The Tewaaraton Foundation announced its 25 nominees for the 2015 Tewaaraton Award today. All players assigned to the 25-member nominees list previously appeared in the Tewaaraton Foundation's latest Watch List, a chronicle that featured 64 players just 14 days ago. Five finalists for the award will be announced on May 7, 2015, those players constituting the pool of eligible competitors for one of college lacrosse's highest individual honors.
The men’s award nominees include players from 14 schools, including 2014 co-winner Lyle Thompson (Albany) and representatives from 11 of the top 20 teams in the April 20 USILA Coaches Poll. Six schools are represented by multiple players, including Syracuse, which leads the nation with four nominees.
Here are the players -- listed in alphabetical order -- that the Tewaaraton Foundation believe are the best in the game right this very second:
PLAYER | TEAM | YEAR | POSITION |
Trevor Baptiste | Denver | Freshman | Faceoff |
Wes Berg | Denver | Senior | Attack |
Kyle Bernlohr | Maryland | Junior | Goalie |
Jimmy Bitter | North Carolina | Senior | Attack |
Ryan Brown | Johns Hopkins | Junior | Attack |
Connor Buczek | Cornell | Senior | Midfield |
Connor Cannizzaro | Denver | Sohpomore | Attack |
Deemer Class | Duke | Junior | Midfield |
Dylan Donahue | Syracuse | Junior | Attack |
Matt Donovan | Cornell | Senior | Attack |
John Glesener | Army | Senior | Attack |
Myles Jones | Duke | Junior | Midfield |
Matt Kavanagh | Notre Dame | Junior | Attack |
Jesse King | Ohio State | Senior | Midfield |
Matt Landis | Notre Dame | Junior | Defense |
Dylan Molloy | Brown | Sophomore | Attack |
Brandon Mullins | Syracuse | Junior | Defense |
Conrad Oberbeck | Yale | Senior | Attack |
Sergio Perkovic | Notre Dame | Sophomore | Midfield |
Kevin Rice | Syracuse | Senior | Attack |
Joey Sankey | North Carolina | Senior | Attack |
Dan Taylor | Lehigh | Senior | Attack |
Lyle Thompson | Albany | Senior | Attack |
Chad Tutton | North Carolina | Senior | Midfield |
Ben Williams | Syracuse | Sophomore | Faceoff |
Some brief notes on the 25-player list:
- Almost half of the list -- 12 players -- come from an ACC school. The only ACC school that does not claim a Tewaaraton Award nominee is Virginia. Duke, North Carolina, Syracuse, and Notre Dame each had at least two players included in the Tewaaraton Foundation's trimmed pool of award candidates. The Ivy League placed four players on the list, the Big East (all were from Denver) and Big Ten each had three honored representatives, the Patriot League saw two of its players highlighted, and the America East put (presumed winner) Lyle Thompson in the nominees group. The CAA, MAAC, NEC, and SoCon were shut out of the running for the Tewaaraton Award this season.
- Of the 14 schools with at least one nominee, Syracuse asserts the most aspirants with four. Notre Dame, North Carolina, and Denver followed the Orange with three nominees each while Duke and Cornell each tout two contenders. Seven schools were honored with a single award hopeful.
- Attackmen dominated the list with 14 selections while midfielders took up a half-dozen positions. There were as many faceoff specialists as field defensemen (two each). Bernlohr is the only goalie to make the list.
- Four players that went in the first round of the 2015 Major League Lacrosse Collegiate Draft were not included on the Tewaaraton Foundation's nominees list -- Will Haus (Duke), Ryan Tucker (Virginia), Jack Near (Notre Dame), and Nikko Pontrello (Loyola). The journey from January to May is weird.
- 12 seniors were honored with a selection while eight juniors earned a note of achievement. Only four sophomores made the cut and one freshman -- Baptiste -- is in the running for the award.