College Draft Mock Draft 1.0

On the evening of March 30, the NCAA announced its approval of a blanket waiver for all spring student-athletes to get an extra year of eligibility following the cancelation of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite this, along with the fact that some universities and coaches have already begun to figure out how they will approach the ruling, I am determined to continue covering and planning for a PLL College Draft on April 21.

Another group of players has also entered the transfer portal, which doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re definitely going to transfer and play college lacrosse in 2021, but it allows the option to do so. Atlas defenseman Craig Chick said on my show, Behind the Back, that simply having the option is nice as you try to figure out your plan for post-graduation. A handful of these guys will transfer, a handful of these guys will return to their programs (mainly Big 10 and ACC schools), and I expect a handful of these guys to join the PLL for the summer of 2020. 

The five notable names so far that have announced that they will return to their respective programs are Princeton attackman Michael Sowers, Penn State attackman Mac O'Keefe, Georgetown attackman Jake Carraway, and Ohio State midfielders Tre Leclaire and Ryan Terefenko. A solid group of seniors has also already entered into the NCAA’s transfer portal, opening themselves for recruiting by other coaches and programs and, thus far, Penn State attackman Grant Ament is the only name in the PLL College Draft player pool with less than three weeks until the draft. 

Nonetheless, I plan to cover this College Draft the same way I would have before the COVID-19 pandemic put the world on pause. On the past two episodes of Behind the Back, I released my first PLL College Draft Mock Draft, and Mock Draft 2.0 will drop on April 9. The plan for this first mock draft was to get an idea of certain needs for certain teams and which players best fit those needs. I expect this list to change over the course of the next few weeks, and we’ve already seen some changes over the past few days.

PLL College Draft Mock Draft 1.0:

1. Archers: Michael Sowers (A) - Princeton

I released the first and second rounds of my mock draft on Tuesday. The following day, Sowers announced that he would be withdrawing from Princeton in order to re-enroll and return next spring. I can’t wait to watch him next season at Princeton (hopefully) and will hope to be projecting him as the number one selection next season. 

With Sowers returning to Princeton and taking his name out of the player pool, it’s safe to say that Chris Bates will be targeting Grant Ament with the first overall pick. The clear need this offseason after losing Christian Cuccinello and coming up short last season was to find a star X-attackman, and Ament fits in well on the Archers offense alongside Will Manny and Marcus Holman and could take their offense to another level in 2020.

2. Atlas: Mac O’Keefe (A) - Penn State

O'Keefe announced Friday morning that he would be returning to Penn State for the spring of 2021.

3. Waterdogs: TD Ierlan (FO) - Yale

Ierlan is the best faceoff specialist to ever play college lacrosse. He owns almost all of the single-game, single-season, and career marks in ground balls, faceoff wins, and faceoff winning percentage. Coach Copelan told me that in his utopian world he would add another faceoff specialist, and he will take one here with the third overall pick.

Ierlan said in an article for Inside Lacrosse that he hopes to return to Yale for another season.

4. Chrome: Grant Ament (A) - Penn State

This pick is set to change, as Ament will most likely go number one to the Archers. 

5. Chaos: Michael Kraus (A/M) - Virginia

Michael Kraus has 240 points over his college career at Virginia. He’s a physical player that loves to invite contact, and he could fit well with Connor Fields, Josh Byrne, Miles Thompson, and Curtis Dickson.

6. Redwoods: Kyle Gallagher (FO) - Penn

Head coach Nat St. Laurent lost veteran Greg Gurenlian to retirement in January and he selected Greg Puskuldjian in the Entry Draft to join Jerry Ragonese on the faceoff depth chart. Even with the other top attackmen still on the board, I like St. Laurent to go faceoff despite not having another pick until the fourth round.

7. Whipsnakes: Jared Bernhardt (A/M) - Maryland

Jim Stagnitta is going all offense in this draft. He starts with Maryland’s Jared Bernhardt, who can fit in at either attack or midfield. 

8. Waterdogs: Jeff Teat (A) - Cornell

Coach Copelan has the first pick in rounds two, three, and four. He took two Canadians in Zach Currier (M) and Ryland Reese (LSM) in the Entry Draft, and I have him taking another one here in Jeff Teat, who had 268 points in his Cornell career.

9. Archers: Tre Leclaire (M) - Ohio State

Leclaire announced on Wednesday evening (April 1) that he would be returning to Ohio State for the spring of 2021.

10. Atlas: Nick Mellen (D) - Syracuse

Ben Rubeor added LSM Craig Chick in the Entry Draft and I expect him to add a few more defensemen in this draft. Syracuse’s Nick Mellen, who has been the Orange’s top cover defensemen since his sophomore year, is the first here in the second round.

11. Chrome: Jared Conners (LSM) - Virginia

Tim Soudan passed on Chick in the Entry Draft, which allowed Rubeor to get him with the next pick. He can’t pass up on a young and athletic pole again.

