S1 E29. Ever True: USILA 1st Team AAs, Dylan Molloy & Larken Kemp, Part I.

Outside of USA Lacrosse CEO, Marc Riccio,  over our twenty eight episodes, we have interviewed coaches almost exclusively. But this time around we’re switching gears and interviewing two exceptional players from the collegiate and professional ranks: Dylan Molloy and Larken Kemp!

Molly, who plays in the PLL for the Atlas Lacrosse Club, was the 2016 Tewaaraton winner, leading Division 1 lacrosse in points and assists and was second in goals (with sixty- two) to his Brown teammate Kylor Bellistri who beat him by one goal with sixty three. 

Kemp, who played for the Redwoods LC of the PLL,  holds the record for most caused turnovers in a D1 men’s lacrosse game with eight, tied with three other players. He also holds the record for most points, goals, assists, and caused turnovers by a long pole in Brown Men’s Lacrosse history. 

Both players were three time All Americans at Brown and leaders of the 2016 Brown Men’s Lacrosse that went to the Final Four. The team played in an exciting and memorable semi-final matchup versus the University of Maryland.  The Bears came back, tying the score in thrilling fashion to force overtime before falling to the Terrapins in sudden death 14-13.

In this first installment of our interview series we hear of Molloy & Kemp’s early years, their triumphs and some tribulations, their exciting high school careers, and what their recruiting process was like. They also share some salient information for young players today. This is an interview you won’t want to miss!   

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Transcript

Jay: 0:00

it's time for get the La Scoop, a podcast bringing you all the people and stuff you should know. In the game of lacrosse, we take LAX seriously, but ourselves, not so much. Join hosts, big Dog and Jaybird, and the biggest names in the game. Brought to you by Jay McMahon lacrosse. That's J M L Skills, mindset, and LAX IQ training. Ron Doish, the big dog, was a collegiate football and lacrosse player at Brown. He was also an assistant lacrosse coach and the executive director of the sports found. and Jay McMahon, the Jaybird, a three time All-American Midfielder Brown. He was a captain of the US Junior National team and is the founder of J M L. And joining us in the studio, Steve gfi, who's collegiate lacrosse career statistics equals one goal against Dartmouth.

