Originally Posted by America's Game
Originally Posted by Anonymous
Pannell is a freak of a lacrosse player, just a rare and special talent and happens to be an exceptional athlete. (oh and Rudy had absolutely no physical gifts or special athletic ability, just the heart of a lion)


I wasn't knocking Pannell. I said he is one of the faces of lacrosse and one of the best to play the game. Rudy is my all-time favorite movie. Like you said the character in the movie exemplified heart. Rob is considered one of the best to play but his path to get there wasn't a typical one. Think about it here wasn't wooed and picked up by a Duke or even Cornell right out of school. He did what worked for him. Now if you lined up Perkovic ND, Jones Duke, Rabil and Pannell. Odds are Pannell would be the last guy picked. Yet he tore it up on the lacrosse field. In his own words" I was never the fastest, strongest, biggest, or most dominating figure" "I matured physically from junior to senior year from 5'6 to 5'9 165 to 185" (lacrosse magazine 2012)


To take your point further, I have heard many D1 coaches state they hold spots for the late bloomers and kids they may have missed. They may be stockpiling kids early but they arent discounting the late bloomers or kids that went under the radar. The 2017 class has had several kids switch their commitments from mid and lower D1 programs to Top 10 programs and I may be wrong here but I think thats the way it has always been. Although I think early recruiting is an issue, I just think its the fact that their are so many talented kids playing now and the mid and lower level schools are scooping them up and becoming competitive.