Michigan MagnUM coach here. I had the pleasure of coaching against or scouting on film these players and thought they were incredibly impactful this season. Cheers to everyone for a great Regional tournament.
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Jeremy Keusch (IU): Solid disc skills, forced us to plan around him in the game to go. His length in the handler space created problems for us in the game to go and he was effective in not letting us funnel IU’s offense to the low side.
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Cam Thatcher (IU): I have had nightmares about how he lit us up at fall regionals. Rumor has it that he did the same to Purdue in the Regional Semifinal this spring. Great athlete with an incredibly quick release on his lefty flick.
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Eric Hoy (Purdue): In film study of Purdue, it was obvious that this was the guy to worry about on their O line. He has all the throws and often was driving the very patient & disciplined Purdue vert stack down the field. Clearly the field general for Purdue’s offense.
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Matthew Viscido (Purdue): Made his presence very well known last weekend. Incredibly speedy cutter who seemingly got the disc (with big yards gained) at will.
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Tall-ish player from Kentucky with curly hair. I’m sorry I don’t know your name, but you’ve given me headaches as a coach for two years now. Whether it’s receiving, throwing or playing D – dude is an absolute ball player.
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Justin Winn (GVSU): The guy does it all for GVSU. Big thrower or can go downfield and make a play. Seems to be the engine behind a strong year for GVSU. Wasn’t surprised at all to see them with the chance to win their pool at regionals.
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Eli Artemakis, Joey Kennedy (Illinois): Didn’t get to play Illinois this spring, but on film both were clearly running the show for Illinois. Eli’s big play ability was arguably the best in the region, Joey’s fitness and motor is insane.
Michigan lads:
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Theo Shapinsky: All-around star for us this year. He’s either roofed you, broken you, thrown a dime huck to your matchup that you thought you could get, roofed you again or layout D’d you. Since the Fall, Theo has literally played every role on our team from d-line handler to o-line cutter… and he’s been successful in all.
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Ashwin Pothukuchi: Since I started coaching MagnUM in 2019, I have yet to see someone effectively guard Ash. This season, to go along with his already established break throws, he’s added the ability to throw absolute DOTS when hucking on the o-line. If we turn the disc, he’s also the guy that’s likely getting the block to get it back. A great leader for MagnUM team 25.
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Max “Schultz” Vogel: The QB of our d-line and lockdown handler/flex defender. Schultz is incredibly disciplined and gives our coaching staff the ability to match him up with any opposing player, as we KNOW he’ll execute the game plan. He’s incredibly high IQ and understands how he can take away his matchup while also being disruptive to opposing offenses. On the turn, he’s likely to throw any of his many break throws to lead our d-line offense up the field.
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James Hill: James is unquestionably, in my mind, the Player of the Year in the GL Region. An incredibly humble defender who went from being just a menace in the deep space to an incredible all-around defender and overall player. He has the flexibility to guard handlers, mids and deeps and generate blocks in each space. He simply does not get beat. And while we could just throw up junk to James whenever on a turn (smh sometimes we do), James has become an integral part of our d-line offense playing closer to the disc and throwing silky smooth continuation break throws. If you watched the game to go this year, James was absolutely dominant making play after play after play. That layout D on the swing continuation? C’mon man.
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Zach Loyd: During the quarantining period of the pandemic, Zach got bored and decided he wanted to try and run a marathon. He signed up and to begin his training he went out, day 1, and ran 26.2 miles. Zach is our stopper who we love to matchup with the opposition’s top cutter. Why? Because Zach is mentally tougher than you. He works harder than you. And he likely will find a way to get a block against your top player. And then on the turn he will absolutely CHURN to the point where they have to tell the coach that they can’t play the next point. We’ve all been there… except Zach.
FotY:
Aaron Bartlett is without a doubt in my mind the Region’s Freshman of the Year. First, if you’ve seen this man, he’s simply built different than any other freshman. At Easterns, Barlett threw a forehand blade huck that was the most insane throw I’ve ever seen in college. I can’t even describe how unreal it was. His cutting is always well timed and wide open. His throwing decisions are always on point and he, as a freshman, is already getting time on our universe point lines. He’s been an incredibly impactful all-around player for MagnUM and I’m extremely excited to watch him continue to grow as a player.
Echoing the post above from IU’s coaching staff regarding Will Quigley deserving all-freshman team status. Also a no-brainer here. I was SHOCKED to learn that this guy dicing us up in the Regional final was a freshman. The guy already is a problem for the region’s defenders and has LOADS of potential.
