What to expect in the 2009 Entry Draft, Cody Jamieson & Zack Greer

January 15th, 2009 by Paul Tutka

It’s funny that the Toronto Rock mentioned of the 2009 NLL Entry Draft, declaring it, “the best Entry Draft of the decade”, during the same week we planned for a bit of pre-draft chatter via NLL Insider’s Futures Report.

As we did last year when we pegged Daryl Veltman as 2008’s favorite to go first overall, today we’ll give you our top nine studs to be taken in the first round of the 2009 draft, and although seven of them will be listed in no particular order, we will again project our favorite to go first, and potentially, second overall.

So after the jump, find out the nine names that already have GM’s and scouts drooling, and the answer to the question, is this the best draft of the last decade?

Those nine guys, who are they?

Well, it might actually be eight depending on what happens with 2008 NLL Insider Junior of the Year, Cody Jamieson, and his future at Syracuse University.

As Inside Lacrosse reported last week, the future of Jamieson at Syrcause may be in doubt, with Cody not in attendance at the team’s media day and no official word, as of today, on if he’ll even be admitted to the school. With classes starting next week, it should be known shortly however where Jamieson stands in 2009.

So with that said, similar to last year with Zack Greer, if Jamieson does in fact renounce his NCAA eligibility leading up to the Entry Draft, we have him slated to go first overall. If he does end up playing two years at Syracuse, then Greer will be our pick to go #1 in, likely, September.

It was Greer who left everyone wondering if he’d be available in 2008 or 2009 prior to announcing he’d spend another year in the college ranks, transferring to Bryant to join former Duke coach Mike Pressler.

From speaking to various former and current scouts and GM’s from the pro scene and countless coaches and GM’s in the junior game, it feels like most are probably split between Jamieson and Greer if it comes to deciding between the two next fall.

The other seven players we see going within the first nine picks are; Six Nations Arrows product and current Syracuse defender Sid Smith, former Minto Cup winner, current Langley Thunder sniper and Virginia phenom Garrett Billings, Denver U attacker and New West Bellies stud Cliff Smith, 2008 NLL Insider All-Canadian Second Teamer, St. Catharines forward and high scoring Albany U threat Corey Small, Geoff Snider’s little bro, Bobby Snider, who currently is in his final year at Bellarmine and came off an outstanding summer playing for New West where he was also voted as the WLA’s Fred Wooster winner (Unsung Hero), Ohio State ‘09 All-American attacker and former PoCo junior stud Joel Dalgarno, and finally, three time Minto winner and Denver & Coquitlam defender, Brad Richardson.

So there you have it, our top nine almost eight months out…

(1) Cody Jamieson, Six Nations Arrows/Onondaga CC
(2) Zack Greer, Whitby Warriors/Bryant University
(-) Sid Smith, Six Nations Arrows/Syracuse University
(-) Garrett Billings, Burnaby Lakers/Virgina University
(-) Cliff Smith, Surrey Stickmen/Denver University
(-) Corey Small, St. Catharines Athletics/Albany University
(-) Bobby Snider, Burnaby Lakers/Bellarmine University
(-) Joel Dalgarno, PoCo Saints/Ohio State University
(-) Brad Richardson, Burnaby Lakers/Denver University

As the 2009 season progresses, NLL Insider will take a closer look at the players mentioned above, as well as the other ball players that should round out the first two rounds, both Canucks and Americans, with Cornell’s Max Siebald likely leading the pack (check out a podcast interview with IL’s Jon Brand and Siebald from September). We’ll also go even further into the future and analyze the 2010, 2011 and even 2012 drafts.

As far as the 2009 draft being the best over the last ten years? It’ll obviously be top heavy and likely produce some full-time ball players in the second and third rounds, but looking at the names that will likely fill the full six rounds, the depth past the first will likely be fairly similar to what we’ve seen in recent years.

That first round however, should give the 2005 draft a run for its money, which included (in order of selection); Brodie Merrill, Shawn Evans, Sean Greenhalgh, Luke Wiles, Matt Brown, Matt Vinc, Dan Carey, Jeff Zywicki, Chad Thompson and Jeff Shattler (we won’t mention Ed Brown).