Eli Fried and Josh Singleton* are the two best rookies in the region. My matchups with Eli have gone back to high school and yccs, and are always a battle. I learn so much from being covered by him and his skills on defence are unmatched. Josh was easily snubbed from the top 25 college players list, and in my opinion is the best freshman in the country.
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South Carolina player, havenāt seen too many teams in the AC outside of Carolina Section players but Iāll input where I can.
UNC/NC State:
Ultiworld already has a better idea of who they want from these teams. Not too familiar with the names but a lot of great players.
Johns Hopkins:
Jimmy Clarke. He played a large part in Hopkins making regionals and he did it while playing with his offhand and and an injured knee. May be overlooked but deserves recognition.
UNCC:
Ben Simmons. Dude is out there every point he can and runs the UNCC offense. Their team has grown a lot in recent years and heās a centerpiece to their up and coming team.
Duke:
Albert. Donāt know his last name, but heās real good. Only way I can describe it. Just watch him and youāll know.
JMU:
Matt Labar. Capable of going deep, throwing deep, and making big plays on defense.
South Carolina:
Going to talk about my own team a bit.
Bobby Gunshefski. Plays incredible defense, can cut well, and can pull down every jump ball sent his way. He wears the orange hat.
Nick Headden. Great defender and able to effectively keep the disc moving on the turn. Centerpiece of the d line.
Freshman of the Year:
Tyler Catton. Came to South Carolina in the fall with little frisbee experience. Has blossomed in his first year here and seen great success against good competition. Scores a lot and is able to get huge at a young age.
Evan Sanderson. I bullied him about his throwing because that was the only part of his game that was missing. Smart defender, great cutter at getting the disc and opening up space. And his throws are just about here. If not a candidate for freshman of the year heāll be in consideration for all region in a few short years.
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Michael Snead (Virginia Tech) is the only player in the region worth his weight in sand. The second coming of Joe Freund but faster.
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I can only really speak for the Virginia and Colonial conferences because Iām not too familiar with the Carolina teams.
All Region:
Jeremy Hess, Maryland: Nightmare matchup on Offense and Defense, a huge reason why Maryland has had success this year.
Alex Turney, Virginia: Pretty much runs Virginiaās O-line and is a strong veteran presence on a young team.
Lucas Reichert, W&M: The main guy at William & Mary, he does it all but what stands out the most are his hucks and handler movement.
Matt Labar, JMU: A really tough matchup, makes huge plays on both offense and defense.
Andrew London, Virginia: A player that is under the radar but gets open on everyone for an entire game. Makes crazy plays on offense and lockdown defense on a turn.
Ethan Ruh, W&M: Flings his body around like its nothing. He is super shifty and scores a lot.
All Freshman:
Miles Grovic, Maryland: Extremely athletic player that slots in well on a strong Maryland O-line.
Akiva Dienstfrey, Virginia: High volume, consistent player that plays every O point and is crossed over on important D points
Patrick Voranthiankul, JMU: Another super athlete that gives it his all on the field, making wild layout blocks and strong hucks.
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Matvey Stepanov UMD. Amazing in the air, lock down defense, and athletic plays.
From Duke someone not a lot of people are talking is Matthew Herbst. He really drives their d -line offense and constantly takes the hardest covers while being dominant in the deep space.
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Landon from Duke is a killer. Fat bids along with perfect throws. Easily a top 3 player on Duke along with Seth and Albert.
Also, Phillip from NC State is an absolute baller. His defensive fundamentals are crazy good and he can lock up your favorite handler. I think there is a case to be made for him being Stateās third best player after Trev and Dylan.
After regionals this weekend I wanted to shout out a few folks that balled out.
First Ethan Ruh from William & Mary may have had the best tournament of any player I saw all weekend. He made some of the most insane plays I have ever seen all weekend long, including an absolutely nuts chest-height Callahan in the quarterfinals versus UMD. After this weekend he should be a lock for one of the all-region teams, if not for first team all-region.
Secondly, Lucas Reichert had an absolutely dominant performance in the game-to-go and calmly ushered William & Mary through the regionals bracket with dime hucks, excellent defense, and great downfield and handler cutting. He deserves a lot of credit, especially after Ruh got hurt in the 3rd place semis versus Georgetown.
I also wanted to shout out one of my own guys (Georgetown), who I think has flown under the radar to this point. Michael Xiao (#24 on Georgetown) has been that dude at Georgetown since his sophomore year and powered our team to a 5th place finish with a roster of 17 guys. He is one of the best athletes in the region and a lock-down defender on the turn, who always takes the other teams best player and can be both dominant on offense on and off the ball. Buy stock on him now before its too late.
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all freshman
Josh singleton UNC
Eli Fried UNC
Matt Lee NC State
Sam Brothers W&M
All are important rookies for teams that are Natties bound.
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