Matt Rees might be the poster child for why the early recruiting that has become so prevalent in college lacrosse can backfire.
College coaches that scouted Rees when he was an underclassmen at Boys' Latin did not see a Division I prospect. He was chubby and not all that athletic, easily overshadowed by other defensemen at the MIAA A Conference school such as classmate Mac Pons (Maryland).
"Matt was definitely under-recruited, and that's because he wasn't developed at that point," Navy assistant coach Ryan Wellner said. "He still needed to mature physically. It was the classic case of a late bloomer.