Hello: Josh Stauffer

Inside Lacrosse reports that FL/NJ A Josh Stauffer has committed to Michigan’s class of 2012.

Tier 1 Wardrobe. Photo via thebenjaminschool.org

Relevant Articles

Inside Lacrosse’s commitment post brings the information:

Josh Stauffer, 2012, Attack, Lawrenceville (N.J.) has committed to Michigan. Stauffer is a transfer from the Benjamin School in Palm Beach Gardens (Fla.) where he lead his team to back-to-back state championships with 132 points (2011) and 124 points (2010). He played for Tri-State at Rutgers MVP, Tri-State, Brine Shootout II, and UNC Team Camp II, which Tri-State won, and he played in the all-star game. For the prior four seasons he played for the Palm Beach Storm.

He’s not a high school transfer to Lawrenceville, so much as he’s attending a post-grad year. ESPN Rise’s commitment article has some good information as well:

“On the lacrosse side, Michigan has so much pride and tradition in its athletics and that’s always something I’ve wanted to be a part of. It is a new program, but already has so much support and it’s going to be exciting to be a part of it as it takes off.”

The Benjamin School’s 2010 State Championship got Josh some love on the floor of the US House of Representatives:

[U.S. Rep Tom Rooney of Florida]: “The championship game was a hard fought see-saw scoring battle with the score tied eleven all at the end of the fourth quarter. Benjamin’s Josh Stauffer scored the game-winning goal just 42 seconds into overtime. I am proud to congratulate the Bucs and Coach Cheatham on their first of many State championships. Go Bucs.”

If you’re super-interested in the speech, C-Span has video of it. His older teammate Taylor Smith complimented his work ethic following that championship, as well. Of course, they repeated the deed this spring, as well.

Stauffer looks to feed (photo via ESPN Rise).

In an article from the Palm Beach Post about his post-grad commitment, a commenter weighs in with a not-so-great assessment of his game:

Why is Stauffer going to boarding school? No matter how hard he tries he’s still going to be a slow, undersized attackman with a reasonably high field awareness.

The criticisms can probably be chalked up to “haters gonna hate” syndrome, but the high field awareness is a strong point. One of his several thousand Youtube videos lists his size at 5-11 175, which, while not huge, is more than adequate. More commenters on local articles:

Stauffer is the best player to come out of this area in many years. He’s got the field vision and playmaking ability that sets him apart from the other wannabes around here.

He was an All-American for the South Florida region as a senior, and was Second-Team All-Area as a junior.

He was named the Area Player of the Year in lacrosse, and mentioned that an injury may have held back college interest a bit:

Attending Lawrenceville is something Stauffer likely would have avoided if not for a concussion he suffered the summer before his junior season. The injury prevented him from attending important recruiting camps.

“It set me back because I wasn’t able to get on the radar for Division I coaches, and that’s when they either start the process or end the recruiting process,” Stauffer said. “Most kids are fully recruited by their junior years.”

Luckily for him, a new program came along, and John Paul’s probably equally lucky that a player of Stauffer’s caliber slipped through the cracks a bit. He was fourth in the nation in assists this year (future teammate Will Meter was sixth), along with being fifth in total points. He filled the stat sheet plenty of times this year, including an eleven-point game.

In his highlight video(s), he certainly doesn’t look slow (he easily outruns a short stick D-middie – typically some of the faster guys on the field – for a GB in the embedded video), and he’s a quick, dodging attackman. He’s mostly right-handed, but shows the ability to carry, pass, and shoot lefty, so it’s certainly no weakness. He’s no wizard with the stick in his hands, and his shot isn’t huge (though he can fire away from any release angle), but his quickness and feel/vision for the game are major strengths. For a little(ish) guy, he also shows a ton of toughness on the ride.

Other Interest

The IL article mentions a pair of Ivy League schools:

He also considered Dartmouth and Brown.

and ESPN Rise goes into a bit more depth:

“I also considered Dartmouth and Brown, and Tufts and UNC before I decided to PG (I got into UNC without lacrosse and could have walked on).”

He’s a very strong student (3.9 GPA, 2200 SAT), so it’s no surprise to see a number of great schools on his list.

Teammates of Note

The Benjamin School isn’t a huge talent factory, with only two recruits listed in LaxPower during Josh’s high school career (in which he was a four-year varsity player). 2009 graduate Tyler Selman, a goalie, went on to play for Florida State’s MCLA squad – though he wasn’t on the roster for this spring. 2010 attack Taylor Smith signed with D-3 RPI. Josh also has a younger brother, Jeremy, who was a varsity player as a freshman this spring.

Stauffer’s school this year, Lawrenceville (NJ), is much more of a talent factory. Josh is the eighth member of the class of 2012 to commit, with Ivy League destinations for six of the committed prospects (the seventh is headed to Lafayette). Fellow attack Steffan Gratch is headed to Princeton, so Josh will have a chance to prove himself on the same unit as a pretty strong player. The 2011 class sent four players to D-1 schools and one to a D-3 team, the 2010 class sent one player to D-1 and two to D-3, and the 2009 class had double-digit players go on to the next level.

Video

Highlight video the first:

Junior highlight video of the same format. Club team highlights (showing off more impressive stick skills). His coach talks up his skills, particularly highlighting his riding tenacity (then some highlight footage).

The Upshot

Though Michigan has plenty of attackmen in the 2011 and 2012 classes, Josh brings a different skillset than some of them. He’s a guy who does lots of dodging from the wing, either to pass or shoot, whereas Michigan’s previous commits are mostly “quarterback from X” or “crease finisher” body types. That skillset is something that Michigan’s coaches are going to want to get on the field, so playing time might be available early in his career. Add in his strong effort in the riding game (and the Michigan coaches’ emphasis on that aspect of the game), and a very good understanding of the mental side of lacrosse, and he should be able to see the field.

However, he’s also a serious student, who could have attended some pretty good academic schools straight out of high school – without the benefit of lacrosse helping him through admissions. That could result in a slower introduction to the on-field portion of the lacrosse experience as he gets oriented academically.

Like with most recruits, there’s a lot to happen – such as the Wolverines playing a single game as a varsity squad – before we’ll have a better picture of team needs, and where young players may be able to contribute immediately.