(Photo: Donny Scott/Instagram)

September has come and gone, which means the first month of the contact period of 2023s has already passed. And just as there has been across the country, there has been a lot of movement in the South.

As of writing this (Oct. 1), there have been 28 players verbal to DI programs from the South. Virginia and Florida have each produced seven commitments in the class thus far. Georgia and North Carolina sit behind them with six and four. Alabama and Texas have each seen one ’23 commitment from their state since the opening of the contact period.

Here is a state-by-state breakdown of some of the top/most intriguing commitments across the South since the contact period opened.

Alabama

The Heart of Dixie certainly isn’t known for producing top-tier lacrosse recruits…at least not yet. But in the 2023 class, one of the nation’s very best hails from the state of Alabama.

Briarwood Christian (Ala.) goalie Anderson Moore is the most highly-regarded prospect ever from the state, being ranked as the No. 10 player in the class and rated as a five-star by Inside Lacrosse.

Moore verbaled to Georgetown on September 21st, becoming the fourth commit in the class at the time.

One of the most consistent and poised keepers in high school lacrosse, Moore is coming off a strong sophomore campaign this past spring in which he made 230 saves with a 71.9% save percentage. He continued finding similar success throughout the summer.

Florida

The Sunshine State is tied with Virginia for the most 2023 commits produced thus far with seven.

Midfielders Jordan Faison (Pine Crest, Fla.) and Maddox Johnson (Ponte Vedra, Fla.) are the two most notable players from the state to find homes this cycle. Both are rated as four-stars by Inside Lacrosse and were one of 15 players named to the Lacrosse Bucket Southern Big Board back in early September.

Faison has made a verbal commitment to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The speedy midfielder is Pine Crest’s top offensive weapon, but has the skill set to cause problems on both ends. He is coming off a sophomore campaign in which he put up 74 points off 37 goals and 37 assists while also grabbing 36 ground balls.

Johnson will be taking his talents to Denver. The lefty came onto the scene as a freshman with the Sharks during the shortened 2020 season and has only seemed to impress more and more since. A serious threat up top as a dodger, Johnson is on-the-run shooters in the region and knows how to get to the middle of the field at will.

Other notable moves out of Florida include Air Force snatching up a pair of elite attackmen out of the state in Jack Schulte (St. Andrew’s, Fla.) and Turner Ashby (Plant, Fla.). Dartmouth has had similar success on the defensive end, landing defensemen Luke Lowery (Ponte Vedra, Fla.) and Andrew Klis (American Heritage, Fla.).

Georgia

The Peach State saw one of their best players in the class fly off the board over the summer on the first day of the service academy contact period with Rowell (Ga.) attackman Hill Plunkett verbaling to Army West Point. Georgia has since seen five more players come off the board since September 1st.

Pace (Ga.) attackman Niko Karetsos, Hill Academy (Ont.) defenseman Donny Scott, and Roswell (Ga.) attackman Alex Lobel are the most notable names to find homes over the past month.

Karetsos will be taking his talents to Chapel Hill to play for the North Carolina Tar Heels. The lefty is one of the best shooters in the class and has garnered a reputation as such, as well as being a strong quarterback with his strong vision and dodging ability.

Scott, who plays north of the border for Brodie Merrill and the Hill Academy, has verbaled to the Syracuse Orange where he will play for a few more greats with Gary Gait running the show as head coach and Dave Pietramala as defensive coordinator. The 6-foot, 180-pound defenseman  is one of the most aggressive and effective one-on-one defenders in the class, knowing how to put the ball on the carpet and use his tall frame to cover a ton of ground.

Lobel verbaled to Michigan on October 1st. A scoring machine, the lefty etched his name in the 100 club this past spring as a sophomore. In addition to his scoring ability, the attackman has progressed greatly as a passer and feeder.

North Carolina

Of the four 2023 commits to come out of the Tar Heel state thus far, the most noteworthy by far is goalie Brayson “Goose” Wilson (Cannon, N.C,) and defenseman Karter Williams (Hough, N.C.). Noth will be heading to ACC programs.

Wilson will be staying home and playing for the North Carolina Tar Heels. The 5-foot-8, 160-pound goalkeeper isn’t the biggest, but he plays with as much heart and hustle as you’ll see. His ability to stifle offenses on the regular and make some of the wildest saves has earned him high regard amongst the best at the position.

Willams will be taking his talent up to South Bend to play for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. At 6-foot-4, 200-pounds, the junior has a long frame and covers a lot of ground as a defender. He also has some of the best stick skills as any pole at the high school level and can be effective in transition.

