New Balance All-America Games: Big 10 Attack Commits Who Shined

In a revamped New Balance All-America Highlight Division, Big 10-bound athletes were everywhere. In fact, close to half of the ‘25 commits headed to play in one of the nation's best conferences were in attendance, and several turned in noteworthy performances worth highlighting. First up, let's look at the attackmen.    Udell just keeps getting better, steadily raising his stock ever since he made a commitment to Michigan last fall. A few months removed from a 52-goal, 38-assist junior season, he shined on the penultimate day of his final summer event, posting two goals and an assist in a commanding win. He went after a fellow Big Ten commit on more than one occasion, and the result was positive. He just has a tremendous feel for the game and a knack for knowing when and how to attack his defender. Even when it looks like he was bottled up, he got his hands free and tossed a pretty underhanded assist. I'm bullish on the kind of career Udell could have with the Wolverines.     Able to consistently stack up points every time he steps on the field, Iannantuono had a stellar spring for the Crusaders, and the summer has been no different. He's certainly not the biggest, but he's super bouncy as a dodger and can make plays under duress while dealing with physicality. On top of that, he's dangerous as both a feeder and a goal-scorer. Blessed with elite vision, Iannantuono played setup man and tossed precise feeds to cutting teammates. He had a ton of success putting the ball in the back of the net, showcasing his snappy release and finishing with nine goals to wind up as the fourth-leading goal scorer in the Highlight Division.     I've written about Higgins quite a bit over the last six months. Not only was he arguably the best player in the MIAA this season in my opinion, but I feel confident saying that he has also raised his stock as much as any Top 50 attackman since last summer. Quite frankly, I've only seen one or two defensemen hold him in check since then. More often than not, he's gonna get his and fill up a stat sheet. That was certainly the case at New Balance, where he racked up 10 goals along with a trio of assists. He was a steady force from his spot at X and constantly showed a willingness when attacking poles that were much bigger than him, showing no signs of trouble against them. Beyond that, he never forces the issue and seldom makes mistakes, gradually boosting his lacrosse IQ during his time with the Lakers.       Tolmach has impressed me in just about every live evaluation of 2024. Already a big body, he seems to have added some muscle since his recruitment summer, and he knows how to use it to his advantage when the time is right. A fluid dodger and highly capable off-ball weapon, he does excellent work without the ball to create scoring opportunities. Ending the event with six goals, Tolmach scored on broken plays, off of ball movement, after he beat his man topside, and when dodging bad approaches. Just a really heady player who makes good things happen and is a calming presence for his squad.     A big, strong attackman who can score in bunches, Wickersham started the event on fire, recording two goals and two helpers against D.C., two goals against Upstate, then three goals and an assist against Midwest. More than most attackmen in the class, he tends to do some of his best work when backing his man down, scoring on some nice stepaways during the early goings of the event. As a shooter, he puts forth a lot of velocity and gets his shots off in a hurry. I'll be curious to see how he's used once he arrives at Homewood.

In a revamped New Balance All-America Highlight Division, Big 10-bound athletes were everywhere. In fact, close to half of the ‘25 commits headed to play in one of the nation's best conferences were in attendance, and several turned in noteworthy performances worth highlighting. First up, let's look at the attackmen.