Mount St. Mary’s men’s lacrosse junior Jackson Phillips recently chatted with PressBox about preparing for a new conference, his advice for younger players and more. The 6-foot-3, 205-pound defenseman scooped up 18 ground balls and caused six turnovers for the Mountaineers in 2022. Phillips is a native of Dover, Del., and graduate of Caesar Rodney High School.
PressBox: How did you become interested in lacrosse?
Jackson Phillips: I’m from Dover, Del. Around when I was like 7 years old, lacrosse kind of became pretty big in the area. There was a travel team that came to my area. My parents signed me up when I was 8 years old. My sister, who was in high school at the time, started playing as well because it was new to the area. But basically I had been playing basketball and football since I was younger, so I wanted to try something and it was this new, upcoming and emerging sport in Delaware. My parents signed me up and I started playing from then.
PB: Who were the biggest influences on your game growing up?
JP: I watched a lot of Myles Jones highlights, Kyle Harrison, Paul Rabil as well. Because I play defense, the defensemen I watched when I was younger were Dave Pietramala [on highlights], Matt Landis from Notre Dame. That was pretty much about it, all the players that I watched and wanted to mimic my game after. As well as them, I also liked JT Giles-Harris. … The coaches who pushed me along throughout my journey with lacrosse, I’d have to go with my high school coach Brooks Johnson — he coaches Caesar Rodney, which is in Delaware, where I’m from — [as well as club coaches Jay Motta and Keevin Galbraith]. And then I’d have to go with [Mount head coach Tom Gravante and assistants Kevin Giblin and Nick Kellinger] right now because those were guys who were recruiting me, so they definitely played a big role in my lacrosse game growing up.
PB: Why did you choose to come to Mount St. Mary’s?
JP: Mount St. Mary’s I felt like was probably the best fit for me just because the school, the smaller class sizes [and] it had the major I was looking into, which was economics. But just the environment and the coaches really had a lot of faith in my game when I was just starting to become a better lacrosse player. They put their faith in me and they were recruiting me pretty heavily. I took a visit to the school and then I was like, “All right, I want to go here.” I like coaches that have trust in me, and I’m very loyal to those people. They were on it pretty hot, and I really liked the school from when I visited, so I just thought it was a no-brainer.
PB: What’s your favorite memory at the Mount so far?
JP: I would have to go with last year beating Navy at the Naval Academy, 11-9. That was probably my favorite memory just because it was a huge win for the team, everyone was electrified on the sideline and it was just an unreal feeling beating Navy at Navy with my teammates.
PB: Is your team preparing any differently heading into a new conference? What do you think the MAAC is going to have in store for you?
JP: I feel like new conference equals new opportunity. I wouldn’t say that we are going into it any different than we were last year being in the NEC, but I feel like with the MAAC, new opportunities. I feel like this year is kind of like a fresh start, so people are really excited to be in this new conference. I feel like our team has really come together over this past fall and leading up into this spring, but I feel like it’s a great opportunity to showcase what we can do as a team and honestly just make some noise within the conference. I wouldn’t want to call us underdogs. We aren’t really underdogs, but I feel like we can make some noise in this new conference. We have the tools to do it. We just have to go out there and execute.
PB: You scooped up 18 ground balls last year. Is there an art to that?
JP: I think that there’s somewhat of an art with it, but not really necessarily an art because that ball is just on the ground. It’s not necessarily one-one-one. It could be one-on-two, two-on-two, three-on-three, but at the end of the day, it’s a lacrosse ball on the turf. Basically it’s about who wants it bad enough. If you want it bad enough, you’re going to pick the ground ball up. If the other guy doesn’t want it bad enough, he’s not going to get the ground ball. It’s mostly about heart and just knowing where you’re at on the field.
PB: What’s your favorite thing about Emmitsburg?