In addition to the aforementioned Wilson and Williams, Hoggard (N.C.) Cayden Hollar was the first verbal to Hofstra of the cycle and Ashley (N.C.) attackman Kenan Everhart was the first ’23 commit for Loyola.

Texas

The Lone Start State’s, well, lone2023 commitment since the contact period opened came from Culver (Ind.) goalie Colin Vickrey.

A former ’22 Notre Dame commit, Vickrey reclassified and has since flipped to Princeton to help pad one of the best classes of the cycle. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound goalkeeper, who has been compared to Syracuse and Navy legends John Galloway and Mickey Jarboe, is rated as a four-star by Inside Lacrosse and has some of the quickest hands you’ll find in high school lacrosse, and is very effective in the clearing game.

Virginia

Seven commitments have come out of Old Dominion since the contact period opened up.

Two of the most notable names out of the state to find homes over the past month have been a pair of attackmen in Nate Kabiri (Georgetown Prep, Md.) and Jack Schubert (Lake Braddock, Va.). Both are headed to Georgetown.

Kabiri is ranked as the No. 9 player and rated as a five-star by Inside Lacrosse. An explosive playmaker who can be dangerous from both behind the cage and up top, he helped lead Episcopal (Va.) to a state title this past spring before transferring to Georgetown Prep. Schubert has a long and lanky frame, and is a lethal shooter. He has shown to thrive on the wings as a dodger, as well as up top.

Additionally, Syracuse has picked up a top-end defender out of the state in Quintan Kilrain (Lawrenceville, N.J.) and Virginia went in-state for their first commitment of the class, landing Collegiate (Va.) D/LSM Eli Petty. Lake Braddock (Va.) has also seen another offensive talent find a home this past month with midfielder Sam McAvoy verbaling to Penn State.

Full List of 2023 Commits From The South (Oct. 1st, 5:00pm):

State	Player	Position	High School	Commitment	Commitment Date
Georgia	Hill Plunkett	Attack	Roswell	Army West Point	7/1/2021
Virginia	Matt Han	Midfield	Paul VI	Michigan	9/3/2021
Virginia	Eli Petty	Defense/LSM	Collegiate	Virginia	9/5/2021
Florida	Luke Lowery	Defense	Ponte Vedra	Dartmouth	9/12/2021
Georgia	Niko Karetsos	Attack	Pace Academy	North Carolina	9/13/2021
North Carolina	Cayden Hollar	Midfield	Hoggard (N.C.)	Hofstra	9/15/2021
North Carolina	Brayson Wilson	Goalie	Cannon School	North Carolina	9/16/2021
Texas	Colin Vickrey*	Goalie	Culver (Ind.)	Princeton	9/16/2021
Virginia	Quintan Kilrain	Defense	Lawrenceville (N.J.)	Syracuse	9/16/2021
Florida	Andrew Klis	Defense	American Heritage	Dartmouth	9/16/2021
Georgia	Donny Scott	Defense	The Hill Academy (Ont.)	Syracuse	9/17/2021
Florida	Andrew Klis	Defense	American Heritage	Dartmouth	9/17/2021
Virginia	Nolan Gilmartin	Attack	Benedictine Prep	UAlbany	9/17/2021
Georgia	Jack Marlow	Midfield	Cambridge	Michigan	9/19/2021
Alabama	Anderson Moore	Goalie	Briarwood Christian	Georgetown	9/21/2021
Florida	Jordan Faison	Midfield	Pine Crest	Notre Dame	9/21/2021
Georgia	Ezekiel Lomax	Midfield	IMG Academy	Jacksonville	9/23/2021
Virginia	Nate Kabiri	Attack	Georgetown Prep (Md.)	Georgetown	9/24/2021
North Carolina	Kenan Everhart	Attack	Ashley (N.C.)	Loyola	9/25/2021
Georgia	Carson Hall	Faceoff	Harrison (Ga.)	Loyola	9/28/2021
Florida	Colin Kruger	Attack	Tampa Jesuit	Boston U.	9/28/2021
Florida	Jack Schulte	Attack	St. Andrew’s	Air Force	9/28/2021
Florida	Maddox Johnson	A/M	Ponte Vedra	Denver	9/29/2021
Virginia	Sam McAvoy	Midfield	Lake Braddock (Va.)	Penn State	9/29/2021
North Carolina	Karter Willams	Defense	Hough	Notre Dame	9/30/2021
Virginia	Jack Schubert	Attack	Lake Braddock (Va.)	Georgetown	9/30/2021
Florida	Turner Ashby	A/M	Plant	Air Force	10/1/2021
Georgia	Alex Lobel	Attack	Roswell	Michigan	10/1/2021