Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 8/5/09
From Press Releases
Conor Steidle, an attackman from Malvern Prep, heads the list of 12 recruits at North Carolina this year.
The 12 student-athletes will look to replace nine seniors who will be graduating off North Carolina’s 2009 team for coach Joe Breschi.
“I’m very pleased these 12 young men have decided to compete next year for the North Carolina program,” said Breschi. “Our current 2009 senior class is a large one in terms of numbers and talent and luckily we’ve got a large and talented group coming in.
“We will look forward to the immediate help and the depth these 12 young men can give to our team in 2010. They are all good fits for the North Carolina family academically, socially and on the field and I look forward to them helping us achieve our goals as a program over the next four years.”
Following are bios on the complete class.
Conor Hamilton Steidle is a 6-3, 200-pound attackman from Malvern Prep. He will be reunited with Malvern teammates Chris Layne and Matt Conte, both rising sophomores at UNC. Steidle has played four years of varsity lacrosse at Malvern as well as participating in football and water polo earlier in his high school career. As a junior he played for Team Philly as a member of the Under Armour Underclassmen Team. As a junior, he was All-Eastern Pennsylvania Scholastic Lacrosse Association, Second Team All-Phillylacrosse.com and first team All-Inter-Ac. In 2009, Steidle, whose father, Ward, played at UNC, was a first-team All-Inter-Ac and Honorable Mention All-Phillylacrosse.com pick.
Ian Thaddeus Braddish (West Islip, N.Y. High) will join fellow West Islip alums Kevin Federico, ’10, and Ryan Flanagan, ’11, on the 2010 Tar Heel lacrosse unit. Braddish is a 6-2, 180-pound middie for WIHS where he is in his third year of varsity lacrosse. He also played varsity basketball for three years and was a two-year letterman in football as a wide receiver, cornerback, kick returner and place kick holder. He led the gridiron squad to two county finals. In lacrosse, he played on the 2007 New York State Class A championship team that also won the Long Island championship. Both the 2007 and 2008 West Islip teams were also county champions. He has been on two Empire State Games teams as a gold medal winner and captain. He is also an All-County lacrosse and football selection. In football, Braddish holds West Islip records for career receptions, career reception yards, touchdown receptions and kickoff returns for touchdowns. He was a finalist in 2008 for the award as the county’s top receiver in the sport of football.
Stephen Grist Burns is a 5-11, 170-pound attackman from Chapel Hill, N.C., who played at Chapel Hill High school from 2006-08 where he was the team’s leading scorer in 2007 and 2008. Burns, the son of UNC All-America, two-time NCAA champion and team captain Gary Burns, ’82, is attending Avon Old Farms School in Avon, Conn. in 2009 for his high school senior year. Burns played high school lacrosse for three years at Chapel Hill from 2006-08 and one year at Avon Old Farms in 2009. He was Chapel Hill’s leading scorer in both 2007 and 2008 and the second-leading scorer in 2006. He had 33 goals, 30 assists and 63 points as a freshman, 59 goals, 33 assists and 92 points as a sophomore and 49 goals, 33 assists and 82 points as a junior. He was named All-Pac 6 Conference three years and All-State two years. As a junior he was the Most Valuable Player of the state championship game and CHHS’ most valuable offensive player. In 2008, he snared high school All-America honors. Burns will join former CHHS teammate Logan Corey on the Tar Heel team in 2010.
Marcus Robert Holman is a 5-10, 185-pound attackman from Gilman School and Baltimore, Md. He is the son of UNC volunteer assistant coach Brian Holman. Holman is a three-sport star at Gilman in football, basketball and lacrosse. He has started on the varsity lacrosse squad as an attackman his sophomore through senior years. As a junior he was named Baltimore Sun first-team All-Metro, All-Digital Sports first-team and to the first-team Baltimore Messenger All-Star Team while also earning second-team All-State honors. In his first two years on the varsity, he had 51 goals and 48 assists after playing midfield on the junior varsity team in the ninth grade when Gilman made the MIAA semifinals. Holman was named to the Free State All-Star Lacrosse Team in the summer of 2008. As a sophomore, he started every game and won the Smith Cup that recognizes the first-year varsity player who contributed the most to the team’s success. He played varsity football for Gilman his sophomore through senior years, being named the captain as a senior when he started every game on defense. As a senior, he started at strong safety and wide receiver and was also the team’s punter. He forced two fumbles, made two interceptions and scored three touchdowns last fall. As a sophomore and junior he split time at strong safety and also played on special teams. Holman also played three years of basketball, competing on a championship team as a freshman, starting at point guard on the junior varsity team as a sophomore and being the sixth man on the varsity team as a junior.
Steven Canon Kirkup is a 2009 graduate of the Severn School (Severna Park, Md.) where he played alongside current UNC freshman Mark Staines. The 5-11, 178-pound Kirkup, who prefers to go by Stevie, has played four years of varsity attack. He also lettered two years each in cross country and swimming and was a running back and linebacker on the 2008 football team. He was a first-team All-County lacrosse attackman as a junior and a second team choice as a sophomore. He won the Mullinex Award both seasons as Severn’s top attackman. He is currently the captain of the lacrosse team at Severn as a senior. He played on Severn’s MIAA lacrosse finalist team as a freshman in 2006. Kirkup is a four-year honor roll student at Severn.
