With eight seniors committed to college programs, John Jay is the unofficial leader for college-bound 12th-graders among high school teams in the nation’s No. 1 hotbed for lacrosse, the Hudson Valley/Long Island/Connecticut region.
If you want to keep score at home, just check our “Updated recruiting review and commitment rundown,” or check out the complete list of the “Elite Eight” a bit further down in this story.
The latest Indians’ senior to make his decision is long-stick midfielder Tom Mertens.
Mertens has committed to Endicott College in Beverly, Mass.
Former John Jay defensive standout Bobby Crossett is a senior defenseman for the Gulls, the defending Commonwealth Coast Conference champions.
Like the 6-foot-4 Crossett, Mertens has good size (at 6-2) and athleticism.
Here’s a Q&A with Tom on his commitment:
What were the main factors in your decision to attend Endicott?
It’s the perfect fit for the type of school I was looking for. I don’t want a huge school, but something a little bigger than John Jay. Endicott’s facilities, academics and athletics were the main attractions for me. The look/feel of the campus is what really set it apart from other schools in my opinion.
What other schools were you considering and what schools did you visit?
Early in the process, I visited Fairfield, Colgate and UMass, more recently I visited Centenary and Roger Williams.
What adjustments do you think you will need to make to play at the next level?
I feel I will need to become faster and stronger, as well as improve my stick skills. I think adjusting to the speed of the college game, and getting used to a new system will be difficult.
What are your strengths as a player and how would you describe your style of play?
My strengths as a player are my hustle and ability to be a team player on defense. My style of play is to use my hustle and speed to make plays and play good defense.
What players have you looked up to as you have moved up through the varsity ranks?
Two players I have looked up to through my varsity career are Ian De Ruiter and Jameson Pickel. Ian is a physical, hustle-type player who never seemed to get tired, and Jameson has outstanding speed and a great knowledge of the game. If you combine both I feel you would have a great LSM.
When did you first realize you had the potential to play at the college level?
I have always wanted to play in college after watching lacrosse on TV. I think when I started realizing the potential to play at the college level from seeing former John Jay players continue their lacrosse careers after high school.
* For background info on Tom Mertens, check out his recruit profile by clicking here.
• John Jay’s senior commits
(click on each name for the LaxLessons.com commitment story)
Mike Daniello, attack, Johns Hopkins
Alex Lanza, defense, Gettysburg
Mike Lupinacci, attack, Rollins
Thomas Mertens, LSM, Endicott
Brendan Morris, midfield, Gettysburg
Jimmy Morris, midfield, Gettysburg
Forrest Walter, midfield, Colgate
Jake Weil, midfield, Dartmouth
* Be sure to e-mail any recruiting commitment news to us at info@laxlessons.com.
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Posted In: Recruiting Rundown
Darien also has eight seniors committed to colleges thus far, the most recent being Richard Gregory, attackman, headed to Union College.
I honestly think all of the above. Also a very dedicated and passionate bunch of kids.
about to be nine, evan chen is going to commit within the next week
what schools are looking at him?
Yea who should get the credit for that?
The kids…duh!!
I doubt it. John Jay’s 2007 team, and perhaps others, would have at least that many, I’m guessing.
Weren’t all these J-Jay commits the same kids that some people in their area were crying about a couple of years ago because they were on the varsity team as sophmores? Think their former coaches were on to something?
What’s the previous most # of players JJ sent to college in one year? 5 in ’07??
I’m sure I’m missing something, if you have more knowledge please correct me:
2007 (8): Bohlander, Stockel, Douglass, Schneidman, Crossett, Weil, Sobocinski, Santare
2008 (11): Bocklet, Drew, Granelli, Latino, Whalen, Laperch, Dibetta, Duffy, Durst, Jones, Murphy
2009 (7): Stears, Stewart, Silver, Beck, Deruiter, Masterson, Dunworth
2010 (6): Pickel, Merlino, O’Donnell, Waldman, Maher, Franklin
07 had 5 div 1 players for jj
07 was 11 kids for jj who beat Hutington
Stockle Drexel
Douglas yale
Big Bo Maryland
Schniedman providance /cortland
Crossett Endicott
Santare Western Newengland
Latino Bighamton
Weil Union
Pancaldo Roger Williams
Decandia Nazareth
Sobosinski Kean State
Latino was 2008, no?
latino was 2008. And does it count if 3 of those players mentioned quit lacrosse after there first couple of years?
Yes it counts!! Bottom line is JJ will never have another player win a national championship in college and be a starter. Daniello cuse, Drew Cuse, Carrozza Cuse, Coluccini cuse, Bocklet Hopk, all were starters except for Coluccini who started the year before.
You don’t think Mike Daniello has a good chance at winning as a starter with Hopkins? They’ve got loads of good young talent and Mike is one of their top recruits.
Last I checked Chris Bocklet lead Virginia in points last year as a sophomore and that Virginia is one of the top 5 teams in the country with a shot to win the National Championship every year. Also add him to the list for 2007 as well making 9. Someone’s drinking the haterade in the offseason for Jay
Wow – here comes the negativity….you actually said NEVER? Why the hate?
Suffice it to say that the number to beat is 11 established by the John Jay team in 2008 as listed by P&G. Darien will get a couple more seniors committed by the start of next season bringing the total to ten for the Wave, but 12 might be out of reach, for what it’s worth.
Chaminade and St. Anthony’s each had twelve last year according to laxpower recruits database
Good job by those LI Catholic powers. I think for the purpose of this relatively marginal topic that credit should go to those public schools who are sending multiple numbers of seniors to college lax programs from the same town. I would be interesting to know how many of the Chaminade/St. A’s guys come from the hotbed towns which would inflate the numbers from places like Manhasset, Smithtown, and so on.
Yeah, it’s not really fair to compare Chaminade, for example, with most of these public schools. Not only is Chaminade selectively taking talent from hotbeds but it’s a boys school with something like 1,600 students. That would make it the equivalent of 3 times the size of many of these other schools.
If you want a public school that has topped 11 recently, last year Ward Melville had 14 kids go on to college ball (7 to D-1 programs). If you count 2 kids that went through a year of prep school before committing, those numbers become 16 and 9. While I understand Ward Melville is larger than either John Jay or Darien, this is still a staggering number.
What’s the highest possible number of kids JJ could have as college commits this year? Don’t get me wrong. The number is already amazing and a credit to the kids and new coaching staff.
Congrats to Ward Melville and other places, especially all those coaches and parents who provide the support all the way through grade 12 to help those boys make their lax dreams become reality.
I’ve heard that Chen has commited to Bates, and Caviola is listed as commited to Endicott on Laxpower, so thats a possible 10 commitments for John Jay.
Shen did commit to Bates. I read it here on the recruiting commitment thread the other day. Who’s Caviola?
Lax n stuff is quite right. Evan Chen’s commitment to Bates has been up on our “Updated recruiting review and commitment rundown.” So be sure to check it out throughout the day, gang, to get the latest commitments as they happen. If you snooze, you lose! Also, check back for Evan’s thoughts on his commitment.
Trevor Caviola, a senior defensemen for Jay who was on the team as a sophmore and saw significant playing time as a sophomre. Not sure why he didn’t get much last year, but great player with good stick skills and good take away checks
congrats to thomas and all the jj seniors.good to see jj kids moving on to the next level.best of luck to all.