12. Chaos: Peter Dearth (SSDM) -

Syracuse

13. Chaos (via Redwoods): Reece

Eddy (LSM) - Boston University

I have Andy Towers taking two defensemen here, specifically two transition defensemen. Dearth is one of the best short-stick defensive middies in college lacrosse and Reece had 31 ground balls and 16 caused turnovers in six games in 2020. 

14. Whipsnakes: Ethan Walker (A) -

Denver

Walker is one of my favorite players in this draft class. He’s been a starter at Denver since he stepped on campus as a freshman and has totaled 219 points in his Pioneer career. Adding a lefty to Stagnitta’s Whipsnakes offense.

15. Waterdogs: Connor Kirst (M) - Villanova

Connor Kirst is one of the closest things in this draft to what Andy Copelan wants in a two-way middie. Kirst had 84 goals, 42 assists, 101 ground balls, and has won 44 out of 137 faceoff attempts in his Villanova career. 

16. Archers: Brandon Salvatore (LSM) - Cornell

Salvatore is a ground ball machine. He had 74 last season as a junior and 170 in his Cornell career. He joins Curtis Corley as the other young pole on the Archers defense.

17. Chrome (via Atlas): Jamie Trimboli (M) - Syracuse

Chrome trades Romar Dennis and moves up one spot. I have them replacing Dennis with Syracuse’s Jamie Trimboli, who scored 17 goals in five games in 2020.

18. Atlas (via Chrome): Jack Kielty (D) - Notre Dame

The Atlas add Dennis and move back just one spot in this draft. Kielty has been a starter for the Irish since his freshman year and is the third pole that Rubeor adds this offseason.

19. Chaos: Bryan Costabile (M) - Notre Dame

Back-to-back Irish in the third round. Costabile was the ACC Offensive Player of the Year last season, setting a program record for goals in a season by a midfielder (42). 

20. Chrome (via Redwoods): Drake

Porter (G) - Syracuse

The first and only goalkeeper selected in this mock draft. Despite already having three goalies, I expect Soudan to add another one after rumors that he was targeting Dillon Ward in the Entry Draft in March. 

21. Whipsnakes: Tanner Cook (M) -

North Carolina

Cook was having a career year in 2020, scoring 20 goals and 27 points in seven games. That’s more goals and points than he had in double the number of games in each of the past two seasons. 

22. Waterdogs: Jeff Trainor (M) - UMass

Copelan kicks off the final round of the draft with UMass midfielder Jeff Trainor, who might be the next closest thing to what the new Waterdogs coach wants in a midfielder. Trainor has 129 points off 76 goals and 53 assists in his career, along with 65 ground balls and 21 caused turnovers. 

23. Chrome (via Archers): Dan O’Connell (FO) - Holy Cross

At this point, Soudan only has one faceoff man in Connor Farrell, who ranked second in the league last season in faceoff percentage. Holy Cross’s Dan O’Connell was a Gamecock back in the day (shoutout Gamecock Lacrosse) and has recorded a faceoff percentage above 66% in 2019 and the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season.

24. Atlas: Nick Cardile (D) - Penn State

When I said I have Rubeor going all out here on defense, I was not kidding. Cardile had 40 ground balls and 22 caused turnovers for the Nittany Lions last season, and he has 77 ground balls and 43 caused turnovers in his Penn State career.

25. Redwoods (via Chrome): Jake Carraway (A) - Georgetown

This will be Nat St. Laurent’s first selection since the sixth overall selection. However, Carraway announced Thursday (April 2) that he will be returning to Georgetown for the spring of 2021.

26. Chaos: Conor Gaffney (FO) - Lehigh

Towers has addressed every area of his team this offseason besides the faceoff X, and I like the idea of him adding a third here in the College Draft. Gaffney has won 64% of his faceoffs in his Lehigh career, finishing just under 70% last season.

27. Whipsnakes (via Redwoods): Matt

Gaudet (A) - Yale

Jim Stagnitta finishes his offseason by adding his fifth offensive player in Yale’s Matt Gaudet. Gaudet scored 18 goals in four games in 2020 and is ranked third in program history with 142 goals and tenth with 158 points. A goal scorer that could finish a ton of Matt Rambo feeds in 2020.

28. Redwoods (via Whipsnakes): Ryan

McNulty (LSM) - Loyola

The final pick of the College Draft goes to Nat St. Laurent and the Redwoods. With uncertainty around Matt Landis and his military responsibility, I have St. Laurent adding more depth at defense with Loyola’s Ryan McNulty. McNulty had 141 ground balls and 51 caused turnovers over his first three seasons at Loyola and he had 23 ground balls in just six games in 2020.

In the next few weeks, I expect this mock draft to continue to change as more and more players announce their plans for the summer of 2020 and the spring of 2021. On April 9, College Draft Mock Draft 2.0 will drop on Behind the Back, which can be found on Apple Podcast, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and Audioboom. For all the latest updates on senior decisions, make sure to follow Top Shelf Lax on Instagram and Twitter, @TopShelfLax_.