NLL Insider

Johns Hopkins' Paul Rabil will compete in this year's NLL Entry Draft Combine in Boston.

The NLL released its list of the 40 ball players that will compete in this year’s NLL Entry Draft Combine, which will take place just prior to the Entry Draft slated for the weekend of September 6-7 at Boston’s TD Banknorth Garden.

After the jump, check out the 40 players that will be showing off their stuff for GM’s, coaches and scouts as they fight to move up in the projected draft order (check back next week for NLL Insider’s top prospect rankings) or even just to hopefully find a spot in the league period.

Now, before everyone flies off the handle and asks why (which some of you have already done)some of the higher profile names have been left off the list. Firstly, the NLL Entry Draft Combine is not a showcase, it’s, well, a combine. If you wanna watch the absolute best guys in the box game that are 21 and under, watch the Minto Cup, not the combine.

The combine is a chance for NLL teams to view players that they have on their radars. Some players, like a lot of the American field studs, have obviously never played the indoor game in their lives, but the combine gives the experts a chances to see if they have the ability to transition to the NLL.

Especially this year, with a number of top shelf Americans attempting to make the jump, this combine is maybe the best tool to see if they’re able to make said jump. It’s a chance for teams to stop wasting picks on Americans they simply had a hunch about (see Ed Brown) and actually see ‘em in action, even just for a bit.

Players miss the combine for a variety of reasons. With many of Canada’s major national tournies going on in and around the draft date, sometimes it’s hard to get those players out. Word is a number of top Syracuse grads who are interested in the league will be away due to some school/sports commitments during the same weekend.

And then in some cases, with a host of guys in Canada already having played NCAA, Junior A and even a summer or two of Senior ball, does the league really need to fly guys like that in from all over North America just to tell scouts what they already know?  

And what can players likely expect from the combine? Last year players participated in…

• full physicals
• interviews wth NLL team staff
• three cone shuttle drill
• Illinois agility test
• 20 yard shuttle test
• T test
• standing long jump
• vertical jump
• 40 yard dash
• beep test
• box specific drills and clinics with NLL coaches
• and of course the scrimmage/game to close-out the combine

 This year’s combine may have a few changes, but the above is the gist of it.

Anyways, check out the players participating in this year’s Combine below, with NCAA and Jr. A or B affiliation included.

And make sure to check back to NLL Insider next week for our top prospects ranking heading into the 2008 NLL Entry Draft.

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