It's been a football-centric few weeks, rightly so, and that is awesome to see after so many months of just nothing. Tomorrow marks national signing day for a ton of sports, as well as the early signing period for basketball. This means the Class of 2021 will be signing for the men's lacrosse team, and we will get to see who will be a part of the squad come next fall.
It's a bit of a smaller class, and doesn't have the depth of 2022, but there are certainly some players to like. Also, 2021 is weird because it is the first class that will mostly have been recruited with the impact of the COVID19 eligibility year added to it. Yes, the 2020s had it happen, but that class was signed before we knew what COVID was. In 2021, all the guys are going into things behind the curve.
Every team is crunching numbers, looking at transfers, and doing its best to get ahead in post-COVID world. It will be nuts moving forward, and I bet a lot of the 2021 class will end up elsewhere before getting a diploma. That said, let's get into the future Buckeyes!
First, we will start with the Ohio players. Aidan Kenley, a midfielder out of Olentangy Liberty in Columbus, is probably the most impactful commit in this class. I say that for two reasons. One, he is an Ohio gem. That means something after the top Ohio talent has flitted to foreign shores year after year. Two, Kenley is a top 100 midfielder in the country. He has some tremendous ability, and will be counted on to do great things for the Buckeyes.
Kenley's game is very reminiscent of freshman Connor Cmiel's. Kenley is an incredible athlete. He played running back for the Olentangy Liberty squad that made a decent playoff run this year. On the lacrosse field, Kenley's got quick feet and a North-South dodging style that is really nice. It will be interesting to see if it translates to the DI, though I believe the new offense will play to his strengths quite a lot. Kenley certainly isn't afraid of contact, and will put an opponent on skates if he can. Kenley's shot is good, but overly American. And by that I mean he looks to blast the ball, regardless of situation. Little of his shooting is based on guile, it's a lot more grip-it-n-rip-it. That's fine in high school in Ohio. But Josh Kirson at Hopkins faced Tre Leclaire every day for 3 seasons. You won't blow it past a player like that.
Our next Ohio guy is Matt Mercer, a defender out of Centreville. More of an LSM than a close defender based on the limited film I could scrounge, Mercer is a decent prospect as a pole. Most of what he shows is good balls skills and some good speed, especially in transition.
I think he has a D1-ready stick for a pole, moving the ball well and vacuuming up groundballs. On-ball defense is decent, but there were limited glimpses of that. Off-ball is a mystery (not unusual for highlight film), but Mercer will need to be top-notch there to crack the lineup, considering the poles coming in.
That covers all of this year's Ohio signees for Ohio State. While I have harped on the staff neglecting Ohio in past years, the 2021 class is pretty weak. Only Kenley had any stars in the 2021 class, and the staff had him locked in before the recruiting rules changed. Three offensive coordinators later, Kenley's still onboard. That's amazing.
Moving to the out of state signees, the goalie for 2021 is Henry Blake, a goalie from Brewster Academy in New Hampshire. Blake is really, really smooth in net. Indescribably smooth. Off a dodge, Blake locks in and is motionless until the shot is in the air. He gives up very, very few rebounds off the save, which is excellent.
Blake is solid distributing the ball. He doesn't take crazy chances, and is pretty precise with his passing. My only question would be how Blake adjusts to a college attack that primarily focuses on off-ball movement to score. Still, Henry Blake is a great addition and will hopefully provide some real competition for the goalie spot.
Next is Dante Bowen, a midfielder from Ontario, Canada. Bowen, honestly, is a throwback to the midfielders of the late 80s and early 90s. The rules committee has been pushing to get back to that time to emphasize flow, so Bowen comes in as a player who will help Ohio State be ready for that when it comes. Bowen comes from a box lacrosse background, plays field lacrosse for Edge, the big club in Canada, and is also a football player. Football and box show a lot in his game.
Bowen isn't the fastest or quickest on the field, but he is a physical presence on both sides of the ball. He dodges well, using the redodge to set up shots, and can finish with even the smallest amount of space. Defensively, Bowen will bully opponents physically, pushing them off line, messing up their shots, and generally asserting his will. Bowen's not at the Dyson Williams level, but he will be a very good player in the midfield for Ohio State.
