What college program has been leading the way in terms of landing premier rising junior recruits?
While it’s still too early to say, one thing is certain.
The Duke Blue Devils, guided by Long Island native and former Hofstra coach John Danowski, have been cleaning up in getting commitments from premier talent from Nassau and Suffolk counties.
Duke landed its fifth rising junior Long Island with versatile midfielder Jack Bruckner of Ward Melville’s verbal commitment, which we reported to you folks here on Wednesday on our “Updated recruiting review and commitment rundown.” (If you scroll down, you can see the rundown of those commitments.)
Bruckner has been a member of the Patriots’ varsity team since ninth grade and started last year as a 10th-grader.
He excels on both offense and faceoffs.
Bruckner comes from an athletic family. His uncle, Nick Bruckner, was a football standout at Syracuse University. The wide receiver went on to play in the NFL for four years with the Jets.
Was Syracuse among the schools Jack Bruckner considered?
You’ll find out in this Q&A on his commitment.
What were the main factors in your decision to attend Duke?
The campus, the academic excellence, the coaching staff, and the facilities that are offered to student-athletes.
How did your unofficial visit to Duke go and what impressed you about the school and the lax program?
The unofficial visit was awesome. I was impressed with the campus itself. It was truly stunning. The lax team has a brand-new gym, their locker room is sick and the coaches are so nice.
What other schools were you considering and what other schools did you visit?
Princeton, Brown, Notre Dame and North Carolina. Out of those schools, I only visited Princeton (in addition to Duke).
What adjustments do you think you will need to make to play at the next level?
I think I’ll have to improve everything. I have to get stronger, faster, quicker, and get better stick skills.
What are your strengths as a player and how would you describe your style of play?
I think my strengths as a lacrosse player are faceoffs, time-and-room shooting, and shooting on the run. I think my style of play would be more of a Canadian player because I like backing in my guys and shooting over them.
What players have you looked up to as you have moved up through the varsity ranks?
I have seen a lot of awesome players perform in front of me being on varsity now for two years. I really learned a lot from guys like Johnny Edmonds, Will Mazzone and Sean Cleary.
When did you first realize you had the potential to play at the college level?
When I was nominated for the Hotbeds all-star team as a sophomore.
Duke Class of 2013 commits from Long Island
Jack Bruckner, Ward Melville
College, position: midfield
Brian Dunne, Chaminade
College, position: defense
Danny Fowler, Chaminade
College, position: goaltender
Justin Guterding, Garden City
College, position: attack
Tom Zenker, Chaminade
College, position: midfield
Have a recruiting commitment to report? Be sure to email us at info@laxlessons.com.
Follow Joe Lombardi on Twitter @joe_lombardi or by clicking here. Follow LaxLessons @LaxLessons or by clicking here.
LAXLESSONS Links
Recruiting coverage
* Updated recruiting review and commitment rundown (for classes of 2012, ’13 and ’14)
* Class of 2011 commitment rundown
* For a list of committed players with their profiles up, click here.
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Posted In: Long Island lacrosse, Recruiting Rundown, Section 11
Way to go Jack. Great kid and awesome player.
jack bruckner is the best lacrosse player i have ever seen and has worked harder than anyone i know to be where he’s at now. there’s not one bad thing i can say about him and he’s gonna do amazing things at duke as well as his whole life and i’ll be right there with him. congrats jacky love you forever.