He’s not yet a member of the Syracuse men’s lacrosse team, but top recruit Cody Jamieson is enrolled at the university after months of applications and apprehension.

Jamieson, an attack who led Onondaga Community College to a pair of national junior college titles in 2006 and 2007, spoke with The Daily Orange in a telephone interview Tuesday. Fall practice for the defending national champions begins Sept. 8.

‘Right now I’m at 11 credits – part-time,’ Jamieson said as he rested on the quad in-between classes. ‘And hopefully within the week, or by next week definitely, hopefully I can pick up another couple classes and be full-time.’

The 5-foot-10, 190-pound lefty from Six Nations, Ontario – who was recruited to join the Orange for the 2008 season but deferred his enrollment till this semester – said he was waiting for some paperwork to be cleared by the NCAA before he could be recognized officially as a member of the team. He would have two years of eligibility.

The Syracuse athletic department could not comment on Jamieson’s status due to NCAA regulations, said Mike Morrison, assistant director of athletic communications.

Because Jamieson is not a full-time, matriculated student, he is still considered a prospect, Morrison said. The athletic department and its coaches are not allowed to comment on prospects.

But Jamieson said Tuesday that he has been attending class since Aug. 25. He finished his final classes at OCC in mid-August, and his name is listed in Syracuse University’s online directory as a freshman in The College of Arts and Sciences. He plans to study communications and rhetorical studies.

‘It’s a lot different from OCC,’ Jamieson said about campus life. ‘It’s a lot bigger, a lot more people. But everybody seems pretty nice, pretty friendly. All the guys are team are pretty nice, off the field anyway.

‘We’ll see how much they slash me once we get on the field.’

Jamieson would join a recruiting class – already ranked No. 4 in the nation by Inside Lacrosse magazine – bolstered in August when two Big East players also transferred to Syracuse.

Sophomore John Lade left Villanova to join the Orange, while senior Scott Kahoe arrived from Georgetown.

Lade was a first-team All-Colonial Athletic Association pick and played on the gold medal-winning United States U-19 lacrosse squad this summer. Kahoe started twice for the Hoyas last year after missing 2007 with a shoulder injury.

Lade will participate in fall practice, Morrison said. Kahoe will as well, barring a physical.

But neither brings the profile of Jamieson, a star at both OCC and on the Canadian Junior A indoor circuit, where he played with Sid Smith on the Six Nations Arrows. He comes to campus with sterling statistics – 237 points in two seasons at OCC – and a bundle of championship hardware, the 2007 National Junior College Male Athlete of the Year Award included. He is the only lacrosse player to win the award since its inception in 1992.

Jamieson could be a panacea for a team looking to replace its leading scorer, Tewaaraton Trophy-winning attack Mike Leveille.

‘Cody is probably the most complete lacrosse player I’ve ever seen,’ said OCC head coach Chuck Wilbur.

From Six Nations to Syracuse

Syracuse recruited three standouts from OCC following the 2007 season: Jamieson, defender Sid Smith and midfielder Kent Squires-Hill. All three also played together for Six Nations.

It made sense. The Lazers won its second straight junior college title that year, buoyed by flashy players like Jamieson that succeeded in the tighter confines of the Canadian box lacrosse game. The Orange slumped to a 5-8 season and missed the playoffs for the first time in 25 years.

The OCC players were supposed to jumpstart the Orange. But it didn’t work out that way.

Smith had more credits than Jamieson and Squires-Hill when the three were recruited. He arrived on campus last fall and anchored the championship defense this spring. Squires-Hill, on the other hand, did not have enough credits to enroll for the 2008 season, and Jamieson choose to wait for this fall as well.

‘Kent and him are like brothers,’ Wilbur told Inside Lacrosse last December.

But on April 28, Squires-Hill was charged with second-degree murder in the strangling death of 21-year-old Tashina General. He was arrested by police from the Six Nations reserve and placed in police custody.

A statement from OCC at the time said that Squires-Hill ‘voluntarily withdrew’ from the school last April.

Jamieson continued on, however, taking classes at OCC and playing for Six Nations this summer. Now he has enrolled at SU – and he might be the best of the bunch.

Wilbur gushes about him. About his speed. His off-ball play. His riding. His passing. And about his finishing, so deadly from the left side.

‘One on one,’ Wilbur said, ‘he’s almost impossible to stop.’

Jamieson spurned potentially becoming a top selection in the National Lacrosse League entry draft, choosing SU instead.

‘Growing up, you always dream of something,’ he said. ‘And my dream was always to go to college and get a degree. No one in my family’s ever gone to college. Well, a couple people have gone to college, but nobody’s got a degree.’

And playing on the field? That role will develop with time.

‘Whatever I can do to help this team win another championship,’ Jamieson said. ‘That’s the final goal.’

ramccull@syr.edu

Published on September 2, 2008 at 12:00 pm