Monday night, Matt Lane’s phone buzzed for an unusual text. It was his dad, Jim, making a joke he’ll probably hear a lot in the coming weeks.

“Syracuse needs a new big man,” the text read. Lane laughed and shook his head.

It was announced that day Syracuse center DaJuan Coleman will undergo season-ending surgery on his left knee. The injury leaves a void in the SU frontcourt and Lane — a 6-foot-7, 252-pound freshman on the lacrosse team — does fit the mold of a hypothetical replacement.

Yet Lane’s not on Jim Boeheim’s list of options nor does he want to be. Before his junior year of high school Lane chose to utilize his size as an attack in lacrosse rather than basketball or soccer. The freshman from Montclair, N.J., joins a crowded Syracuse attack and may not be figured into the team’s immediate plans with the season approaching.

But head coach John Desko has repeatedly told Lane that he could be the tallest player in Division I lacrosse, which gives the Orange a rare asset moving forward.

“He creates mismatch problems,” Desko said. “He’s a big strong player, been working on his weak hand, spending more time in the weight room. He could be a guy on the field somewhere down the road for us.”

At Montclair Kimberley (N.J.) Academy, Lane played soccer, basketball and lacrosse. His mom played lacrosse at Georgetown and the sport’s growing prevalence in the New Jersey area inched him toward pursuing a collegiate career in it.

While his lacrosse pedigree swelled, he also thrived on other surfaces. He scored more than 900 points and grabbed more than 1,000 rebounds in his high school basketball career, won back-to-back state championships and posted 52 career shutouts as a soccer goalie and finished his lacrosse career at Montclair Kimberley as the all-time leader in points with 155 goals and 182 assists.

In the summer before his senior year, Lane drew interest from North Carolina, Wake Forest and Syracuse. The Tar Heels and Demon Deacons wanted him for their soccer programs, while the Orange recruited him for lacrosse.

So Lane had a decision to make: guard the net with a pair of gloves in the south or attack the net with a lacrosse stick in Central New York.

“It came down to where my family and I thought I would succeed best,” Lane said, “and what was in my best interest.”

Now Lane is prepping for his first season of collegiate lacrosse, but is still assumed to be an athlete in another sport.

When he walks around campus in his official Syracuse jacket, No. 90 over his chest, people frequently ask him if he plays on the basketball or football team.

“No,” he says, as if he’s repeating a routine. “I’m just a really big lacrosse player.”

Once he steps onto the practice field, Lane no longer looks out of place. His big frame allows him to create space for his teammates. He sees his vision as his biggest strength and teams in the past have been forced to double team him.

After Lane, Syracuse’s next tallest players are midfielder Mike Iacono and defender Bobby Tait, and no other attack stands taller than 6-foot-3. Once he develops his skill set and adapts to the college game, he’ll bring a complexion to the SU front line that no other player can.

“Guys like me, it’s impossible for us to take the ball from him,” said freshman midfielder Dylan Maltz, who is 5-foot-8. “His size is really a weapon, and I think it could be used.”

In the short term, Lane has set his sights on cracking a starting rotation sometime this season. In the long term, he wants to do whatever he can — even if it means sitting on the bench — to help the team win a national championship.

Then there’s the fantastical possibility of Lane giving SU basketball’s frontcourt needed depth.

It’s a make-believe scenario Lane laughs about, but one that Maltz doesn’t find too far-fetched.

“The other day we were at Archbold (Gym) and he just posterized some kid,” Maltz said. “I’ve see him play basketball and lacrosse and the funny thing is that he really could play either.”

Published on January 22, 2014 at 1:30 am

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