Who are Syracuse men’s lacrosse’s 5 ranked 2028 commits?
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Every lacrosse player in their junior year of high school has Sept. 9 circled on their calendar — the first date collegiate lacrosse coaches can reach out to them.
Unlike basketball, where recruiting usually ramps up in senior year, most lacrosse prospects are locked in as juniors. There are a few notable exceptions. Riley Figueiras, Syracuse’s best cover defender, committed to Rutgers before SU head coach Gary Gait convinced him to flip. And Wyatt Hottle, a starting midfielder for the Orange, was a Richmond commit before joining Syracuse.
However, outside of those rare circumstances, any high-level recruiting class is built during prospects’ junior years. That’s why, after the graduation of Syracuse’s vaunted No. 1-ranked 2022 class, Gait is already looking to the future. His 2027 class checks in at 10th in the nation and fourth in the Atlantic Coast Conference. He’s looking further, too, drawing the ninth-ranked 2028 class thus far.
Here are some top juniors from that group that Syracuse men’s lacrosse has locked in:
Ranked prospects
Hudson O’Hanlon, attack, Westminster School
Inside Lacrosse’s No. 45 prospect
Ironically, Hudson O’Hanlon — SU’s best 2028 recruit — has a connection with SU’s best 2027 recruit, five-star goalie Moe Sobel. Like Sobel, O’Hanlon plays club lacrosse at Prime Time in Cross River, New York. Their similarities mostly end there. O’Hanlon’s a four-star attack whose job is to put the ball in the back of the net, while Sobel’s a five-star goalie who keeps the ball out.
But much like Sobel, O’Hanlon’s rather good at his job. In his sophomore year at Daniel Hand High School (Connecticut), the 5-foot-11 attack scored 59 goals and notched 50 assists before departing to Westminster School (Connecticut) and reclassifying to the 2028 class. He committed on Sept. 14.
In Inside Lacrosse’s most recent evaluation of him at the NLF National Championships, where he was rated an 87 of 100, O’Hanlon was said to have “excellent touch as a finisher around the crease, while also proving capable of scoring from the perimeter when given space.”
Nash Parker, midfield, St. John’s College
Inside Lacrosse’s No. 59 prospect
There’s an established pipeline from St. John’s College (Washington, D.C.) to Syracuse. One of the most obvious examples is Figueiras, the All-American defender who’s donned SU’s famed No. 11 jersey the past four seasons. He came to Syracuse with Luke Rhoa, the All-American midfielder who developed a devastating shot at St. John’s. The newest addition is Jayden James, a four-star class of 2026 defender.
Nash Parker is following in those footsteps. The St. John’s midfielder committed to Syracuse on Sept. 12, becoming the Orange’s first ranked class of 2028 commit. The 6-foot-1, 175-pound junior has played for two clubs: FCA MD Blue and Red Hots Nationals.
If his latest Inside Lacrosse evaluation from the NILLY Tournament is any indication, he might share similarities with Rhoa beyond their position and high school.
“The 6-foot-1 middie has a shot that looks like it was drawn up in a lab,” it reads.
JT Macaluso, longstick midfield, Salisbury School
Inside Lacrosse’s No. 87 prospect
Syracuse men’s lacrosse has enjoyed strong longstick midfield play recently, largely thanks to Chuck Kuczynski. With JT Macaluso, a longstick midfielder from Salisbury School (Connecticut), Gait is attempting to continue that good fortune.
Macaluso started at Canisius High School in Buffalo but moved to Salisbury after reclassifying down to the class of 2028. He committed to SU on Sept. 17, becoming its seventh 2028 recruit.
In his latest Inside Lacrosse evaluation from the Alliance Summer Championships, Macaluso was rated an 87 like O’Hanlon. The publication praised Macaluso’s stickwork, writing that “he approaches ball-carriers with the confidence that all it takes is one good well-timed check to put the ball on the ground.”
Owen Morret, midfield, Avon Old Farms
Inside Lacrosse’s No. 92 prospect
Three of Syracuse’s four best 2028 recruits now attend boarding schools in Connecticut. Following O’Hanlon and Macaluso, four-star midfielder Owen Morret rounds out the crew from Avon Old Farms School. He committed to Syracuse on Sept. 17, like Macaluso.
Before jumping to Avon Old Farms, the 6-foot Morret notched 130 points as a freshman at Trinity High School (Pennsylvania). Morret’s latest Inside Lacrosse evaluation from The Preview Series graded him an 88 of 100 — higher than O’Hanlon’s 87 — but he hasn’t been graded since Oct. 28, 2025. In that report, though, IL rated his speed, agility, IQ and shooting — among other traits — 4.5 out of five stars.
“The two terms that come to mind when watching Morret are ‘sturdy’ and ‘crafty,’” the report reads. “When he finds himself in tight windows, he has the stickhandling to get out of them.”
Jaxon Crouse, midfield, Western Reserve Academy
Inside Lacrosse’s No. 98 prospect
Thus far, Jaxon Crouse is the final ranked prospect in Syracuse’s class of 2028. Crouse pledged to SU on Sept. 16, becoming the Orange’s fifth 2028 commit. Though the 6-foot, 180-pound midfielder is from Salamanca, New York, he attends Western Reserve Academy, a boarding school in Hudson, Ohio.
He plays club lacrosse with Macaluso for Sweetlax, which improved from 8-5-2 in 2025 to 17-1 in 2026. At the Alliance Summer Championships, Inside Lacrosse graded him an 87 of 100, saying “few players in the 2028 class can impact a game on both ends the way that Crouse does.”
Unranked prospects
Mason Proctor, faceoff, St. Joseph’s Prep
Inside Lacrosse four-star
Preston James III, longstick midfield, Vandegrift
Inside Lacrosse four-star
Luke Conly, attack, Cardinal Gibbons
Inside Lacrosse four-star
Austin Flaum, attack, Brighton
Inside Lacrosse three-star
Jake Colclasure, goalie, De La Salle
Inside Lacrosse three-star
