It did not take long for Cayden Reese to decide where she would play lacrosse in college.
Even when you’re No. 1, family comes first.
Three days after Inside Lacrosse named her the top recruit in the Class of 2026, Reese committed to Maryland, where her mother, Cathy, has won five national championships in 15 seasons as the head coach. She announced her decision on Instagram on Sunday, the first day (Sept. 1) college coaches could contact current high school juniors.
“Born and raised,” she captioned a post that included photos of her celebrating NCAA championships with the team in 2015, 2017 and 2019.
What followed was a flood of congratulatory messages from Maryland players whom she idolized as a child growing up in the locker room. Among those who responded to the post were All-World athletes Taylor Cummings, Meg Douty, Alice Mercer and Megan Whittle.
“Meant to be,” former Terps defender Alex McKay wrote. “Welcome home officially.”
“Been waiting for this since your 2014 pre-game speeches,” added Shanna Brady, who played at Maryland from 2012-15.
Both of Reese’s parents, including her Maryvale Prep (Md.) coach Brian Reese, starred as lacrosse players in College Park during the 1990s. Her older brother, Riley, is a junior defenseman for the Terps. She’s a lefty attacker who also excels on the draw and was the MVP of the All-America Underclass Games earlier this summer.
Other notable girls’ lacrosse commitments in the first 48 hours are Marcellus (N.Y.) attacker Cece Powell (IL’s No. 3 recruit) to North Carolina and McDonogh (Md.) goalie Reagan O’Donovan (IL’s No. 5 recruit) to Syracuse.
Sept. 1 was less suspenseful in the Faison household. Dylan Faison, the consensus No. 1 high school boys’ lacrosse recruit in the Class of 2026, already committed to Notre Dame for football in March — making clear at the time his intention to play both football and lacrosse in South Bend.
Faison’s older brother, Jordan, enjoyed a sensational freshman year at Notre Dame in which he earned a scholarship and was named the Sun Bowl MVP as a walk-on receiver in football and started as a midfielder for the Fighting Irish’s NCAA championship-winning lacrosse team.
One of the top wide receiver prospects in Florida, Dylan Faison might be a football-first recruit for Notre Dame, but his lacrosse future is just as bright. A USA Lacrosse All-American midfielder, he had 97 goals and 45 assists as a sophomore at St. Andrew’s (Fla.). He carried that momentum into the summer, leading Team 91 Long Island Storm to the National Lacrosse Federation championship.
“He’s as athletic a player that’s come across our sport in years,” a Division I offensive coordinator told the NLF’s Matt Chandik.
Another highly boys’ lacrosse recruit who was already spoken for before Sept. 1 is Penfield (N.Y.) defenseman AJ Theodorakakos. Service academies can recruit athletes starting July 1. Ranked No. 4 by Inside Lacrosse and No. 21 by the NLF, Theodorakakos previously committed to Army.
