Learn more about the top High School lacrosse players in the Carolinas through the

Team 91 Lacrosse Player Spotlight Series.

How did the school you chose separate itself from the others you considered?

What separated Duke for me outside of being a great program and education was the connection I had with the coaching staff. I also found myself wanting to be closer to home during my recruiting process and Duke presented that guarantee to me.

How would you describe your recruiting process overall?

It was definitely a blur because of how busy it can be in such a short period of time. I enjoyed it though because this is what we've been working towards for a lot of Fall, Spring and Summer seasons! 

What was your favorite part of the recruiting process? 

Once the conversations began it was incredible to realize I was being recruited by these various programs I was growing up watching on TV. Having those conversations will be something I look back on for a long time.

What opportunities and information assisted you during your recruiting process?

The internal conversations with my various 91 coaches was a big help. Getting to understand where I stood on a team's recruiting board potentially or just receiving advice in general helped me during my recruiting process.

Did you feel like you had support from the Team 91 staff during your process? If so, how?

Absolutely. I felt that I a lot of support from the Team 91 staff when it came to them discussing my process with programs and offering feedback / information from programs during the entire process.

What individual or showcase events, if any, did you find the most beneficial during your process?

For me personally attending Main Stage, NLF 120 and Crabfeast were highlights in my process.

What would you tell younger players or parents to help them prepare for the recruiting process?

Don't stress, it is a process.

Just because the first day maybe isn't crazy busy you will still get lots of interest! The work you do before September 1st and continue to do after it is what creates opportunities and helps you find your next lacrosse home.

Our Team 91 South teams bring together some of the best players from around the Southeast and can be loaded with talent. It’s a really cool thing to be a part of and for a lot of our players, it is the most talented team they have ever played on to date. One of the “downsides” of being in that environment though can mean that a player is asked to play in a different role than they may be used to. You may be asked to do everything for your high school team or club team, but you may not need to do everything for a Team 91 South team because you are surrounded by players that are all capable as well.

It can allow a player to focus more on one part of offense, defense, taking wings, etc. That can also mean you do that one thing even better since you aren’t being asked to do everything. You may normally be the guy who is scoring all the goals with one team but when you’re surrounded with more talent, sometimes the best thing to do is to pass the ball more. You may be asked to play more offense or more defense instead of playing both ends of the field all the time. There are a number of examples on how a player’s role can change with each team he plays on, and Jackson is one of those guys that is usually asked to do a little bit of everything!

I look back to when we were playing at one of the top events of the summer against a really good team. It was a back and forth game where we were struggling to cover their midfielders and we just couldn’t clear the ball. With how athletic Jackson is, we thought he could really help us against their bigger midfielders, and he could REALLY help is clearing the ball. In the middle of the game, we asked him to cut down his offensive runs and take as many runs as a defensive midfielder as he could handle. We needed his help more on that end of the field than on offense.

I should also mention that this was during the summer of Jackson’s recruiting process. A kid that is usually one of the best offensive players on any team he is on was being asked to play in a defensive midfield role in front of 30+ college coaches. There is no doubt he wanted to show everyone how capable he was on offense, but he never said a word. When we asked him to take as many defensive runs as he could his only response was along the lines of “yes sir” and he took the next faceoff wing.

We went on to win the game by a few goals and Jackson’s play was a huge reason why. He may not have scored many goals that game, but he was able to show off his skill and athleticism on defense and in the clearing game which became incredibly important during his recruiting process.

When August rolled around and we started talking to more college coaches about Jackson, we were able to tell this story over and over again. One of the first questions we got from every coach we spoke to, and there were a lot of coaches we spoke to, was if Jackson was willing and able to play defense because that could be where he started his college career, like most freshman midfielders. Every time I was asked the question, I would give the story about how in one of our biggest games of the summer, we asked him to play defense and he didn’t hesitate for a second. He stepped up and made a ton of plays showing that not only did he have the attitude to play at a high level in college, but he also had the attitude for it and was going to do anything to help the team.

It has been a ton of fun getting to coach Jackson in our Team 91 South program and I cannot wait to watch him at Duke!