Sept. 8, 2007

It was the 81st pick in a draft featuring 84 selections -- essentially a throw-away pick. Okay, throw-away might be too harsh. Let's say it was a symbolic pick.

With its final selection in the National Lacrosse League's entry draft, Arizona, the defending West Division champs, selected David Gerbarg, a steady attackman for an unspectacular Whittier (Calif.) College men's lacrosse program.

It's a pretty good bet Gerbarg will never play for the Sting. Partly because he already has a gig lined up next spring as an assistant with the Poets, and partly because he would be hard-pressed to make the practice squad, never mind the active roster of a title contender.

So why even bother, right? Why not just take a flyer on Matt Danowski? The odds are probably equal that the Tewaaraton Award winner would forgo his senior year to play in the NLL as it would be for Gerbarg, a D-III player, making the Sting.

The fact is Gerbarg is from Paradise Valley, one of the sprawling suburbs of Phoenix, and his parents are Arizona season ticket holders.

"He's a local kid and we're always trying develop lacrosse in Arizona and what better way to do that than have a local kid who already has parents sitting in the stands," said Bob Hamley, head coach and GM of the Sting. "It was a fit all around."

While this little PR nugget will likely make no substantive difference in the overall betterment of the Sting -- besides making them my favorite team now -- it acts as an unwitting illustration of an NLL fact.

The box league is not afraid to give small-college field players a chance.

Out of the 84 selections this year, a dozen were from the NCAA D-II and D-III ranks -- a 14 percent share of the overall picks. Of the remaining picks, 33 percent (28 total) were from Division I colleges and the rest (44) were from the Canadian juniors ranks. In fact, the percentage of small college field players taken in the NLL draft is higher than the 10 percent (5-of-50) taken in the 2007 Major League Lacrosse collegiate draft.

Of the five picks that Arizona had in the entry draft, four were used on lower division players -- Bryan Safarik from Wingate, Allan Downey and Scott Janssen from Mercyhurst, and Gerbarg. Granted, Safarik (British Columbia), Downey (Ontario) and Janssen (British Columbia) all have box experience, but it wasn't the only reason they were selected.

"Certainly the indoor experience is crucial with small school kids, but you know what, these kids succeeded at the colleges they were at," said Hamley. "So you look at that, you look at the resume and we learn a little bit about them."

"I think both Scott and Allan were captains up at Mercyhurst so we knew they were two quality kids. We were very lucky to get them and we'll give them every opportunity to make the team."

The indoor skill set is somewhat different from the field game, but there are some transferable aspects that allow players from non-scholarships and D-IIs to succeed, according to Mike Kloepfer, the director of lacrosse operations for the Toronto Rock.

"You are dealing with games that have their differences, but the basis of both are lacrosse skills, stick skills, and the ability to play the game," said Kloepfer, who drafted a pair of small school kids this year.

"One of the things we really appreciate from the outdoor game is the terrific athleticism that the players display. They are highly skilled and that conditioning, athleticism, speed, shooting ability is there and those are real transferable things.

"Obviously there is a learning curve with the indoor game, but we were real impressed at the combine how some players never played the indoor game made the transition comfortably and looked like they were getting better by the shift."

The two players heading to the Rock tryouts -- Mark Scherman of Notre Dame de Namur and Wes McFarlane of Roanoke -- are both from British Columbia and have experience in the Western Lacrosse Association, the predominant juniors league in the western Canadian provinces. However, they remained on Toronto's radar because of their success in the states even if it was not under the brightest collegiate spotlight.

Many NLL teams are starting to gauge a player's development primarily through the collegiate experience, regardless of the division, while also taking into account other intangibles such as leadership and toughness.

"You see a player like Merrick Thompson [the second overall pick out of UAlbany] who has roots in the indoor game but most of the high-profile things he's done in the last four years have come from his NCAA situation," said Kloepfer. "We have two or three other players on our radar screen who are part of Canadian lacrosse and are strictly NCAA players. We're putting more time and effort into scouting the NCAA leagues to see if there are players who can make their skills applicable to the indoor game."

Right now it is tough for a majority of NLL wannabes -- small college, D-I, and juniors players -- to find an open roster spot. Hamley says he has four spots up for grabs after the loss of Craig Conn for the season while Kloepfer realistically estimates there are two or three open slots on his club. Tom Ryan, the head coach of the Boston expansion franchise said he gets three emails a day from free agents hoping for a shot at the league.

Still, the list of small college players who have found a home in the NLL is lengthy, headed up by veterans such as Jake Bergey (Salisbury), Brian Tower (Adelphi), Mike McLellan (Mercyhurst), Jason Crosbie (St. Lawrence) and Eric Martin (Salisbury), among others.

It's not too hard to envision the likes of Matt Dasinger (Salisbury), Jon Mason (Roanoke), Keegan Davidson (NDNU), Dan Hartzell (St. Andrew's) and Chad Amidon (Nazareth), among others, following in their footsteps.

And maybe, just maybe, if everything goes right, the Gerbargs will be able to see Dave suit up for the hometown team.

Contact Jac Coyne at jcoyne@uslacrosse.org.