Lee Corrigan calls himself a basketball guy.
For years, he watched the McDonald’s All-American Game, the sport’s premier showcase of the country’s top high school talent. The game always features players committed to the top college programs and has alumni enshrined in the hall of fame.
But Corrigan is also a lacrosse guy. He knew lacrosse had similar potential, though it lacked a showcase event similar to the McDonald’s All-American Game. He got to work to create one himself.
“Michael Jordan was a McDonald’s All-American, David Robinson was McDonald’s All-American, LeBron James was McDonald’s All-American. It was the best of the best of the best,” Corrigan said. “Lacrosse didn’t really have anything like that.”
As a result, the All-America Lacrosse Classic was created in 2006 by Corrigan, the president of Corrigan Sports Enterprises, which puts on the event. There were similar showcases before it, but they lacked either the outreach to attract participants from all over the country or didn’t feature players who were among the sport’s best.
Nearly two decades later, Corrigan now has his McDonald’s All-American Game equivalent. From its first year, the event was an instant success. Now, it’s approaching the 17th annual edition of the event, which will take place from Wednesday, July 27 to Sunday, July 31 in Baltimore.
Although intended to put the top high school players in front of college coaches and recruiters, the weekend will be highlighted by the All-America Senior Games on July 30. It pits the top recently graduated high schoolers, all of whom are already committed to the nation’s top college lacrosse programs, against each other in a North vs. South format.
The girls’ contest begins at 6 p.m., while the boys kick off at 8:30 p.m. Both will be played at Johns Hopkins’ Homewood Field and can be watched on ESPNU.
Predictably, the game’s rosters are dominated by players from Maryland. Glenelg Country School, Glenelg High, McDonogh and Notre Dame Prep are all represented in the girls’ game, while Archbishop Spalding, Boys’ Latin, Calvert Hall, Catonsville High and Loyola Blakefield are all represented on the boys’ side.
Like the McDonald’s All-American Game, Corrigan’s creation has also had alumni reach the top of college and professional lacrosse. Logan Wisnauskas, the No. 1 overall pick in last month’s PLL Draft and the 2022 Tewaaraton Award winner at Maryland, became the ninth former All-America Senior Game participant to win the award in the last 12 years. Every winner of the award on the women’s side for the last 14 years is an alumnus of the showcase, too.
“It definitely validates what we’re doing,” Corrigan said. “There is definitely a correlation between being in our event and then doing great things in college.”
The bulk of the week will consist of the Command, Spotlight and Highlight tournaments. Prior to this week, various cities and regions around the country hosted tryouts to find the area’s top high school players in three age groups. They have all descended on Baltimore to battle other top players from around the country.
The Command age group is for rising freshman and sophomores, the classes of 2025 and 2026. Rising juniors, the class of 2024, make up the Spotlight group. A mix of rising seniors and juniors are in the Highlight group. Most of the players in these tournaments have not committed to a college yet. Ideally, this platform will accelerate that process.
The boys’ and girls’ championship games in all three age brackets will be played on July 31, beginning with the girls’ Command championship at 1 p.m. and ending with the boys’ Spotlight championship at 4:45 p.m. at Blandair Park in Columbia and Troy Park in Elkridge.
“Highlight, Command and Spotlight are all kids that are trying to be recruited,” Corrigan said.
Lacrosse is still a sport dominated by players on the East Coast, but one focus of the All-America Classic was to grow the game in different parts of the country, something Corrigan knows can be done. In this year’s girls’ All-America game, 12 different states are represented with players.
Corrigan’s cousin, Kevin Corrigan, is the men’s head coach at Notre Dame. The growth and spread of the game can already be seen.
“He’s got his fair share of traditional market players, but he also — and most rosters are like this now — [has] kids from all over the country in these non-traditional markets,” Corrigan said.
He points to a state like Texas, where lacrosse is an afterthought behind sports like football, baseball and basketball. The high school lacrosse competition may not be on par with a state like Maryland, but a club team of all the best players may be able to.
“If you’re one of those kids, and then you have a chance to make the Southwest All-American team, that’s a big deal for those kids,” Corrigan said. “And they know that they’re coming to Baltimore to play against the Baltimore kids and the D.C. kids and the Philly kids and the Long Island kids. And that is an unbelievable opportunity for them.”
For more information about the All-America Lacrosse Classic, including All-America Senior Game rosters, click here.
Photo Credits: Courtesy of Corrigan Sports Enterprises