After one year working for Barclays Investment Bank in New York, former Duke All-American Deemer Class realized his passion for the game went beyond playing.
Upon graduating in May 2016, he competed with the Atlanta Blaze and Charlotte Hounds in Major League Lacrosse and recently was announced as one of several stars shifting to the new Premier Lacrosse League.
But coaching was calling his name.
In July 2016, with fellow Baltimore native Ryan Brown, a Johns Hopkins graduate, Class co-founded RBDC Lacrosse, hosting clinics and offering small group and private training. He traveled to 26 states in one year focusing on shooting and offensive skills, adding girls’ training in January as he has three younger sisters, Marisa, Cabrini and Ava, who played. He also took a coaching job at McDonogh (Md.) for the 2018 boys’ lacrosse season.
Then this past summer, he heard about the job openings at USC after associate head coach Devon Wills and assistant Amanda Johansen departed for Harvard and Hofstra, respectively. It wasn’t long before Trojans coach Lindsey Munday named Class an assistant alongside Katie Hertsch on Sept. 10.
Excited at the prospect with the growth of the game, watching similar strides in athleticism in both men’s and women’s lacrosse, Class plans to include the lessons he learned at Duke and with his professional teams in the Trojans' revamped playbook.
“Doing some of the training from a purely technical standpoint in terms of the stick and the shooting and the stickwork, I think everything is pretty much the same,” Class said. “From that point of view, I’ve been teaching the dodging just how I learned it and how I teach the boys’ side. … In terms of what players are physically able to do, it’s only more and more progressing.”
As a competitor, if you miss the NCAA tournament, you’re not happy, and even making the NCAA tournament, I don’t really think that’s our goal here. Our goal is to win a national championship.
As a three-time All-American, Class holds Duke’s midfielder single-season record for goals (50), making him one of just six men’s lacrosse midfielders in NCAA history to score that many goals in a season.
His dodging expertise, being physical, brings new offensive concepts that are prevalent in the men’s game to the USC offense. But the women’s game also offers more opportunities with two-way midfielders.
“We have a talented group at the midfield,” Class said. “What’s a little different about the women’s game than the men’s game is a lot of the women tend to play two ways. That creates for some exciting opportunities in transition.”
That means buying in on both the offensive and defensive ends, pushing fast breaks and improving stick skills and dodging.
“A lot of the concepts I’ve learned as a midfielder are directly translating to what we’re working on with our unit right now,” Class said. “Taking on the mentality as a midfield unit is something that I really valued when I played at Duke and still do as a middie.”
Who has the best mean mug?! Hint, it’s not @22classy
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Leading the USC midfield is the 2018 Pac-12 midfielder of the year Kerrigan Miller. As a sophomore, she led the Trojans with 49 points, 40 caused turnovers and 36 goals, while also adding 48 draw controls, 38 ground balls and 13 assists. Kaeli Huff also returns after a 30-goal season, rounding out the upperclassmen in the midfield. The remaining midfielders are freshmen or sophomores, including one of the top-ranked recruits in freshman Erin Bakes out of Florida.
But what Miller and Huff have felt that Bakes and fellow freshmen have not is the bitter ending to the 2018 season, losing to Stanford in the Pac-12 tournament, which led to USC missing out on the NCAA tournament after back-to-back appearances in the quarterfinals.
“I think that a lot of players had a sour taste in their mouth, as they should after last season,” Class said. “I think making two elite eights back to back put the program right on that brink. That gave people more confidence that they can keep pushing as a newer program, and I think now it’s taking a step back, assessing where we have to be better and making that push to the final four.”
Class, especially, wants to help lead the Trojans to that national pedestal, which he had the honor of experiencing twice with the Blue Devils, in 2013 and 2014.
“As a competitor, if you miss the NCAA tournament, you’re not happy, and even making the NCAA tournament, I don’t really think that’s our goal here,” he said. “Our goal is to win a national championship and we really believe in the players that we have.”
Fall Focus
Pac-12
Colorado
9-1 Pac-12, 14-6 Overall
For its first conference title in five seasons, Colorado claimed the Pac-12 crown with a 15-6 win over Stanford. It then won its first NCAA tournament game. For 2019, the Buffs lose point leader and draw specialist Darby Kiernan and Pac-12 defensive player of the year Sarah Brown. Eyes will turn toward Miranda Stinson in the midfield for leadership.
Stanford
8-2 Pac-12, 15-5 Overall
The Pac-12 attacker of the year Kelsey Murray may have graduated, but last year’s conference rookie of the year Ali Baiocco is back for more. After winning the inaugural Pac-12 tournament crown, the Cardinal will be looking to bounce back from its 12-3 loss to Virginia in the NCAA tournament.
USC
6-4 Pac-12, 10-8 Overall
After back-to-back NCAA quarterfinal appearances in 2016 and 2017, USC fell to Stanford in the Pac-12 tournament and missed the NCAA tournament in 2018. Starting goalie Gussie Johns graduated, but with stat leaders returning, including Pac-12 midfielder of the year Kerrigan Miller, hopes are high.
Oregon
4-6 Pac-12, 9-9 Overall
It’s a new era for the Ducks under head coach Chelsea Gamble. Last year’s point leader Shannon Williams is now a senior, but leading scorer Jill Zubillaga graduated. The Ducks will need to rebuild after an average season, which ended with a 16-6 rout at the hands of Colorado.
California
2-8 Pac-12, 6-12 Overall
After defeating Oregon by two in April, the Ducks came back to dominate Cal in the Pac-12 tournament, 22-9. The Bears will need consistency to climb the ladder in the conference, especially after losing their top two draw specialists.
Arizona State
1-9 Pac-12, 6-12 Overall
The Sun Devils enter their second season after snagging just six wins in year one. Attacker Kerri Clayton impressed with a team-high 44 goals, being the only Arizona State player to earn all-conference honors after transferring from Jacksonville.