0:51

All right. Well, Jay, what an episode we got tonight with two incredible, lacrosse players. And, I know you're going to get us kicked off with the first intro. Absolutely. I mean, we're super excited. Now, our first guest is a Greenwich, Connecticut native, where he attended Phillips Academy, Andover High School, and was a three year starter on the varsity lacrosse team. As a junior, he set school records for goals, points, and ground balls in a season for a defenseman, and was the team's most valuable player. As a senior, he was an All American selection and was the Press Club Award winner, given annually to the most capable male athlete at their school. He earned three varsity letters in ice hockey and played one year of varsity football, where he set the school record for receiving yards in a game at 237. He was a two way starter. At wide receiver and defensive back and was an all New England selection while playing at Brown as a long stick midfielder under Lars Tiffany, he was known as being equally adept on the offensive and defensive ends of the field and excelled on the wing during face offs. He was a three time U. S. I. L. A. All American selection, earning first team all American honors in 2016 and second team all American honors in both 2015 and 2017. Shane. And I looked it up back then, there was only one LSM named to the All American team. So that's incredibly impressive. Good, good stuff. He was a CoSIDA Academic All America Selection, a Nike USILA Academic All American Selection, an Academic All Ivy Selection. Getting out of breath here. Named a four time All Ivy and All New England selection and is the NCAA record holder for assists by a long pole. He's ninth all time in cause turnovers and is tied with three other players for most cause turnovers in a game at eight. That's all records in the, in the NCAA. He spearheaded coach Tiffany and Kerwin's innovative approach to the game and was a leader on the 2016 team that went to the Final Four, losing the finalist Maryland in overtime. He is the all time leader and caused turnovers in a game, a season, and a career at Brown. He's second all time in ground balls to Andy Towers, and he's one spot ahead of me in ground balls at Brown. And the only reason Towers and I are on that list is because we faced off for four years, so it's pretty incredible. Big drop off after those three. Everyone should know. Ron, zip it! All that research was to get so that Jay could tell you that he's still in the top. It's not true, Ryan. I was as good as Larkin, is what Jay is trying to not. This is about our guests, Jay. It's not about you. Make it stop, Ryan. Anyway, upon graduation in 2017, he was drafted to play in the professional ranks by New England of the NLL. The Indoor League and the Denver Outlaws of the Outdoor MLL, where he played two seasons and then was traded to the Boston Cannons, where he played for one year. He transitioned over to the Redwoods Lacrosse Club of the Premier Lacrosse League, where he played for two seasons. Please give our first guest, Larkin Kemp, a very warm welcome. I'll say this. If mine is that long, we're going to be here for an hour for Dillon Molloy, so It's going to be fantastic. Hey, I learned a lot, Tim. I didn't know you were good at football in high school. Yes, there you go. See, that's what it's all about. Hey, don't say the name. We're trying to... Yeah, no, Larkin, wait up. Where's the the suspense. Gosh. Sorry, boys. Editing. Editing. So now, let me introduce our next guest. Our mystery guest. Introduced as Dylan Malloy, not understanding how this works. And look, I can say, having watched both these players over four years, that other than the fact that this next guest is from long Island. I can't say I can't say enough great things about him. So he did go to Saint Anthony's,, high school, Long Island powerhouse, out and talk at where he earned two varsity, two varsity letters in lacrosse. And this is a really interesting one to me because. I didn't see you as really a cross country type. Is it really true that you earned a letter in cross country and winter track? Cross country shot put. You can ask Lars about my 4. 2. I think I was pretty impressive for a guy weighing in at like what? 220 at that point. Maybe he has a sneaky speed. Yeah. And he does. That's amazing. Now, not surprisingly on his high school team, he served as captain of the lacrosse team in his senior year and was named the team MVP. When, Dylan and Larkin, were at Brown, it was simply, one of the greatest periods of Brown lacrosse. In the program's history, there were 45 and 16 during that time, that 2016 team that went to the final four was 14 and two during the regular season and was the number five seed in the NCAA tournament. This is a really cool stat that Jay found that I didn't know having watched that team that the 2016 team broke and still holds. The all time scoring record for all lacrosse teams and these records go back to 1926. 310 goals this team scored, averaging 16. 3 a game. I mean that is just ridiculous. That is video game stuff. Now this guest was obviously an attackman for Brown, he's ninth all time in NCA Division One history with 318 career points. He's eighth all time in goals scored, eighth all time for points in a season with 116 during that, 2016 campaign. And in that same year, he led the nation in assists. That's like the remarkable thing., but I think very few people, sorry, Dylan, I don't think they think assists when we think Dylan Ballard, but I think that just shows. What a complete game you had. Absolutely. Now, he was second in goals in 16 with 62 only to be bested by his fellow attackman, Kyler Balestrier, and I'm sure that still eats away at you, Dylan. Of course that's in the nation. I said nice to him at work, you know, that's all he talks about. Oh really? That's hilarious. And that's in the country, that's not at Brown. No, no. And Kyler had 63 and Dylan had 62. One goal difference. That's a decent attack, that's okay. Yeah, three guys who all had over 50 goals. If we, if we don't mention the third guy, he'll be upset with us. So we'll give some credit to Hemi Blake, cause I feel like he might be fine in this podcast one day. Right? Absolutely. And yeah, and he, he had over 50 goals himself, right? I think that was a record. Three attack men with over 50, all with over 50 goals. I think that was a record too. They were called blooded finishers. I mean. Really fun to watch. So now Dylan, of course, holds the all time record for goal points and goals scored in a career At Brown also in a season And of course in 16 He was simply the best player in the country winning the to Wharton U. s. I. l. a player of the year and also the attackman of the year you know, I don't think it's too far to say this guy had one of the best seasons in the history of the game. And when he entered the professional ranks, he was selected first overall in the 2017 MLL draft by the Florida launch. He was also drafted, in the NLL. by the Buffalo Bandits. He's also played with the Colorado Mammoth and the New York Riptide over four seasons in the N. L. L. In the field game. You know, in the M. L. L. He also played for the Long Island Lizards and in 2018 and 19 in both of those seasons, he was an M. L. L. All star in 2019. He was fourth in the league in total points. And was the MVP of the All Star game. So here, you know, we're talking about, uh, the best players in the world playing in an All Star game, and Dylan Malloy is the MVP. In 21, he started, playing with the Chrome of the PLL. And, after requesting a trade, was picked up by the Atlas, where he contributed a ton, to their offense. So, please welcome the force that is Dylan Malloy. Hey, welcome. Thank you for that intro. It was awesome, man. Yup. It's fun, really fun to have you guys on. Now wasn't that, I remember talking to Jack Kelly at that Final Four in 2016 after the game and said something about you, Dylan, and he's like, well, Force does this. Force, was that your nickname? Force? Not that I know of. I think they call them milk bags. He definitely nods with force. Right. Yeah, we'll come back to that milk bag thing later on. I think I need to understand that a little bit more, Dylan. Oh my gosh, nice. Um, but alright, hey guys, we just, you know, We'll call you the force. We'll call you the force. You know, obviously it's fun to think about, all those accolades. And I know Jay and I, it was incredibly... it was just such a fun spring watching you guys accomplish all that in 16 and throughout your careers. But, we also think And honestly guys, I'll cut off Ron again, that was about the only time I heard from Ron. Phone call after phone call after phone call that season. He usually doesn't call you back much. No. But he was just like, talking non stop about you guys. It was It was amazing. You resurrected Ron Doglish, I think. Other than my senior season in 1991, it was the most fun I've had in a spring. Ever. It was just amazing. It was awesome. We'll talk later about the impact. That I think the, parking lot Bearsden crew had on games. I think we're going to explore that a little later. But, uh, but Jay, how about if we actually get into the interview for God's sake? Okay, Ron, go please. Hear from our guests? Yes.

