New England 2028s: Reacting to Late September Commitments

A flurry of commitments hit New England these past few weeks as several prep players found their program homes. For some of these players, the process was the only hold-up, while the rest came to their decisions after touring multiple campuses throughout the month. Regardless, here are five players outside of the National Top 100 who, for one reason or another, have piqued the interest of New England scouts such as myself.    I think the thing about Callahan is that he was an unknown quantity outside of Lakes Region Circles, but everyone else in the Northern part of the Granite State was well aware of his talents. Originally from Londonderry, the more Southern and populated region of New Hampshire, Callahan is a lefty who knows how to put the ball on the ground. When you watch him on tape, you can tell just how fundamentally sound he is, from choking up on groundballs to pulling his stick away from trail checks when he carries the ball. BU has been sneakily adding some of the 'Shire's top talent early on, when you add in the Terriers' SSDM acquisition of Bishop Guertin's Finn Murphy.     Hey, uh, what do they feed these Sweetlax kids? Rabel is a two-handed nightmare cover for any defender, regardless of their athletic ability, size, or skill. He doesn't even care if he gets over the top or underneath because his finishing package is so deep that it doesn't matter. Off balance, getting pushed in the back, or flying through the air, Rabel is putting that ball in the net. Bucknell has been so good at getting the underrated grit guys in the past few windows - but Rabel is another kind of animal; the most agile of all the Bison on the ranch.     He may be a North Carolina native, but he's got Connecticut bona fides at the prep level and beyond. He's got incredible size at the dot, which doesn't always translate to automatic success, especially if the clamp isn't hitting. However, in Techet's case, he is technically nuanced and is more than just a power guy or a change-of-pace draw man. He can be Utah's No. 1 guy in two years, especially given how high his ceiling is and the talent that he will be competing against in the Founder's League.     A lefty with a litany of nifty shimmy and shake-style dodging maneuvers, Walsh has been cutting through that top diagonal side of the defense with alarming regularity. If he gets a step on you, he's getting to the middle faster than the slide can even get into a hedge spot. That speed coupled with his lengthy stride makes for a very difficult cover for a pole, much less a shorty, which he sees far too often at the beginning of games before the opposing coach decides to do the right thing and shift the LSM. The McDonogh (Md.) transfer is quite the pick-up for new UVM head coach Drew Kelleher's first official recruit of the '28 class.     Another tough and relentless defender with a mean streak from Loomis? Where do they keep finding them? Bowman might be the guy who gets all of these people who keep saying, "The takeaway defenseman is dead," to finally shut up once he gets to college. He doesn't just do it with checks; Bowman plays passing lanes like a free safety. You cannot lob a pass near this man and expect it to reach its final destination. Add to that the fact that he's going to be learning from one of the best defensive minds in the game, Gerry Byrne, once he gets to Harvard, and you may have one of the most impactful defensemen in this entire class.

A flurry of commitments hit New England these past few weeks as several prep players found their program homes. For some of these players, the process was the only hold-up, while the rest came to their decisions after touring multiple campuses throughout the month. Regardless, here are five players outside of the National Top 100 who, for one reason or another, have piqued the interest of New England scouts such as myself.