‘He’s Just Different’: No. 1 Landen O’Neil Talks Duke

From an early age, [player_tooltip player_id='168588' first='Landen' last='O'Neil']'s talent impressed everyone on the sidelines. The youngest of four, O'Neil's oldest brother, Aiden, looks like a real-life version of He-Man if he played lacrosse. His other older brother, Evan, is a junior at Richmond and is in line to become a starter this spring. Both were high-scoring attackmen at Tabor, just like Landen. However, neither one of them garnered the title of No. 1 recruit in the nation.    O'Neil visited five different schools in his recruiting journey before deciding on Duke. You hear players say “trust the process” ad nauseam at this time of year, but seeing the top recruit in the nation go through it gives the phrase a bit more heft.    “I visited five schools, and Duke was the final one,” said O'Neil. “It helped that I got to see other types of programs and meet those coaches. I was always a fan of Duke talking with the coaches on the phone, but getting to the campus and seeing how beautiful it is and meeting the coaches in person was great. I met a bunch of players when I was there, and they were all super nice and super funny guys."   In addition to being the top-ranked player in the class of 2028, O'Neil is a three-star football recruit and the seventh-ranked linebacker prospect in Massachusetts, so his raw athletic ability is evident. He led Tabor to back-to-back ISL finals as a freshman and a sophomore, winning the championship with the Seawolves last spring. In the last two seasons, Tabor has ascended to the top of the ISL thanks to a ridiculously balanced roster that includes D-1 commits like [player_tooltip player_id='143656' first='Dylan' last='Franzen'] (UMass), [player_tooltip player_id='163175' first='Jayden' last='Walters'] (Providence), [player_tooltip player_id='173657' first='Justin' last='Guyette'] (UMass), [player_tooltip player_id='143303' first='Jack' last='Czepiel'] (Princeton), and [player_tooltip player_id='122424' first='Grady' last='Alger'] (UMass). The team's success isn't just because of O'Neil's impact, but having a player who can take over a game is the most valuable resource that any coach could hope for.   It certainly doesn't hurt that O'Neil's confidence matches his ability.     “The first thing I think about when I catch the ball is getting to the net,” said O'Neil. “No matter where I am, when I get that first touch I want to score right away. I love to get games started with the first goal, and it shows your defenseman that it's going to be a long day.”   The most striking thing about O'Neil is that he can be deployed in any spot on the offense. In the ISL title game, he found himself in the low far corner of the right side of the field, pulling not just his defender out, but the one and two slides out of their comfort zone and far closer to the ball side. That allowed Tabor to run dodgers down the middle, essentially attacking the open space left when the first man was beaten. O'Neil wasn't a decoy; he was a functional defensive disruptor who controlled play with his presence. Another example of this came last summer when he was playing for 3d New England.    "The thing about Landen is that he can play any position,” said 3d Director Pete Sessa. “I mean, we ran him off the wings in some games. We were at the LI Showdown playing Express North, and we were down 7-2 in the fourth quarter with eight minutes left. And we just went - we need to put Landen anywhere we need to get the ball. So we put him on the wings, and he was picking up groundballs, winning battles after the face-off; he knew where the ball was going to be, came down, helped to initiate and score. Then he did it again, and again, and again. He's just different.”     O'Neil is constantly being compared to another famous Duke alum and former No. 1 recruit - Brennan O'Neill, who now plays for the Denver Outlaws in the PLL. However, anyone who has seen both of them play knows that the difference in their respective games and skill packages is quite different.    “First off, it's pretty insane to hear these comparisons,” said O'Neil. “I definitely like his game, and I see it - we're both big lefty attackmen and almost the same last name. I would say playstyle-wise, I think he shoots harder on the run and from a deeper range, but I think I'm just a little more versatile.”     Although Duke has won the race for O'Neil's fealty, there is still plenty of lacrosse to be played. Two more seasons on the southern coast of Massachusetts loom, as does another season with 3d New England, but O'Neil is taking it all in stride and still trying to have fun, even when he misses the net.    “This summer I got a step down on man up, and I missed,” said O'Neil. “So I looked down at my stick and touched a shooter, and all I heard from the bench was, ‘It's not the stick, One!' I thought it was pretty funny.”

From an early age, Landen O’Neil Landen O’Neil 6'3" | 215 lbs | A | Left Hand Tabor Academy | 2028 #1 Nation MA 's talent impressed everyone on the sidelines. The youngest of four, O'Neil's oldest brother, Aiden, looks like a real-life version of He-Man if he played lacrosse. His other older brother, Evan, is a junior at Richmond and is in line to become a starter this spring. Both were high-scoring attackmen at Tabor, just like Landen. However, neither one of them garnered the title of No. 1 recruit in the nation.