As first reported yesterday by Inside Lacrosse magazine, former Saint Joseph's starting goalie Mike Adler is transferring to Duke as a graduate student. Duke has seriously bolstered themselves for the 2021 campaign having already landed Princeton attackman Michael Sowers and Holy Cross FOGO Dan O'Connell as graduate transfers as well. It is expected that Adler will have every opportunity to contend for a generous amount of playing time in Durham next season.
Mike Adler looks to clear the ball for Saint Joseph's in a game against Drexel (photo credit: Laura Kupsey)
After being a late recruit to Saint Joseph's out of St. Thomas Aquinas in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Adler was red-shirted by head coach Taylor Wray in 2017, which leaves him with 2 years of NCAA eligibility left when he gets to Duke. Mike was the starter for his next 3 seasons in Philadelphia, and when COVID19 ended everyone's lacrosse season prematurely in 2020, he found himself on the watch list for the coveted Tewaaraton Award. This is the kind of lacrosse player, and surfer, that seems to rise to any challenge, after all, he was bitten by a shark that tore 4 tendons in his ankle and required 40 stitches when he was only 16 years old. Shortly afterwards he told Pierce Morgan on CNN that he was mad he was missing riding the waves that he was watching while he lay on the beach bleeding and being tended to. Goalies are typically considered very tough, but even this kind of mindset must be a rarity. Adler would obviously recover from the shark bite to play lacrosse again, and in his final game of his senior varsity season in 2016, he paid big dividends to head coach Terry Crowley as he backstopped St. Thomas Aquinas to a victory over Ponte Vedra for their first state championship. All signs indicate that the white hot spotlight of Duke Lacrosse will have little affect on Mike Adler, as Durham is only a 4 hour drive from the Outer Banks, and if you are Mike Adler and sharks still do not scare you, neither will the stiff competition of the ACC that he will be seeing from the front of the cage in 2021.
Mike Adler leads the handshake line after backstopping St. Thomas Aquinas to the 2016 Florida state championship in his senior season (photo credit: Larry Palumbo, www.CoyoteMagicActionShots.com)
Article written by Larry Palumbo, released on 5/21/2020 @ 09:00 EST
Photo credits: Laura Kupsey (Saint Joseph's), Larry Palumbo (St. Thomas Aquinas)
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