Entire Delbarton senior class commits to play lax

“Coach Tierney was very persuasive,” forward Jacob O’Donnell said. “I told him I was considering Yale and he was, like, ‘Really? Really?’ The man has a gift with words.”

Junior teammate Richard Simmons echoed O’Donnell’s evaluation.

“I mean, I couldn’t commit officially, but I’m pretty sure I’m going to Princeton,” Simmons said. “I’m pretty good at lacrosse, so Coach Tierney reassured me that I just need to pass my next semester of classes and I’ll probably get in.”

Delbarton is a traditional lacrosse powerhouse that has produced a wealth of talent in recent years. Notable Delbarton alums who starred for Princeton include defenseman Dan Cocoziello ’08 and goaltender Alex Hewit ’08. Both were widely considered the best Ivy players at their positions before they graduated.

Given the extensive alumni connections to Delbarton, Tierney has found attracting Delbarton students easier than ever.

“It’s like shooting fish in a barrel,” Tierney said, before asking whether his quote could be taken off the record.

Tierney has not been extended any special privileges, however.

“We treat Bill the same as any other coach,” principal Philip Meyer ’74 said. “We don’t try to bias our kids one way or the other.”

Tierney did not simply limit his search to current members of Delbarton’s lacrosse team, either. Delbarton senior Aaron Welch, a five-foot, 10-inch National Honor Society member, was surprised to be offered a spot on the 2010 Tigers’ squad.

“I don’t even play lacrosse,” Welch said. “Apparently I fit in the banding system.”

O’Donnell is widely considered the jewel of Princeton’s class of 2013. A 6’2”, 195-pound scoring machine, O’Donnell played with current Tiger sophomores Jack McBride and Chris McBride, who were seniors when O’Donnell was a sophomore backup.

“I tried out for football, but wasn’t all that great,” O’Donnell explained. “The thing is, you don’t have to be that athletic to play lacrosse.”

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O’Donnell had a particularly difficult decision. Recently, many high school lacrosse players have been foregoing college for positions at Merrill Lynch. Instead of joining the ranks of “prep-to-pros” like senior Rob Soroko, Lacrosse Insider’s No. 1 preseason recruit, O’Donnell chose to spend at least one year at school.

“Merrill’s always going to be there,” O’Donnell said.

Joining O’Donnell at Princeton are goalie Tommy Schulz and defenseman Max Martin. Martin recalled his recruiting experience with fondness, noting that alum Alex Hewit reassured him that going to Princeton was a great experience.

“Hewit knew how to sell me,” Martin said. “He made sure to mention that there were lots of chicks at Princeton. That’s pretty important. Going to an all-boys Catholic school for four years, I was getting a little tired of circle-jerking.”

This article is part of The Daily Princetonian's annual joke issue. Don't believe everything you read on the internet.