JP: It’s a small town and I really like that. It’s a little bit secluded from everything, so it’s very peaceful out here and it’s a very [tight-knit] community. You see the same people around. The people in the town know each other, which is really good. I just like the family and small size of Emmitsburg because everyone’s pretty close in the town.
PB: What’s your favorite thing about the Mount?
JP: I’d probably have to go with my teammates because honestly, they make this place really great to be here. I like my teammates, but I also like the professors. Because of the smaller classes, you really get to know your professors. The professors really understand your needs and what you like and dislike, which is really good. But the school being so small makes you connect with your professors and understand their lectures better and they understand how you are as a person, not only as a student.
PB: Who’s your best friend on the team and what’s a story that underscores your friendship?
JP: I’d have to go with my buddy Eddie Gigliotti. [He is] probably my best friend on the team. … He lives in Upstate New York, but I drove almost five, five and a half hours to go hang out with Eddie. I took that drive. It was unlike anything else. I’ve never driven that far to hang out with one of my buddies. That was the No. 1 thing about it. But No. 2, we hung out and just had a good time. I met his friends that were going to school and stuff and his family. That was a pretty fun time. But the best story that I’d have to go with would be freshman year when Eddie and I would listen to the Mount radio and requests songs within the station … shoutout to [former Mount midfielder] Quinn Diehl because he would do it as well. But we would go and call into the Mount radio and request electronic songs on these rock stations. Back in freshman year, I thought it was hilarious. It’s not that funny anymore, but those are probably the best times for sure that I’ve had with Eddie. But he’s my roommate now, so I see him every day. He’s the man. That was probably the best time I’ve had with Eddie Gigliotti. That’s our friendship.
PB: Who’s a player you looked up to when you got to the Mount as a freshman?
JP: Bryan McIntosh was probably the player I looked most up to when I was a freshman. He was a defenseman for the Mount. I’m pretty sure he still holds the Mount caused turnovers record at the school, but he was just a really good guy. He was real humble. He was one of the best lacrosse players I’ve played with. He plays in the PLL right now. Just a great guy. He was a leader by example. He wouldn’t really yell at you or really scream or anything, but he knew when you weren’t necessarily giving your all and he would tell you to the side, not in front of everyone. He was just one of those guys who’s a great player. He was great on the field, but off the field even a better guy. He’s a dude you’d want to hang out with. I still talk to him to this day. He asks me how it’s going and stuff. Just a great person to be around. He was a really smart guy and a great leader on the field, but off the field he was even better. He was pretty chill. He welcomed the freshmen in with open arms and was just an all-around great person.
PB: What advice do you have for younger players who are going through the recruiting process?
JP: Probably just staying patient and staying even-keeled because there are going to be highs when you’re playing the best lacrosse of your life, and there are going to be lows when you’re playing terrible lacrosse and you feel like you don’t necessarily like the sport anymore. But you’ve got to just know how to keep your head even-keeled and just staying pretty fine within the bad and the good moments because there will be bad moments and there will be good moments. It’s about how you respond to those moments. Consistency is one of the biggest things. Also be patient because not everyone is going to be able to get recruited right when Sept. 1 [of junior year] hits. If schools aren’t calling you or emailing you, don’t necessarily get worried. Stay consistent with emailing them and trust the process. I wasn’t necessarily one of the highly-known recruits. Don’t worry about rankings or anything. Those don’t necessarily matter when you get to a college because you’ll be at the same college as those five-stars or four-stars or whatever you want to call it. Just stay patient and stay even-keeled and revert back to your roots and understand why you love this game and use that knowledge to help pick whatever level you want to play at.
PB: What goals do you have for after lacrosse?
JP: I’m majoring in economics, but I either want to work in probably investment banking or for the U.S. government in the [National Bureau of Economic Research]. I’m not really quite sure, but right now I’m looking at internships with banks and looking at those internships as being a financial analyst. That’s probably my goal after lacrosse. The Mount has been pretty good at helping me find internships and furthering my knowledge within the major of economics.
Photo Credit: Dave Sinclair