Johns Hopkins men’s lacrosse senior Cody Ince recently chatted with PressBox about being Dave Pietramala’s last recruit at Hopkins, his advice for those in the recruiting process and more. The 5-foot-9, 165-pound short-stick defensive midfielder appeared in all 18 games in 2023 and earned a spot on the Academic All-Big Ten Team the past two years. Ince is a native of Reisterstown, Md., and graduate of McDonogh.
PressBox: How did you become interested in lacrosse?
Cody Ince: In first grade, I went to McDonogh. It was my first year there and everybody around me was playing lacrosse. Obviously, McDonogh is a really big lacrosse school. I started playing there, really just to be with my friends and I ended up falling in love with it through the process. Ever since first grade, [I’ve] been playing. I didn’t really expect for it to be the sport that I continued to play through college, but I always had fun playing it with my friends and fell in love with the game through that.
PB: Who were the biggest influences on your game growing up?
CI: I would say one of the biggest ones was Isaiah Davis-Allen. I ended up starting to play more and more [defensive midfielder] in seventh grade, so I looked up other d-mids and he was one that stood out to me. I had a few coaches tell me that my game reminded them of him, so I would watch his highlights and all that to almost replicate my game after him.
PB: What are your favorite memories from your McDonogh days?
CI: A favorite one is probably junior year, we played Gonzaga in our opening game at Gonzaga — beautiful stadium. We didn’t know what that season was going to hold yet going into that game. It goes to overtime, end up winning it in overtime. I think that was my first overtime win ever. Just that whole atmosphere, winning an overtime game like that, that’s one of them. And the other one was junior year vs. Culver. We had lost to them the year before. Going into the game, I think we were both top-five teams. We ended up beating them, which was my first and only time ever beating Culver, and it ended up putting us No. 1 in the nation. That was also a big game.
PB: You were recruited to Hopkins by Dave Pietramala but never got the chance to play for him. Why did you stick with Hopkins after Pietramala left in 2020?
CI: I was Petro’s last recruit in our class. He was actually done recruiting our class when saw me play, ended up recruiting me. Right when they came for me, I knew it was the perfect school because obviously the tradition of lacrosse here is unmatched anywhere else. Also, it doesn’t hurt that it’s one of the best academic schools. It was tough when he was no longer the coach because you always feel like you’re playing for someone who wanted you. Just that feeling of playing for someone that wants you always means a lot. There was just a lot of uncertainty for a while of who’s going to be the next coach. I had only been committed for I want to say eight months. I also didn’t really know many of the guys or anything, so it was just a lot of uncertainty. But when the new coaching staff came in, they were very vocal — setting up Zooms, helping us all meet each other — so a lot of that worry went away fast, got to meet some of the guys. Being local helped because I got to come down here and meet some of the guys. It was definitely tough at first, but this coaching staff has done a great job. Even though they didn’t recruit all of us, [they still make it] feel like they want all of us here.
PB: Your parents, Carlos and Tammy, have ties to Hopkins. Is that part of the reason you were drawn to Hopkins?
CI: My mom went to med school here before and then they both did residency here, so that’s where they met. It’s funny, my older sister actually almost ended up coming here, too. We’ve always been a big Hopkins family. I’ve always been around. When I was younger, I would do camps here. My older sister also did camps here, always been one of our favorite places. When they did call, that was definitely a big influence because we were very familiar with Hopkins, with the campus, with how it works and all the opportunities here. That did help a lot.
PB: What’s your favorite memory at Hopkins so far?
CI: Definitely last year beating Maryland in the last game of the regular season. Freshman year, we played them three times. We played Maryland a ton and that was the first time we beat them, so that was very meaningful in that sense, but also that game made us co-champions of the Big Ten. It was great and all to win something that will stay with that team forever and [symbolize] the team that we had last year. Obviously, our goals are much bigger than that, but there was just a lot riding on that game — beating them for the first time, getting the crowd back, co-champions of the Big Ten — so that game definitely was a big win, and it was a good game on top of that. Battled tooth and nail for that one and got it.
PB: What’s your favorite thing about Baltimore?
CI: I’ve always been someone that’s been more drawn to the city. Even though I’m from Maryland, I had never lived within the city, so being at Hopkins is very different. I would say something I like about it is there’s just a whole bunch of different areas. Every area of the city is different. You go down to the harbor, you have the aquarium and all that. Not far from that is the Ravens and Orioles. … Everything is so close, so you’re never that far from anything you want to do. If you want to hang out with friends at a pub and watch a sports game, if you want to go to a sports game, everything’s right here. I’ve always been a Baltimore Ravens, Orioles fan, so I love that part. I get to go to all the Ravens games.
PB: Who’s your best friend on the team and what’s a story that underscores your friendship?
CI: Two of my roommates, Patrick Deans and Tyler Dunn. Tyler, I had played a year of FCA with. He went to Calvert Hall, so we were rivals in high school, too, but I’ve lived with him all four years. [Our] families have become close, so he’s been one of my best friends. Patrick moved in with me and TD sophomore year. It’s actually funny, us three were Petro’s last three recruits in our class. My junior year [of high school] I kind of knew TD, but not really. I was playing in McDonogh vs. Calvert Hall, so Patrick was actually at the game for one of the McDonogh people. But none of us were committed to Hopkins yet. We didn’t really know each other, but it’s kind of funny that all three of us were there at the same time, just didn’t know each other and now the three of us live together. … We just all get along like brothers, so that relationship is definitely lifelong. They’ll definitely be in my wedding one day.
PB: Who was a player you looked up to when you first got to Hopkins?
CI: Owen McManus was the main one. He was a defender, so naturally looked up to him. He was very welcoming when I first came here, worked hard. He always inspired [me] to be better when watching him work hard, because he’s already one of the best guys on the team. The fact that he’s also putting in some of the most work, that’s something you look up to. And at the same time he was killing it in the classroom. I think he had a 4.0 or close to it. I’m pretty sure he’s working for Apollo and is killing it out there, so even now I look up to him because he was so successful in his four years at Hopkins and it translated straight into post-college.
PB: What advice do you have for younger players who are in the recruiting process?
CI: My biggest advice is if you don’t feel like you’re getting the attention that you [want] or maybe you’re behind when it comes to recruiting, don’t be discouraged. I was one of the latest commits to Hopkins. It was July going into senior year. I honestly was discouraged seeing a lot of my friends commit and just not really getting the attention I wanted. I kept working. I had family, friends and all [support me]. One in particular was my former soccer coach who was always just like, “Just trust the process. What’s going to happen will come to you. I know something great will happen and you’ll end up somewhere great.” It was hard to believe at the time just because it was getting so late, but I stuck with it, kept playing, worked my butt off. In my last summer tournament going into senior year, Petro wasn’t even looking for another kid in our class but he loved how hard I was going for ground balls. He specifically told me it was a game at [the National High School Lacrosse Showcase]. We already had a big lead. The game at that point wasn’t meaning much, but I was still going as hard as I can for every ground ball. He was like, “That’s the kid I want, the kid that even when it doesn’t matter is still working his butt off.” Trust it. You never know who’s watching. If you do those things, what is meant for you will come.
PB: What are your goals for after lacrosse?
CI: I have a job lined up. I’ll be going to Atlanta next year and doing healthcare consulting with PricewaterhouseCoopers. I interned with them the past two summers and I love the experience so far. That’s my plan for next year, super excited for that. I chose to go to Atlanta because I’ve been in Maryland my whole life, wanted a change of scenery. I also wanted some warmth and I had a lot of family and friends down there, so that’s my plan for after this year. We’ll see what life has in store after that.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Johns Hopkins Athletics