Like the nation’s No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2028, Valora hails from Cape Cod. He transferred from Nauset Regional to Proctor Academy in New Hampshire, where he’s playing under former Dartmouth head coach Brendan Callahan and is preparing for his first fall with 4Leaf. This past weekend, he popped onto Prep Lacrosse’s radar in a major way, passing the eye test with his size and flashes of athleticism. Valora is far more than a big body, though, communicating and rotating at a high level when he wasn’t excelling on-ball. There’s always so much to be said about a defender who jumps into a showcase setting and helps get his unit organized, and Valora seemed to embrace that role.
He’s still growing into his body and polishing his footwork, but he’s already taken a step forward since I saw him for a bit back at NILLY late in the summer. Either way, there’s a lot to like, and I think he could become a formidable prospect now that he’s a 2029 recruit.