracuse University to play lacrosse,’ Simmons III recited the saying of his father, Roy Simmons Jr., who coached SU from 1971 through 1998.

The phrase reflected the family bond Simmons Jr. envisioned. It also became a great recruiting strategy – one that hasn’t been unique to Syracuse, but a critical component that shaped SU’s dynasty.

The Orange recruited the Desko, Gait and Powell brothers. SU also attracted the Bucktooths. Part of SU’s 2006 recruiting class – including Dan Hardy, Kenny Nims, Pat Perritt and Matt Abbott – was possible because of family ties.

No longer can Syracuse solely depend on that pipeline to land top players.

‘Virginia is big on doing a lot of early recruiting,’ Syracuse head coach John Desko said. ‘They seem to wrap up their class quicker than most people. Everybody else is trying to play catch-up.’

Syracuse has adapted to this continuing trend with mixed results. Hardy, Nims and Perritt – ranked Nos. 2 through 4 in 2006 – opted for early commitments.

The Orange was also the first team in the country to add a director of lacrosse operations when Lelan Rogers joined SU in 2005. Rogers takes care of team logistics, ranging from organizing team travel to making sure SU follows compliance regulations. The hiring opened up more time for Desko, Simmons III and assistant coach Kevin Donahue to recruit. Only Navy has followed suit.

Rogers has also run team camps in the Syracuse area and is planning to add one in Georgia this summer to expand Syracuse’s geographical recruiting landscape.

U.S. Lacrosse cites 204,384 kids 15-and-under play lacrosse and 147,042 high school students also play. That’s why SU has traveled to states like Michigan, Illinois, Colorado and California to make sure its attraction toward the Central New York hotbed does not blind them of talent in other areas.

‘As you talk to other coaches, they have to realize they have no choice but to start recruiting early,’ Virginia head coach Dom Starsia said. ‘If I run into a college coach and they say, ‘I’m not doing early recruiting because I think it’s wrong,’ that person will have a hard time continuing to compete. At the end of the day, that’s our responsibility.’

Seattle Seahawks defensive end Patrick Kerney played for Starsia from 1996 to 1997 while also playing football in the fall. When Kerney first played in the NFL in 1999 for the Atlanta Falcons, Starsia gained insight on the NFL scouts’ research and evaluation process on selecting players. Like Simmons observed with the NFL Draft, colleges must emulate the way NFL scrutinizes prospects.

In 1997, Conor Gill, then a prep lacrosse standout and a junior at St. Paul’s School in Lutherville, Md., knew he wanted to be a Cavalier. Gill committed early, setting a trend for other top recruits to decide their college fate before their senior year.

Starsia remembers chatting with long-time friend Dave Klarmann, who coached North Carolina from 1991 to 2000. Unhappy with the direction of lacrosse recruiting, Klarmann said to Starsia, ‘I’m not going to do this early recruiting.’

North Carolina missed five-straight NCAA tournament appearances before reaching the quarterfinals in 2004. UNC won a national championship in 1991. Though ranked No. 9, the Tar Heels have been inconsistent the last six years.

Virginia, meanwhile, has won three championships since 1999 – a feat only Syracuse has matched.

‘I don’t think there is any coincidence one program went one way and another program went the other way,’ Starsia said of UNC. ‘You have no other choice. If you don’t jump in, you lose out on candidates.’

SU is trying to avoid that outcome. But the Orange has met challenges. The growth at the youth level has not resulted in more Division I programs, with 24,502 players competing in college. This has allowed midlevel teams in Division I and other teams in Division II and III to benefit from the youth enthusiasm for the sport.

Powers like Syracuse have to be more selective.

Although Simmons III said he is securing a Canadian in this year’s junior class, SU and other lacrosse schools are more hesitant than in years past to grab lacrosse talent from Canada. The competitive landscape hinders risk-taking.

‘Everybody in this town is saying, what’s wrong with our recruiting?’ Simmons III said. ‘Why aren’t we recruiting more Canadians? We had the Gaits and Marecheks. But the Canadian dollar is very difficult. You have to do tremendous evaluation in Canada and make sure the player you’re looking at can be an impact player right away. You tend to have to have a full scholarship available for a Canadian kid or they have to be very wealthy. Sometimes neither work for you.’

Like Loyola goalie Alex Peaty. Skip Flanagan coached Peaty at Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio. Flanagan and Simmons III said Peaty was interested in SU. But the Orange spent most of the 12.6 scholarships – the number allotted to college lacrosse programs each year – on securing Hardy, Nims and Perritt.

Another challenge: grabbing players from the Maryland hotbed when Virginia, Duke, Johns Hopkins, Navy, UMBC and Loyola stake that territory. Nonetheless, those schools have been able to pluck away New York players.

Craig Hammond is the lone SU representative from Maryland, although the Orange recruited former goalie Jay Pfeifer from Gilman, Md., and defenseman John Glatzel (1998-2002) from Boys’ Latin.

‘It’s tougher to identify with those players,’ Desko said. ‘If you think about the private school mentality, they are paying a lot of tuition for their schools. If they can, some of them say they will go to Harvard, Princeton and Yale. When you get to those areas in the private school, it becomes difficult.’

