After a long recruiting journey, Joe Hobot of Smithtown East has recently committed to continue his lacrosse career at Johns Hopkins University beginning in the fall of 2023. Hobot recently recovered from a torn adductor muscle in his groin which he suffered last year during the spring which limited the amount of time he saw on the field during the season. He recently spoke in an interview with the LILJ about his recruiting story.
The recruiting journey for Hobot was definitely a unique experience. Due to the injury that Hobot suffered he was unable to participate in any summer lacrosse events such as tournaments and showcases in what was the most important summer of his career in terms of being recruited. The lack of footage that college coaches had on Hobot meant there was a lot of uncertainty as to what his future would hold. When September rolled around he didn’t receive calls from any coaches about definitive offers.
“I was up September 1st and nothing happened, then a couple days go by and I have one coach reach out. Then, every single coach that reached out said we need to see you play more because we didn’t get to see you because you were injured during the summer.”
When Hobot recovered from surgery, he got back out on the field in the fall and was able to attend a few prospect days including the one at Johns Hopkins. Although nothing was set in stone at that point, a few months later he received a call from coach Jamison Koesterer who is Hopkins’ defensive coordinator, inviting him for a campus visit, and the pieces began to fall into place.
Hobot attributes being able to play in the LILJ High School Winter League as a big part of why he was able to commit to Hopkins. At the beginning of the winter league he was not yet committed, so that served as an outlet for him to be seen by college coaches.
“If there was no winter league I wouldn’t be doing anything. I’d be doing clinics, but that wouldn’t be enough for schools to see. The winter league allows me to go against top competition where a lot of the players are already committed. It’s given me something to do and to be able to play and have coaches see me is nice.”
The stress and the pressure of really feeling like he had to play at his absolute best at the beginning of the winter league was lifted once he was officially committed to Hopkins. Hobot felt that he could play much more free and easy.
“After I was committed, in our game against Ward Melville I came out and had one of the best games I’ve had in a while. I was just playing so loose. My effort was still there but there was just such a big weight lifted off my chest. I was able to just play free with my friends and I was just so happy being out there.”
In the six week LILJ High School Winter League, Hobot had a great showing for Smithtown East. He finished the season with 11 points, 15 ground balls, and went 31/40 in face-offs.
Looking ahead, Hobot sees himself as someone who wants to be one of the leaders on the team at Hopkins and is going to make sure no matter what he’s always going give everything his maximum effort.
“Even though when I first get there I’ll only be a freshman, I still want to be able to be a leader. When I get there, from the first practice to the last, whether its off season or in season I just want to be putting in all of my effort and working as hard as I can.”
With still two more seasons remaining at Smithtown East Hobot has a positive outlook on the success that his team can have this upcoming spring.
“I definitely have some high hopes. We have some great talent all around from our keeper to our defense as well as our attacks and middies.”
One of Smithtown East’s signature wins in the winter league came against Ward Melville which he believes can be a sneak peak of what’s to come in the spring.
“Coming out and beating Ward Melville… it was a good showing to just show how good we can be in the spring season. We still have so much to work on but I think it’s a great teaser for what’s going to happen in the spring.”
