Swarm’s selection of Elijah Gash voided, brings league-wide total of terminated picks to twelve
Georgia Swarm (Photo: Kyle Hess)
Make that twelve 2022 NLL Entry Draft selections turfed by the league, who yesterday officially voided the Georgia Swarm’s selection of Elijah Gash (University of Albany).
This is the Swarm’s second pick from this year’s draft to be voided, the team’s selection of Cross Ferrara (Salisbury University) cancelled after the league determined the player met the requirements of a free agent and would have been draft eligible a season earlier. Ferrara, who played his fourth full season (fifth in total) with Salisbury last year, netted nearly 100 goals in just 22 games with the Seaguls in 2022.
The New York Riptide’s selection of Chris Gray (University of North Carolina) was nixed by the NLL for the same reason as Ferrara, but the player has since signed as a free agent with the club.
Gash, who Georgia took 62nd overall in last month’s draft, was declared undraftable this year due to an entirely different reason. The Swarm pick was deemed ineligible pursuant to by-law II (D), which states, “These players have completed between one and three seasons of NCAA lacrosse and did not renounce their NCAA eligibility. They are not eligible to be signed by any club.”
Of this year’s twelve terminated picks, seven of them have been voided due to this specific by-law violation, indicating that there is clearly confusion regarding the extra season of collegiate eligibility some students have due to the pandemic cutting short 2020’s campaign. As other voided selections have also done, Gash retweeted the team soon after the Swarm’s selection, further confirming the lack of clarity surrounding this short-term player status, at times at least.
Gash (South Lyon, Mich.) has turned heads over the past two collegiate seasons playing for Albany. A big (6’4”, 210 lbs.), strong athletic shut-down defender with above-average stick skills, he certainly has the box-specific tools to potentially transition his game indoors one day, we just won’t see that attempt for at least another year.
The Swarm experienced significant success last season with a pair of young Americans playing defense-first roles in TJ Comizio (Basking Ridge, N.J.) & Connor Kirst (Bernardsville, N.J.). Comizio was named to The Lax Mag’s All-Rookie First Team, while Kirst’s contributions were so noticeable that the Las Vegas Desert Dogs selected the second-year pro in this summer’s NLL Expansion Draft.
Here is the full list of 2022 draft selections voided by the league, plus the by-law subsection teams broke:
Round. (Overall) Player (Junior A/NCBS/College) NLL team
These players completed four seasons of NCAA lacrosse after the NCAA spring 2021 season. They are street free agents and may be signed by any club.
3. (50) Chris Gray (University of North Carolina) New York Riptide
5. (81) Cross Ferrara (Salisbury University) Georgia Swarm
6. (103) Max Waldbaum (Jacksonville University) Philadelphia Wings
These players have completed between one and three seasons of NCAA lacrosse and did not renounce their NCAA eligibility. They are not eligible to be signed by any club.
4. (61) Henry Follows (Oakville Buzz/Cornell University) Vancouver Warriors
4. (62) Elijah Gash (University of Albany) Georgia Swarm
4. (72) Ryan Haigh (Mimico Mountaineers/Cleveland State University) New York Riptide
5. (76) Grant Ammann (High Point University) Albany FireWolves
5. (83) Sam Handley (University of Pennsylvania) New York Riptide
6. (95) Carter Brand (Toronto Beaches/Okotoks Raiders/CCBLL Gold Miners/University of Denver/Limestone University) Saskatchewan Rush
6. (100) Mike Sisselberger (Lehigh University) San Diego Seals
These players were born 2002 or later and did not renounce their NCAA eligibility. They are not eligible to be signed by any club.
4. (69) Chris Dong (Oakville Buzz) San Diego Seals
These players were born 2000 or earlier and never played NCAA lacrosse. They are street free agents and may be signed by any club.
6. (98) Aidan Guld (Coquitlam Adanacs) Albany FireWolves