William Leighton-Armah is a 6-0, 195-pound long-stick midfielder and close defenseman from Boyds, Md. Nicknamed “Boom”, he graduates from The Landon School in Bethesda, Md. While there he has played three years of varsity lacrosse, three years of varsity football and he also wrestled for two years. On the gridiron, he played outside linebacker and defense end. Leighton-Armah was the varsity lacrosse captain at Landon in 2009. He made the All-Gazette Honorable Mention Team as a junior and won second-team All-DCSportsFan accolades. He was tapped for the Maryland Free State Team as a senior and was an Under Armour Upperclass Team choice as a junior. He was chosen to play in the Nike Blue Chip Camp as a junior and senior. On the football field, he won the Barton Award as the varsity football team MVP as a senior and he was an All-IAC Football selection as a senior.
Gregory John McBride, who goes by Greg, is a 5-11, 165-pound midfielder from Gilman and Baltimore, Md., where he played with fellow Tar Heel recruit Marcus Holman. An accomplished all-around athlete, he played four years of varsity soccer his freshman through senior years as well as a year of junior varsity and three years of varsity basketball and lacrosse his freshman through senior years. As a senior he was elected the president of the schools’ athletic association. On the lacrosse field, he was second-team Baltimore All-City as a sophomore and then had a breakthrough year as a junior. Last year he was named first-team All-State, first-team All-MIAA Conference and was tapped for the 2008 Baltimore/Washington Regional High School All-Tewaaraton Team. In the summer of 2008, he played on the Maryland Free State Team. As a hoopster, McBride captained the Greyhounds both his junior and senior years. He won the Passion to Perform Award for the Gilman Bristow Tournament and was on the All-Tournament team his sophomore through senior years. As a senior he was the MVP winner of the tournament. In his junior year, he received the Gilman Basketball Trophy. On the pitch, McBride was also a standout, captaining his team as a junior and senior when he was named All-MIAA both years. His senior year he was named the Baltimore City Player of the Year, first-team All-State and first-team All-Metro.
Kieran Moore McDonald hails from Rye, N.Y. and graduated from the Westminster School in Simsbury, Conn. McDonald is a 6-3, 187-pound three-year letterman in the defense for Westminster. He was also a forward on the basketball team for three years and he played football for three years as a tight end, wide receiver, outside linebacker and free safety. He captained all three teams his senior year. As a junior he was a high school All-America lacrosse player and a first-team All-Founders League defenseman. He was the team’s rookie-of-the-year as a sophomore and played on the Hudson Valley Empire State Team the following summer. He’s excelled at all three sports, being named the defensive MVP of his football team as a senior. On the basketball court, he was the team’s MVP this past year while winning the squad’s foul shooting award and the Squibb Bowl Award for sportsmanship, effort and performance. He led the hoops team to the 2006-07 FAA title. He is a four-year honors student at Westminster.
Ed Prevost is a native of Watertown, N.Y. who will arrive at Carolina as a junior in the fall of 2009. He is currently in his second year as a stating attackman at Onondaga Community College in New York. Prevost was the National Junior College Player of the Year in 2008 and the same season he was tapped as the National Junior College Attackman of the Year. A first-team JUCO All-America attackman in 2008, he is an excellent student with a 3.8 grade point average at Onondaga. He graduated from Immaculate Heart High School in Watertown in 2007. A 5-10, 170-pound attackman, Prevost scored 47 goals and had 66 assists for Onondaga in 2008 and was named a JUCO Academic All-America. He led Onandaga to the 2008 NJCAA semifinals as well as its fourth consecutive NJCAA Region III championship and its eighth successive Mid-State Athletic Conference championship.
Sean Patrick Taylor is a 5-9, 160-pound midfielder from the Georgetown Preparatory School in Bethesda, Md. A native of Kensington, Md., Taylor is a four-year varsity letterman in lacrosse and the captain of the Georgetown Prep team as a senior. He played football, basketball and lacrosse as a freshman and also captained the freshman team that year. He also played varsity football as a junior as a halfback and kick returner.
Alexander Joseph Walters, who prefers to go by Zander, is a 6-2, 180-pound all-around prospect from Oradell, N.J., where he attended Bergen Catholic. He has played varsity lacrosse for three years after playing freshman lacrosse in 2006. He also played soccer for three years – two on the varsity and one campaign on the freshman squad. Walters has been called by the local media as “the best player to ever come through Bergen Catholic.” He is a captain of the team as a senior and has been nominated several times as the Player of the Week for Bergen County. He once scored six goals in a game against arch-rival school Dom Bosco.
Campbell “Cam” Alexander Wood is another New Jersey native, hailing from Chatham. He is a 5-11, 180-pound midfielder from Chatham High School. A multi-sport athlete, he played as a freshman on the football, basketball and lacrosse teams and has since gone on to play varsity lacrosse and football for three years each. He’s a midfielder for the Chatham lacrosse team and has played quarterback, wide receiver, safety, outside linebacker and cornerback on the gridiron. As a lacrosse player his junior year, he was named New Jersey Men’s Lacrosse Coaches’ Association honorable mention, second-team All-Iron Hills Conference-Hills Division and Daily Record honorable mention All-Area. In football his junior season he was the team MVP, second-team All-Conference, second-team All-Morris County, second-team All-Morris County Defensive Team and first-team All-Area as a cornerback. He was named honorable mention All-Conference is sophomore year.
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