Desko acknowledged coaching Team USA this summer in London, Ontario, hurt his recruiting efforts. Without Desko, Simmons III and Donahue focused more on local recruits. SU grabbed West Genesee goalie John Galloway, the 12th-best recruit coming out of this year’s senior class.

The offensive class features Onondaga Community College midfielders Jerome and Jeremy Thompson, tied as the fourth-ranked recruits this year by Inside Lacrosse magazine. No. 15 Josh Amidon (Lafayette) and No. 17 Jack Harmatuk (nearby Christian Brothers Academy) also headline the offense. Simmons III said the Orange is still pursuing CBA’s Jovan Miller, who reportedly showed interest in SU football but was not been offered a scholarship.

But SU couldn’t attract certain defensemen for next year. Penn Yan’s Mike Manley, the No. 8 recruit, and West Islip’s goalie Ryan Flanagan, ranked 11th, chose Duke and North Carolina, respectively.

Flanagan, a West Islip defenseman, committed early to Johns Hopkins. Syracuse initially expressed interest, but West Islip (N.Y.) head coach Scott Craig noticed SU backed away once it learned Flanagan wasn’t a fan of the cold weather.

‘They don’t recruit players,’ Farmingdale (N.Y.) head coach Bob Hartranft said. ‘Players recruit Syracuse.’ Other high school coaches and recruits, even ones who chose not to go to SU, agreed with the laid-back characterization but described it in more positive terms.

Galloway felt overwhelming pressure from Virginia, but he noticed UVa quickly backed off once it set its eyes on goalie Adam Ghitelman from Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. He’s a higher ranked prospect than Galloway.

‘It was very rushed and it seemed like there were only so many spots on the roster,’ Galloway said. ‘Virginia was hard core. There’s nothing wrong with (Starsia). He’s a great guy and he knew what he wanted. But he wanted a commitment at a certain time. Coach Desko took his time with me.’

Galloway expressed frustration that his decision to commit early came at the expense of missing out on official visits. But he knew Desko and Donahue through team camps and both coaches have sons who play at West Genesee.

Galloway often ran into Donahue when he ran errands. The already-established relationship and the reputation of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications sealed the deal.

Manley also liked Syracuse’s laid-back attitude but opted for Duke because of its better financial package, and he was able to team with best friend Tom Ryn. The tuition is a constant struggle for SU given it’s a private school and the partial scholarships make less of an effect than at a state school.

‘One of our strongest points was when we got kids on official visits because the kids in our program sold our program for us,’ Simmons III said. ‘Recruits could tell who they were and the passion they had for playing for Syracuse. Now by the time official visits are available in the fall their senior year, these kids already have it wrapped up. All of the best kids are gone.

‘We had to get involved with that full-court pressing. But we still try to maintain the attitude that we want you to look at other schools. They are sometimes surprised to hear that. We don’t want them to come here because we made them when we pushed the kid in the corner.’

Desko put it more succinctly.

‘We want them to make a decision with their eyes wide open without a gun to their head,’ he said.

Syracuse defenseman Steve Panarelli could tell the difference in SU’s approach after comparing stories with his teammates from Farmingdale. Aside from Syracuse midfielder Danny Brennan, Panarelli graduated with teammates who have later attended Duke, Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, Towson and Princeton. Panarelli was thankful he didn’t endure as much pressure as some of his teammates did.

But Simmons III acknowledged Syracuse’s laid-back approach may have resulted in lost prospects. Desko and Simmons III feel it’s a reasonable tradeoff, though, because it lessons the likelihood of transfers.

Since 2003, 15 players have transferred within Division I. That doesn’t include the three transfers from Duke to Georgetown and Virginia, after head coach Mike Pressler was fired in response to the Duke lacrosse rape allegations.

Starsia argues those numbers are more anecdotal than evidence showing the early recruiting process can be counter-productive. Attackman Eric Pittard, for example, left Virginia for Cornell because he was accepted at Cornell’s business school.

But it is worth noting Syracuse hasn’t had a player transfer since 2003. It inherited Joe Yevoli and Nathan Kenney from Virginia last year as well as current midfielder John Carrozza from Delaware.

But early recruiting has become necessary, although not a ticket, to be successful. For example, Georgetown brought in the top-ranked class in 2004 and 2006, but has yet to reach the final four.

SU featured the fourth-best class in 2004 and hauled in top-ranked JUCO defenseman Junior Bucktooth this year. But the defensemen in Syracuse’s 2004 class have limited roles. Bucktooth left SU before the season started because of weight problems, Simmons III said.

Then again, Virginia continues to pick up talent both offensively and defensively. Other coaches know they have to follow suit if they want the championship rings on their fingers. Three in seven years and landing the No.1 recruit for two-straight years says enough.

‘When you see younger guys getting burned out at their age, it has to say something,’ Desko said. ‘A lot of us have been doing this for 25 years and we have to change. Before, you were more like a school teacher. You finished your playoffs and you had the summer to work camps to get caught up and make some money during the summertime. You didn’t bring recruits in until there was a football game or even a basketball game their senior year. We don’t do that anymore, it’s way too late.’

Published on April 25, 2007 at 12:00 pm