Ron Dawg: 10:32

So, look guys, one of the things we start, we We try to do is go back to the beginning and what were the seeds of, the game we love.

10:40

So Larkin, where did you first get your start, in the game? And do you remember kind of the first time you picked up a stick or who the people were that introduced you to the game and helped you develop a passion for it?

Larken: 10:54

Yeah, sure. And I would like to circle back to the parking lot crew because it was a huge impact that you guys had.

Jaybird: 10:59

Um, nice.

Larken: 11:00

But I think one of the best parts about growing up in a hotbed and I'll give Connecticut Southern Connecticut that not, I don't know if Dylan and Jay will agree, um, but the beauty and my parents, you know, I think you guys have probably all met them. They're kind of, yeah, You know, not your super athletic sporting type, but to their credit, they felt really strongly that youth sports in particular was a great way for their kids to meet people and, you know, learn to socialize in a non academic environment.

11:24

And, you know, they were really good about throwing us into everything. Basketball, baseball., I remember like, Saturday morning soccer. And I can be totally candid beyond hockey. Like, I think lacrosse happened in a fairly organic. Hey, Let's go grab some gear and like, drop you off at fifth grade house league and just see what happens. And I think for me, it probably started, you know, somewhere in like the 678 range with really no plan. Like, I think that the nature of, you know, you barely know how to, like, catch and throw and you're kind of just running around, like, carrying a suitcase, you know, not even really cradling. Um, and then you start to realize that, hey, these are the same guys that you play with in the winter and hockey. These are your best friends. And you kind of. Began to build that bond and chip away at it and realize, you know, you really love it. You love the game. You love the strategy. You love the pace. So, you know, in terms of like, when my first memories were, I, I really, you know, I don't really develop until you get into like, the and the Connie's and playing those big games against like new cannon and Wilton. But, you know, I'm sure it happened the same type of way that you get into like, might hockey. Right? So kind of in that early range and just start grinding away at the skills.

Dylan: 12:28

Nice. And Dylan, how about you? When were you first introduced to lacrosse and what are some of your? earliest memories of starting to play.

12:36

Yeah, I'm sure it dates back prior to this, but I know I was playing in like my first league. I think it was the Satrum North, maybe SIAG league when I was five, and I think it was a six year old league or so. I remember the, uh, cutout goalies. They were like the wooden cutouts. But my dad went to Satrum North and went to Hobart and played lacrosse. Um, you know, so he, he was a very good lacrosse player, and I think in the backyard. Him practicing with my brother who was six years older. Um, you know, just kind of motivated me to get back out there and play with them and kind of. Get abused by him and his friends. My dad always taught me and was there for me for it So, you know, I had a lot to learn from the two of them My brother later went to Tufts won a championship as well So I think I think it was kind of in our in our DNA and it was a big focus Probably why I was a one sport athlete and it was just lacrosse for me, right?

