US Lacrosse magazine reports leading Irish lacrosse attackman Ryder Garnsey has been granted his release to transfer.  They further report that he may sit out a year to play at Virginia.  We have not been able to otherwise confirm.

Transfers from the lacrosse team are rare, and a transfer of the presumed focal point of the offense seems unusual.  Consider as well that Garnsey even took on the #50 in respect to the great Matt Kavanagh.  He would presumedly have to sit out his junior year, which frankly, makes this all seem very odd. Admittedly, we had heard rumors that he was unhappy at Notre Dame, but none from anyone whom we knew to have direct knowledge.

Garnsey was the #2 recruit of the 2015 class and the leading Irish scorer with 43 points in 2017.  He is an absolute magician with the ball whose career at Notre Dame filled a highlight reel.  It would indeed be a sad loss for Irish lacrosse fans.

Garnsey was hobbled by injury late in the season.  This significantly hampered his output in the NCAA and ACC tournaments.

If this transfer comes to pass, Coach Corrigan will have a huge hole in the attack. It seems the likely candidates are Brian Willets moving in from midfield or contribution from incoming and highly recruited freshman Conor Morin.  Frankly, the whole incoming freshman class is stacked with offensive talent, we just hoped they wouldn’t be needed so quickly.

We’ll report with any developments.