Some attackmen are known for their feeding. Others their finishing. Or their riding.

When it comes to Kieran Byrnes, he’s known for almost everything.

The rising junior from Class B state champion Garden City is as versatile as they come.

So it should come as no surprise he was a target recruit of several of the nation’s top Division I programs.

The 5-foot-10, 160-pound attackman made his choice earlier this week.

Byrnes has verbally committed to Villanova to become the second GC member of the Class of 2014 to verbal this week, joining goaltender Danny Dolan, whose decision we told you about earlier this week.

Now, here’s a Q&A with Kieran on his commitment:

What were the main factors in your decision?
There were many factors that influenced my decision. At the end of the process, I felt that Villanova was the right fit for me.

The school has a great academic reputation, a great campus environment and is close enough to home that my family and friends will be able to visit and see games. On the lacrosse side, Villanova is a nationally ranked program and I felt very comfortable with (Head) Coach (Michael) Corrado and (Assistant) Coach (Simon) Connor. They made me feel very welcome and I feel that my style of play will work well within their system.

What other schools were you considering and what schools did you visit?
Duke, Penn, Brown, Towson and UNC. I visited  Duke, UNC, Towson and Penn.

What are your strengths as a player and how would you describe your style of play?
I believe my strengths are my quickness, lax IQ and my field vision. My ability to play with both hands allows me to feed and get shots off from either side of the cage.

What areas of your game have you been working to improve on?
I am continuing to work on my riding and off-ball play.

Who have been some of the biggest influences on you during your development as a player?
Many people have influenced my development as a player and I have been fortunate to have been exposed to some great teachers and players. Coach (Steve) Finnell and Coach (Tom) Flatley at Garden City High School and Coaches (Jack) Moran, (Gene) Isnard and (Michael) Chanenchuk with the Long Island Express have all helped me to  become a better player.

Great players like Tim Goettelmann, Peter LeSueur and Dean Gibbons have given me their unique perspective which helps me develop my own style . Of course the biggest influences are my parents and brothers who constantly support me while challenging me to always keep improving.

What travel team did you play on and what were some of the big showcase events you participated in last summer?
I play for the Long Island Express. This summer we participated in Tri-State, NSCLA in Delaware and the Brine Shootout in Baltimore. Individually, I attended Jake Reed Blue Chip and Maverik Showtime where I selected to the All-Star team.

* For more info on Kieran, check out his player profile by clicking here.

 Have a recruiting commitment to report? Email us at info@laxlessons.com.

LAXLESSONS Links

Recruiting coverage

* Updated tristate recruiting review and commitment rundown (for classes of 2013, ’14 and ’15)

* Class of 2012 commitment rundown

* Recruit profile archive

* For a list of committed players with their profiles up, click here.

* To get your profile up, click here.

Connect with us

* Follow LaxLessons on Twitter by clicking here.

* Become a Fan of LaxLessons on Facebook now by clicking here.

Get in the game

* You can subscribe to LaxLessons.com’s playbook, featuring animated drills and plays for your team, by clicking here. 

Cast your vote in our latest poll

To vote, go to the right panel of this page. Then, scroll past the “New Comments” and “Popular” tabs and click on “Poll.” You will then see the poll questions and can cast your vote from the multiples choices, or, write in your choice if it’s not one of the choices.

Posted In: Long Island lacrosse, Recruiting Rundown, Section 8

If you liked this article, please take this time to share it with your Facebook friends using the Facebook button (see Facebook post button to the left) or retweet it using Twitter (see retweet button to the left). You may also want to follow us or subscribe to the site to stay up-to-date with this article. If you'd rather follow us from your Facebook account, join our Facebook fan page.

3 Responses to “Villanova-bound Byrnes is second Garden City rising junior to commit this week”

  1. BC9934 says:

    Nice job Kieran.Congrats

  2. Laxx says:

    Congrats KB

  3. LI Guy says:

    I thought Kieran had committed a while back and googled it and got this story from July. For some reason Inside Lacrosse reported it today as if it just happened. Anyway, congrats Kieran.

Leave a Reply