Jay: 13:29

You hear that wrong. It's in our blood from Long Island Might be different down there in Maryland.

Larken: 13:34

Pretty good at that one sport, by the way. I give him some credit.

Dylan: 13:38

I think Lars has said I was his only one sport recruit.

Jay: 13:41

Well, you did do cross country, right?

Dylan: 13:43

Well, that was for conditioning for lacrosse, really.

13:47

But, yeah.

Jaybird: 13:50

Now, Larkin, you did play multiple sports. That was a good segue. Dylan, thank you. You know, when you were in high school, playing hockey, playing football, and how do you think that helped you develop as a lacrosse player?

Larken: 14:02

I think it helped a ton. I think the biggest thing with multi sport is it's just a mentality and you kind of view the game and your position more as a Hey, like, instead of thinking it is, Oh, my goodness, I need to be the greatest face off, man, I'm, you know, hey, let's just go have fun with the boys, figure out something we're good at.

14:17

How can we contribute?, I think hockey in particular has that mentality of, like, rolling in 4 lines and everyone just chipping away and chipping away. But I think the reason people ask me about this a ton is, you know, when you, when I think about like a puck moving defenseman in the game of hockey, which is what I played kind of growing up, there's a ton of correlation between that and the notion of, Hey, we're going to put the ball on the deck or Kelly's going to make a huge save on the back end and we're just going to break out and naturally, um, Get into what is a 54 chaser or like 4v3 pass down the way and give it to Dale kind of get out of the way. So a lot of the what later became like me hanging out and playing a little bit of offense that really all dates back in my opinion to some of my kind of other sporting experiences. And you touched on football. I mean, really the only reason I didn't play all three years was because unfortunately the club circuit, you kind of have to play those fall tournaments now, if you want to get noticed, but that's some of my favorite memories of all of high school is that Andover Exeter game and, you know, under the lights, big moment,, and there's nothing like going to war in football. So no, it was great. That's right.

Jay: 15:18

And that was your senior year that he got a senior year. That's neat. So Larkin, it's not, it's nice to

Ron: 15:25

commiserate with a fellow football player. I mean, Dylan, Dylan wasn't tough enough to play football. Is that what, is that what this boils down to?

Dylan: 15:34

Ward Melville was so bad, everyone was getting injured and when two of these came around and I was like, F this, I'm just gonna, you know, fine tune my craft over here and play year round lacrosse.

Larken: 15:44

He would be a linebacker, like double A gap blitz, just throw his body into the hole.

Jay: 15:49

Wrecking fullback, imagine.

Dylan: 15:52

I played until 9th grade, I was middle linebacker, fullback, and then it was just, you know, it wasn't worth it.

Jay: 15:58

Right. I could see that.

Ron Dawg: 16:01

Larkin, it sounds like he's not at all defensive about that and he, you know, he's over that.

16:05

He doesn't get that question at all. Sounds like.

Larken: 16:07

Dylan is shockingly honest. This is something you guys will realize. He really, he, he's no politician, would not be a good politician.

Jaybird: 16:15

We like the truth here.

Ron Dawg: 16:16

So, uh, so Larkin, I want to follow up on, you know, you talked about the tradition of playing at Andover and, you know, the Andover Exeter, and I'm just wondering, um, what that experience was like playing it up at a place like Andover with that kind of a rich tradition and how that influenced your educational path, your athletic path.

16:40

Tell us a little bit about that experience there. Yeah, so this is going to be.

Jay: 16:44

I just would throw in there too. We kind of gave this question to you Larkin because everyone knows about Saint Anthony's and Long Island and everybody's always talking about us Long Island guys. We want to give you a chance to talk about.

16:54

Your high school experience because not that many people know about Connecticut

Ron Dawg: 16:58

Jay, this was my question. I did a hell of a job asking the question. Let the guy answer. It was an incredible question.

