College Draft Mock Draft 2.0

Michael Kraus has entered his name as the second to publicly come out and say that he would not be returning to college lacrosse for the spring of 2021, leaving the University of Virginia tied for fourth in points (240), seventh in goals (131), sixth in assists (109), and as just the fourth player in UVA history to record 100 goals and 100 assists in a career. 

He also helped the Cavaliers win the ACC and NCAA tournaments last season as a junior, and as one of the top players ahead of the 2020 PLL College Draft, the league’s head coaches should expect Kraus to be just as dominant on the professional stage.

Now, as of Friday, April 10, we have two names in the PLL College Draft player pool, granted that Kraus makes himself eligible. Over the past couple of days, we have started to hear more as to which players plan to stay at school and which players plan to take the next step and join the pros, and we should be hearing more as we go into the weekend and into next week. 

There aren’t many changes to mock draft two compared to my first go at it. The first round got a little shake-up with Mac O’Keefe’s decision to return to Penn State, and a handful of midfielders climbed in the rankings after Tre Leclaire’s decision to return to Ohio State. I will continue to track player decisions as they come out, so make sure to follow Top Shelf Lax on Instagram and Twitter @TopShelfLax_, and as a reminder, College Draft Mock Draft 3.0 drops on Thursday, April 16, only on Behind the Back, which can be found on Apple Podcast, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and Anchor.

PLL 2020 College Draft Mock Draft 2.0:

1. Archers: Michael Sowers (A) - Princeton

Michael Sowers created a little bit of confusion last week. Following the NCAA’s decision to grant all spring athletes an extra year of eligibility, Sowers came out and said that he had withdrawn from Princeton so that he could return for the spring of 2021; he revoked that statement later in the week. The Ivy League followed by confirming a statute that they would not allow graduates to participate in athletics, a ruling that has thrown the lacrosse social media world into a storm, and they announced that the conference headquarters would be deciding which players would get granted another year of eligibility if they withdrew in order to return in 2021.

Besides Sowers, we haven’t heard of any other Ivy League players reported having done that, and at this point, it might be too late. We were basing this move off of Rob Pannell, who in 2012 got injured in Cornell’s second game of the season. Pannell immediately withdrew from Cornell in order to apply for an eligibility waiver to return for the spring of 2013, which the Ivy League granted him. 

That was at the beginning of March. It’s already almost mid-April, so it’s very unlikely that any players that try to pull a similar move as Pannell will be successful. 

Following the Ivy League ruling, Sowers officially entered the transfer portal, so we will continue to follow all news out of that as we await a decision from Sowers on whether he will use the extra year of eligibility at another school or if he will skip the transfer altogether and make the jump up to the pros. 

If he makes the jump up to the pros, he would be the favorite to be landed as the draft's first overall selection. Archers head coach Chris Bates recruited Sowers throughout his high school career while Bates was the head coach at Princeton. However, Bates never got the opportunity to coach him following an on-field incident in 2016, which led to his dismissal from the program.

Here is his opportunity, and when he’s more than just a player that you didn’t get to coach, being that he is one of the best players in this draft, it looks like an even easier decision. My bold take: If Michael Sowers does not transfer and is a definite for the draft, he will be the first overall selection. The only way that changes is if he’s still undecided, as Bates probably won’t want to select another guy in back-to-back years that won’t suit up on opening weekend. 

2. Atlas: Grant Ament (A) - Penn State

In my first mock draft, I had Ben Rubeor selecting Ament’s former Penn State teammate Mac O’Keefe. I felt that this Atlas offense would benefit more from having another shooter than from having another dodger but with O’Keefe returning to Happy Valley, it becomes best available player, and who said Ament couldn’t shoot?

If Sowers doesn’t enter the draft or is undecided, then Ament will be the first overall selection. Until then, he remains as the second name off the board.

3. Waterdogs: TD Ierlan (FO) - Yale

One of the best faceoff specialists in all the land said publicly that he would not play for any other program besides Yale. Following the Ivy League’s ruling to continue to not allow graduate students to participate in athletics, it seems like Ierlan is destined to join pro lacrosse. We could hear a decision from him very shortly.

