Noone ever said guys playing basketball among D1 and NBA players at Rucker Park had high basketball IQ. What we are calling lacrosse IQ is basically game and situation experience. You get it by playing a lot, and kids in areas outside of LI and MD are playing lacrosse a lot now. In warmer climates, they are playing year round outdoors more than LI and MD kids possibly could. Kids get stick skills through a lot of practice, and kids who play a lot get them.
In Baltimore when someone says high lacrosse IQ I now think it is a crutch to find a positive when talking about a 5'7 140lb 16 year old prep school freshman whose dad played back in the day at some college. When parents of 2017s were playing this sport was so small in population that anyone who wanted to play college lacrosse could. If there is a kid who was born with a lacrosse IQ because dad played, I have not seen him yet.