Larken: 17:06

Jay just wants to talk about Chaminade,

17:12

St. Anthony's, Under the Lights.

Jay: 17:13

We never lost a Chaminade or St. Anthony's, but it was different back then. Yeah,

Ron Dawg: 17:18

how about if we have a conversation about your experience? You're sorry. Yes. Yeah.

Larken: 17:23

And over is an incredible place. I mean, to give you guys an idea, it's been around as long as some of the oldest colleges in the country.

17:29

It's it's basically, you know, it has its own campus. You live in dorms. It's kind of a militaristic, like, preparatory approach to academics, which. Put simply just means it's really hard. Um, and I think the reality of, you know, such a decision when you're raising a family is, hey, do you want to keep your kids close for high school and kind of help them along the way and kind of, like, keep them on that metaphorical dog leash and make sure they're doing their homework and doing all those different things. Um, and you know, my dad was one of nine growing up in Omaha and they all ended up going to boarding schools. My dad actually went to folks, which is how we kind of got turned on to it. But his style of parenting is a lot of like, Hey, we're just gonna throw you into the deep end and see what you got. Um, but to kind of tie it full circle into how it relates to athletics, I think the biggest thing Endeavor does is it. It forces you to learn that kind of compartmentalization and like treating academics, you know, no different than we treat a huge game. It's like, Hey, I'm going to go dominate this midterm so that I can then focus on hockey, focus on football, lacrosse.

Jay: 18:25

How about if we transition to. J m l and let's do that. We'll get into a little bit of the mindset.

18:32

With Larkin Kemp just said about dominating that classroom assignment, just like you would look to go out and dominate on the playing field. Made me think of something that both Dr. Rob Gilbert and Brian can talk about all the time. And that is the phrase dominate the day. In fact brain Cain's daily podcast on apple podcast is called the daily dominator. And we link that in our description down below. It's a great approach to anything we're facing the approach that we are going to set the intention of dominating the day, the task, or the moment. Now sometimes that can mean taking aggressive action other times that can simply mean being present, aware and focused as we are waiting for the right opportunity or moment to act. And effective approach to playing lacrosse in practice and in game situations. Is to set the intention of dominating your given role. For example at J McMahon lacrosse also known as JML our online coaching tool. We have free and paid programs available on the Google play store and the apple app store. Linked down in our description. Now on that online teaching tool, we teach skills. Mindset and lax IQ. So with the mindset we teach our athletes. A simple four-step in game process as one of the things that are taught there. And that process is number one is execute or act. Number two is analyze the results. Number three, adjust accordingly, and then go back at it. So a simple example. Would be say the ball carrier, say you're the ball carrier as a Dodger. And you drive top side from the wing, but you get cut off by the defender, respond by stepping out in a way from pressure and moving the ball. You know, your analysis might be that the defender cut me off, but over committed a bit. And if I anticipate that pressure, next time I'll get my hands free. So you would do the same move next time and drive top side, maybe even a little harder. That forces, the defender to work a little harder and over commits even more. And this time you anticipate that pressure. So you're ready to respond by quickly changing direction. In this case, either crossing over. Uh, rolling down the alley for a good quality shot at a score. So having the mindset to act, analyze, adjust, and act again, keeps you proactive. And sets you up with dominant behavior in whatever situation you find yourself. Now we all realize that life is difficult. Anything can happen. And we're not able to control every factor in every situation we meet. But we need to develop the skill and ability to control ourselves and our attitude and approach in all situations. So we can keep our eye on the prize and stay focused on our goals. We've all heard the saying, it's not what happens to us in life. It's how we respond to what happens to us in life. With this simple, proactive approach in practice in games or in showcases. You can execute, analyze, adjust, and act again. And that will help us continue to adapt and improve so we can dominate the day. And that's our mindset. Minute, we will return to our interview. In progress

Larken: 21:49

Um, and the biggest impact I think that had on me is that when I arrived at Brown, you know, the reality is we all know of college athletics is everyone's super talented, like every single kid in every class.