4. Chrome: Michael Kraus (A) - Virginia

Tim Soudan passed on Rob Pannell in last month’s Entry Draft to select defenseman Jesse Bernhardt. He cannot pass on an attackman this time around.

Chrome had the best six-on-six offense in the league last season, and adding Kraus to an attack line with Jordan Wolf and Justin Guterding could make that unit even better in 2020.

5. Chaos: Jeff Teat (A) - Cornell

Similar to Sowers and Ierlan, Teat would need to transfer if he chooses to use the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA. We will await his final decision, but in this mock draft, I have him jumping three spots to Coach Towers and the Chaos.

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) - 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: Ethan Walker (A) - Denver

One of my favorite players in this draft. He jumps from the back of the second round to the top of it. He’s been a starter at Denver since he stepped on campus as a freshman and has totaled 219 points in his Pioneer career.

9. Archers: Jamie Trimboli (M) - Syracuse

I had Bates selecting Ohio State’s Tre Leclaire in my first mock draft. In this edition, I have him selecting Trimboli, who becomes the first midfielder off the board. He jumps up ten spots from mock draft 1.0.

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. I have him selecting Virginia LSM Jared Conners.

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: Bryan Costabile (M) - Notre Dame

Costabile set a program record for goals in a season by a midfielder (42) in 2019 and also led the Irish in points on his way to being named the ACC Offensive Player of the Year. He is a midfielder that Stagnitta can plug right into his offense alongside Mike Chanenchuk.

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): Tanner Cook (M) - North Carolina

Chrome moves up one spot after trading Romar Dennis to the Atlas, and Coach Soudan replaces his loss with North Carolina midfielder Tanner Cook. Cook was having a career year in 2020: 20 goals and 27 points in just seven games, which is more goals and points than he had in any other season in his college career in half the number of games.

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: Matt Gaudet (A) - Yale

Gaudet jumps eight spots from my first mock draft and he could make a considerable jump if any of the other six attackmen ahead of him choose to use the extra year of eligibility at their respective programs or transfer (the last attackman selected was Ethan Walker to the Waterdogs at eighth overall).

Gaudet had 18 goals in four games in 2020, 12 of them coming in Yale’s final two games before the season was canceled due to COVID-19. He is third in Yale program history in career goals (142) and tenth in career points (158). 

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: Dylan Beckwith (A) - Fairfield

Beckwith put together a 28 goal and 37 assist season as a junior last year in 14 games, setting a single-season record in assists. He had 65 points, which was the most by a Fairfield player since 1999 and the fourth most in a season in program history.

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 he 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 in the COVID-19-shortened 2020 season.

24. Atlas: Mark Evanchick (D) - Penn

Evanchick was a First Team All-Ivy selection as a sophomore and junior and has played in every game for the Quaker defense over the past three seasons. Rubeor selects his third defenseman of the draft and fourth of the offseason.

25. Redwoods (via Chrome): Adam Goldner (A) - Penn

Back-to-back Quakers here in the fourth round. Nat St. Laurent uses his first of two selections at the back end of this draft on an attackman after passing on one back in the first round. Last season, Goldner scored a program-record 56 goals and 63 points, which is the third-best in a single-season at Penn. He also ranks fifth in the Penn record books for career goals with 106.

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): Jackson Morrill (A) - Yale

Morrill was a First Team All-Ivy selection last season with Princeton’s Michael Sowers and Cornell’s Jeff Teat, ranking seventh in the nation in points per game and tenth in assists. He ranks second at Yale in career points with 220 and fifth in goals with 113, and if he does not transfer and his college career ends, he will leave with the second-longest active points streak in Division I lacrosse with a point in 55 straight games.

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.

As we go into this weekend and into next week, I expect to hear more as to which college lacrosse players plan to return to their respective programs, who plans to transfer, and who plans to join the pros for the summer of 2020. On April 16, College Draft Mock Draft 3.0 will drop on Behind the Back, which can be found on Apple Podcast, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and Anchor. For all the latest updates on senior decisions, make sure to follow Top Shelf Lax on Instagram and Twitter, @TopShelfLax_.