Best In Class Committed: Breaking Down The 2025 Award Winners

More than 50 committed recruits descended on Delaware's Chase Fieldhouse this past weekend for another year of the Best In Class Committed event, put on by Deemer Class, Matt Dunn, and First Class Lacrosse.   As always, the emphasis was put on training and drills, which set the tone for gameplay. Before the athletes put the pads on, they also participated in combine-style athleticism training with a ‘Flying 20', 'Flying 10', 60-yard shuttle, broad jump, and vertical jump. Let's look at the award winners in the first piece of content coming away from my time at BIC on Saturday.    Continuing to raise his stock in a major way, Danna was named Co-Offensive MVP after the weekend. He was flat-out ridiculous on Saturday, coming out of the gates with a wildly impressive five-goal showing in Game 1 before adding a pair of tallies to end the day. An incredibly athletic and smooth left-handed dodger, Danna made a killing by exploding past his man and burying shots on the run in head-turning fashion. The placement of his shots was noteworthy - just about every goal found one of the corners, and his snappy three-quarters release made it tough for goalies to get a read on his shots. Given how much success he was having, Danna stayed aggressive throughout but was disciplined with his shot selection and never forced anything. He has a really strong understanding of spacing and knows how to set up his dodges to give himself the best chance to score, with more than enough athleticism to beat guys to space on a routine basis. Once he puts his foot in the ground, good luck.     I've always been so impressed by Hocker in this type of environment - he's all business in every sense and makes the most of every rep. So much can be said about all that he brings to the table as an offensive weapon, but it's his consistency and ability to feast on defenses in a variety of ways that stand out. He can beat you off the end line, attack from the high wing, bury shots in catch-and-shoot scenarios, take advantage of bad approaches, and do it all while keeping mistakes to an absolute minimum. With the presence of a shot clock at BIC, Hocker scored with mere seconds left more than once and did so with poise. He's got a powerful upper and lower body, so even when defenders tried to get physical, Hocker shot through and around contact. I had him down for five goals and two assists in two games on Saturday, and although I wasn't there on Sunday, the score sheet showed that he put in three consecutive goals at the end to lift his team to a championship.     Among the event's MVPs, Veloso was the prospect whose game I was least familiar with coming into the weekend, but I left with a really strong impression of the under-the-radar goalie recruit. A postgrad at Hill Academy (Ont.) and a graduate of Miami's Gulliver Prep, Veloso is as fearless as they come. His willingness to throw himself at shots was admirable, as he constantly made stops with his body by making himself a big target and playing angles exceptionally well. There are aspects of his fundamentals that he could stand to clean up, so a postgrad year was the right move, and he'll add stability to Hill Academy's backline. Overall, the fact that Veloso emerged as the goalie MVP in a downright loaded crop of netminders speaks volumes about his ability in the crease.     Making a full-field, sideline-to-sideline impact at the LSM position, Rodehorst picked up defensive MVP honors this past weekend. During his recruiting summer, he endeared himself to evaluators for his phenomenal stick work, nose for the goal, and his tireless motor. Of course, those continue to be hallmarks of his game, but it became clear that he has leveled up since then and has become more consistent across the board. The Rhode Island native used those attributes to make his presence felt between the boxes and as an offensive weapon once he got the ball in his stick and crossed the midline. Rodehorst was brilliant off the ground, where he used his length to scoop up balls in the open field or when contested on the wings of face-offs. From there, he was off to the races, putting in a goal and an assist in the first game of the day. He's incredibly gifted as an offensive threat and has a knack for making the right decisions in unsettled opportunities.     Hahn was one of the three most dominant players I saw on Saturday, right up there with Hocker and Danna. He walked away with the Leadership and Teammate Award, a byproduct of his attention to detail, willingness to take on different roles (like taking wings and getting back on defense), and his ability to lead by example during drills. While he was super impressive during gameplay, that all started with his approach to training, as he attacked every rep and was particularly brilliant with his skip passes. At the midfield position, his lacrosse IQ was unrivaled relative to his peers, though that came as no surprise. Hahn has the innate ability to find holes in defenses and pick them apart as if he knows how they're going to play him before the play unfolds. He's a lefty, but equally comfortable and dangerous with either hand, and he owned that right side of the field. During his four-goal campaign in the first game of the day, he scored two nearly identical goals, getting down the right alley against a shortstick and depositing a high bouncer.     I've been very impressed with how well Langton has developed over time, so it's fitting that he earned the FCL Training Award, getting rave reviews for his coachability, work ethic, and attention to detail in drills. A silent assassin of sorts, his situation is unique - originally an Army commit in the Class of 2024, he flipped to Penn as a '25 in late June after racking up 35G/25A for the Friars and is interning at Morgan Stanley during his gap year. With that said, he seized the opportunity to compete at Best In Class and showed well as an aggressive and heady dodger, doing his best work above the goal line. In Game 1, Langton put in three goals and an assist, scoring his first when he beat his man from X and finished despite taking a big hit. From there, he scored in transition, rode the ball back and made an unselfish look to a teammate, then buried a backhander before the final whistle. In the next game, he attacked a pole in the second half for his lone goal. With excellent skills and prowess playing both attack and midfield, he could be a nice piece for Penn's offense to work with, and his versatility will serve him well.

More than 50 committed recruits descended on Delaware's Chase Fieldhouse this past weekend for another year of the Best In Class Committed event, put on by Deemer Class, Matt Dunn, and First Class Lacrosse.