22:01

Is there a primary ball carrier or like top defenseman, you know, coming out of these big time high schools all throughout the Eastern seaboard that, you know, everyone can play. Right. So, like, what really separates the top from the bottom? It's basically just who realizes that part of it is like, you got to fit into the team structure. You got to know the defense. You got to have your body in shape and be as good at the 4. 2 mile as Dylan Malloy. Um, and, and that to me is something I felt like I did pretty good. I don't know if Dylan would agree. Um. But I think I was able to start to win over Lars's trust on the mental side. You know, I was, I was really candidly super undersized, not particularly good on ball, you know, more of a trail type like disruption, um, hole. So the only way you can play those guys is they got to be able to slide and recover. Um, so I think that to tie it back, I think Andover, I always like to tell people, I went a boy and came out a man, like it, it really had a huge impact on my development. And it's a little bit of a love hate, but. You know, now when I walk around that campus, I have nothing but really positive memories.

Ron Dawg: 22:59

Were there any people that were particularly influential, especially on the, on the coaching side larkin,

Larken: 23:04

yeah, Chris Gurry, who holds the all time penalty minutes record, Harvard hockey, which is a pretty serious record. Those boys could really play back then, who ended up playing a little bit in the national.

23:14

He was my academic advisor and also history teacher. He had retired from coaching at that point, but he You know, the same way a lot of people, it's like their house counselor because you kind of live in these people's houses or dorms. He really took me under his wing and, um, this is going to be shocking to people who follow me on Twitter, but I was a little bit of a shoot from the hip guy, even back then. Um, so parked my way into trouble off and, um, and, you know, a couple of guys really kind of like got me through there and let me get to campus at Brown. So no, nothing but positive things. Cool. Amazing.

Jaybird: 23:48

Now, Dylan, as we know, you did have so many accolades in high school and at Brown and even an all star as a pro, but I did notice that you had one thing in common with me in high school in that we both played JV as 10th graders.

24:00

And for me, I was a little shocked. to play JV let's say as a 10th grader and it was a big spark to make me work harder, work on skills, all this kind of thing. Now for you, tell us what that experience was like. Was it a turning point for you or what was the situation?

Dylan: 24:17

Yeah, it wasn't a great experience.

24:20

Uh, I played JV basically for three years, uh, as an eighth grader at Jolinas in the Ward Melville school district. I got brought up to the ninth grade team. And then in ninth grade, I think I was one of five. Let's say one of five, I think it was, I got to try out for varsity and Ward Melville, as you know, at least at this point, only juniors and seniors were playing like you really ought to be a senior to be on the starting lineup. So it was, I think the first time in a very long time that even anyone below 11th and 12th grade were able to try out. Um, so there's a whole bunch of conditioning tests and stuff, my cross country background killed it. Um, but, uh, I was happy to get to that point. and unfortunately two guys made it. I was not one of them. So I had to go back to JV again because that was my second year basically on JV 10 now. Uh, but I had broken or stress fractured my, uh, fifth metatarsal mm-hmm. uh, that year. So I actually didn't play. And then after that I was like, forget this. Um, you know, I think there's a better opportunity for me at St. Anthony's. Uh, my mom really liked the idea of me getting into, all honors classes. so that was a big thing. Warped Mountain was a very competitive school district in St. Anthony's. You know, it was, they just kind of took your grades and were like, Hey, this makes sense. I don't know why you're not in these already with the high 90s. So it kind of was a win win for me and my parents. And obviously lacrosse would play a big factor in that. You know, knowing they had some great coaches in, Shrivers, Weiserich, and then Schwalle was my JV coach at that time. So those are all familiar names, I guess, on Long Island. They also don't move people up. So when I was in 10th grade playing there as a essentially a new person because everyone got there as a freshman and I was getting, I was getting bullied as a 10th grader. I had to play JV again, which, which really helped, you know, learn, the game even more. And, you know, I think those coaches I had were great and kind of just the adversity at a younger age. I think definitely helped,, me work harder and kind of get to the next level when I did get that opportunity eventually, you know, in 11th grade. And funny enough, you know, I was committed before I ever even played a varsity game. So it was definitely a long journey. You know, at public school, you probably get brought up for playoffs and stuff like in the Catholic league, we just didn't do that. So again, my first touch in 11th grade was very exciting and there was a ton of hard work. Through a couple of failures, I guess, to make that all worth the while. Mm hmm.

