Cavaliers Now

Virginia Lacrosse Adds Two More Five-Stars to 2026 Recruiting Class

Matt Newton

Virginia lacrosse landed commitments from 2026 five-star recruits Ethan Bramoff and Tuck Gilbane this week.
Virginia lacrosse landed commitments from 2026 five-star recruits Ethan Bramoff and Tuck Gilbane this week. / Ethan Bramoff/Tuck Gilbane

And just like that, Virginia lacrosse now has the third-ranked recruiting class in the country for the 2026 cycle and all seems right in the world again.

Now, it seems like alarmist hysteria, but we published an article earlier this week lamenting the fact that through the first two weeks of the open recruiting period for the class of 2026, UVA had picked up just one five-star recruit and sat in seventh in the team recruiting rankings (per Inside Lacrosse). All the while, the other top programs in college lacrosse were scooping up commitments from tons of talented recruits.

That was jarring and unusual given that the Cavaliers have routinely had the top-ranked recruiting classes. With many of the top prospects already off the board, it was difficult to see the Hoos rallying a comeback in time.

That all seems rather silly now, as since we ran that story on Tuesday, Lars Tiffany and company have secured not one, not two, but three commitments from five-star recruits. We covered the first, as five-star attackman and No. 9 overall recruit (per Inside Lacrosse) Lucas Garcia announced his commitment to Virginia on Tuesday evening.

That increased UVA's number of five-star commits from one to two and now the Hoos have doubled that number again, picking up commitments from a pair of five-star recruits on Wednesday and Thursday.

Ethan Bramoff, the No. 14 overall recruit in the Inside Lacrosse 2026 rankings, announced his commitment to UVA on Wednesday. A 6'0" long-stick midfielder out of St. Anthony's High School in New York, Bramoff is the No. 1-ranked LSM in the country.

Next came Tuck Gilbane, a five-star attackman from Noble & Greenough School in Massachusetts. Gilbane, who is the No. 8-ranked attackman in the class and the No. 20 overall prospect in the country, announced his commitment to Virginia on Thursday.

According to Ty Xanders of Prep Lacrosse, another outlet that covers lacrosse recruiting, Virginia landed four of the 16 five-star recruits in the class of 2026, tied with Notre Dame for the most in the country. That's a remarkable turnaround considering where things stood for the Cavaliers at the beginning of the week.

Per Inside Lacrosse, Virginia now has the No. 3-ranked recruiting class in the country, trailing only Notre Dame and Duke. The Cavaliers have four five-stars, three four-stars, and one three-star recruit. And they might not be done yet, as Tiffany and his staff still have room for a couple more future Wahoos to join in.

Slow and steady wins the race. Virginia has reloaded once again.

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Matt Newton

MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.