Seventeen AACC athletes who played for the college last season have committed to competing in their sports at four-year schools this academic year.
The list includes seven baseball players; three from the men’s basketball team and one from the women’s squad; one from men’s lacrosse; and five from the 2023 national championship women’s lacrosse team, including one player who will join a four-year soccer team.
“I’m super excited about it, and I think it’s going to be a really good experience,” said guard Jack Taylor, who plans to play basketball at Atlantis University in Miami.
To get noticed by four-year colleges, Riverhawks athletes talk to college coaches and recruiters after their games, and some send in highlight videos to their potential schools.
“And from there [the four-year coaches] kind of establish [the] next steps in terms of the campus visit and kind of proceed with the conversation about if a student athlete would be interested in coming to that institution to continue their career,” Athletic Director Duane Herr said.
Taylor, who averaged five points, 1.4 assists and two rebounds during the regular season, sent highlights of his best moments of the season to Atlantis assistant basketball coach Francisco Hernandez, who recruited the Riverhawk.
“It’s a big change from Baltimore,” Taylor said. “So going down to Miami with no real family … is a little different.”
Guard Michael Duffy said his trainer knew the head basketball coach at Notre Dame University of Maryland. Duffy’s trainer connected the two with the head coach after the Riverhawks lost 106-77 in the playoffs this past season.
Duffy, who averaged 4.8 points, 0.5 assists and 3.1 rebounds in 20.3 minutes during the regular season, said his goal is to average 20 points per game for the Notre Dame Gators.
Riverhawks head basketball coach Joe Snowden said his team’s three committed graduates, Duffy, Taylor and Marquis James, bring leadership to their squads.
“They were captains last year so they have an opportunity to continue [at their four-year schools],” Snowden noted. “They bring their quality of learning [and] they graduated [AACC] so they bring that along as well.”
Herr said additional, uncommitted athletes may try out for their four-year university squads as walk ons.