Jay: 26:52

It's funny. I remember talking to Lars a little bit about how he first. Met you on the summer circuit, and then he was asking, well, who else is recruiting you?

27:02

Because he was like, I think I just found something that no one else knows about and it was only a few schools that you Can tell us I think you mentioned Georgetown, but I might be getting ahead of ourselves here I think Ron's got the next question, but I do remember. Oh, no, I mean it's fine I mean you seem to just want to do everything tonight. I'll just turn it over to you Jay I mean just want to ask all the questions and and we'll have every one of them come back to you and something about you and your high school career I mean, good lord. Ron, please just ask your question. Dylan, again, we'll, we'll ask you a question. Um, but seriously, uh, I think hearing that story, right? And it, it, yes, Dylan, I am going to compare you to Michael Jordan. It's like that classic story, right? Of Michael Jordan getting cut from the JV team and like that we all grow and develop at, at different moments in time. But I know that, you know, that, right. That era where you're in high school is also when that early recruiting is starting to accelerate. And,, you know, as Jay just alluded to, your process was maybe a little different with Lars. Can you tell us how do you go from what that high school experiences that you just mentioned and then what's happening as you're getting recruited? How did that home for all unfold?

Dylan: 28:15

Yeah, I mean, it's, it's definitely weird because in the summer recruiting circuit, you're kind of all on your own as, as much as everyone would hate to say it.

28:24

Like, even when you're on a travel team and you love the guys and you're there every weekend in the summer or signing up for your own, camps of whatever they are. I guess summer invite back then. but like, you're trying to wear like highlighter pennies and do whatever you can to show you're a team player but at the same time stand out. It's like the weirdest. Most contradicting thing possible. So, it's definitely tough, to be, you know, let's say a 10th grader, 11th grader, and at some points, I guess people were doing it at eighth grade, we had it not so young. And I know there's rules now that. Probably aren't as crazy and help limit that a bit. But, going through it was definitely intense. And, you know, you're having a roommate in the sleep wake camps and stuff, and you're all against each other trying to get the coach's eye. So,, it definitely was cutthroat. I think I did like, had to be like six summer tournaments going into 11th grade, and like four camps on my own. You know, there's like the blue chips. I think it was a knockoff blue chip, a top 205., so all that stuff is, it definitely wears you out. Some guys. Don't even come out the other side wanting to play college lacrosse or or tap out by the time they get there So it's definitely challenging but you know when you do meet that right coach or have the opportunity to kind of have a Conversation because you know, obviously not everyone gets you guys on the phone or gets to talk to him after the game you know, that's a really big time to show your character and kind of You know, just be yourself. You don't want to fake who you are or have any sort of mismatch there. Like, these are guys who are basically committing to a relationship. It technically is with probably your junior year and senior year left. Like, it's a six year commitment. And then hopefully it's good enough to, you know, be friendly the rest of your lives. So it's definitely a big moment in your life when you get those. But at the same time, you know, there's a school for everyone. So I think going through those processes, knowing, you know, my brother went Division III. You know, it wasn't all about, you know, it has to be this school or that school. I think it kind of, it all works out for itself. And just knowing, I think Larkin can agree, like our families want, you know, the best education you possibly can get. So, you know, getting into Brown was like a dream come true on that front and lacrosse was an extra piece that, you know, I was able to enjoy and hang out with the boys.

Ron Dawg: 30:38

Yeah, I mean, Dylan, you kind of answered this next part of the question I was going to ask, because you're so prescient, you know, and you, I mean, you can just see into the future, but, that's where those assists came from.

30:49

But,, I'm wondering, if there's anything more, you know, you guys have stayed so close to the game play at a high level. I'm sure people are asking you guys all the time as you see how the game continues to grow and what's happening in recruiting today. Is there any advice you'd give to, you know, kids who are now where you were in that sophomore, junior year and they're grinding away and they're trying to get noticed. Any other advice you'd give them?

Ron: 31:14

to hear the answer to that intriguing question, please tune in next week, as we continue with our series

Jay: 31:22

We're signing off here at the Get the LAX coop. Thanks again so much And until we meet again, here to, hoping you find the twine.