Matt Fritz, a Faceoff Man from Wissahickon HS in Pennsylvania, is the next signee. He comes in with his trade completely upended, but a year of high school lacrosse to go for honing his abilities under the new guidelines. With the banning of motorcycle-style faceoffs, Fritz will have to forge a whole new style. Hopefully he manages it well.
The summer highlights on him show Fritz doing pretty well to get offensive and defensive exits down against other players making the same adjustment, but we will have to see how that translates. Fritz is on the smaller side, but is very quick and can shoot the ball a little too. Not much else to say, as faceoffs are in a whole new world.
Moving on, James Gurr, a midfielder out of Walton HS in Georgia, is another player for Ohio State fans to make note of, because he is a really, really good midfielder. Part of a class that goes at least 3, potentially more middies deep, Gurr is the other top 100 midfielder who will make his way to Columbus for 2021. Gurr is an absolute hammer with the ball.
He has a decent dodge, but really Gurr excels when shooting with his feet set. His shot reminds me of Bryan Costabile from Notre Dame. It's a little early to place that sort of expectation on Gurr, but his ceiling is right near there. Gurr doesn't possess the flamethrower of Tre Leclaire, but he scores a lot from 10 yards and out. Gurr is pure midfielder, too, which means he will cut a lot more than Leclaire does. All in all, this is a fantastic pickup in an area of need for the Buckeyes.
Heading further south, Garrett Haas, an attackman from Lovejoy HS in Texas, is a really intriguing player. Small and incredibly quick, Haas is an unorthodox scorer who, teaming up with Dillon Magee in 2022, has shot Lovejoy to relevance in Texas high school lacrosse.
He has all the moves, and takes very little time to get a shot off. Haas also has uncanny vision, feeding teammates while under extreme duress with ease. He dodges extremely well, using feints and change of direction to get separation from his defender. Haas will likely start out at middie, to get him on the field, but I would imagine he is a candidate to replace Jack Myers at X once Myers moves on.
Moving back to defense, Alex Marinier, a defender from Ontario, is another Edge lacrosse alum who will matriculate to Ohio State. Marinier, obviously, is a Canadian, and he plays like it on defense. He throws relatively few checks, but they are devastating when they land.
Marinier is not a defender who will overwhelm his assignment physically, but he is so fluid and good with the stick that he is just as effective. He could probably play D3 or D2 ball offensively with his stick skills, though he might not have quite the dodging to pull it off this late in his career. Marinier, like the final defender in this class, is tremendous moving laterally, and will be a hard man to dodge against in the B1G.
Overlooked by everyone (except me), is Mr. Edward Shean, an attackman from Los Alamitos in California. Shean is a prospect you would have seen at Denver or Notre Dame a few years ago. He is from the West Coast, he has really good skills, and no one east of State College, PA had heard of him. Shean is one of those athletes that is just good at whatever sport he plays. He won't be called a physical specimen, but Shean is definitely a player to watch. He is the string-puller for a middling Los Alamitos program, understandable given how new the game is to California.
Shean is capable of scoring at will, but he mainly sets up teammates, dishing out 8 assists in a game during an abbreviated 2020 campaign. Shean's so under the radar that he isn't even listed in the Inside Lacrosse database. Only an announcement from the official Ohio State channels lets you know he's Columbus-bound. And the Buckeyes are richer for it.
Last, but certainly not least, we come to Bobby Van Buren. Van Buren is the most interesting prospect in the 2021 class, nationwide, and it's not close. Van Buren doesn't play high school lacrosse. Never has. He is homeschooled. Van Buren also comes out of North Carolina, an emerging but still very new lacrosse area. Van Buren is also the #12 player in the 2021 class, a 5-star defender, and a lefty. Bobby breaks every mold, and it's fantastic.
Van Buren is an incredible athlete. He will bury any dodger, moving laterally or running shoulder to shoulder. He doesn't get rattled, really, and he is perfectly capable of throwing a takeaway check or body-checking a dodger off his feet. Van Buren has to be a favorite to start at close defense when he comes to town next fall, and will be a tremendous asset for Ohio State.
That wraps up the 2021 class! Ohio State is supposedly announcing 11 signees tomorrow, but I believe one will be John Maccarone, who is actually a 2022 commit. He will do a post-graduate year, making him eligible to sign this year.
