Tom Dodge had a choice. It was a choice that most high-school athletes will never have to make.
After a stellar high-school sports career in Manhasset, N.Y., Dodge committed to play lacrosse at Duke before his senior year.
But then, came the problem: three players on the Duke team were accused of rape and sexual assault after an off-campus party, an accusation that raised deep-seated sentiments about racism, elitism and college athletics within Durham and the larger sports community. Under fire, Duke's lacrosse coach, Mike Pressler, resigned his post, and the team's season was cancelled. The Blue Devils had been a top-three team in most media rankings prior to the incident.
And then, the choice. Should Dodge stay with the program that he had committed to, or should he seek a release from his letter of intent and take up a new career at a new school?
He chose the latter. Then he chose Penn.
"He got his release from the NCAA and I believe from Duke, and his dad contacted me and I talked to Tommy," Quakers coach Brian Voelker said. "They were not sure they need that in their life because there were a lot of opportunities out there for him before this stuff went down."
Dodge -- who was not available for comment -- had been contacted by Voelker during the summer of his junior year, but by that time he was already, on paper at least, a Blue Devil.
But after the scandal broke and the national media cast a scornful eye on the program, Dodge decided that the negativity surrounding Duke was not something that he needed in his life.
Said Voelker, "He was looking to get a great education and play lacrosse and have great opportunities when he got out of college, but he was not sure he could have done with that kind of environment down there at that time."
Those sentiments echoed those of some other former members of Pressler's final recruiting class.
"I wanted to be loyal to the school that I had committed to and to my future teammates," Ken Clausen, another former member of Duke's Class of 2010, told ESPN.com. "I tried to support them as much as I could, but it became tough."
"It became tough to think about staying. I was afraid that Duke wouldn't have a program next year," he said. Faced with that uncertainty, Clausen, like Dodge, sought another school that needed his services. He chose Virginia, another ACC school and the defending national champions.
Two other players will play for Georgetown next year, but three decided to stick with the Blue Devils, regardless of who the new coach will be.
"He's a very good athlete," Voelker said of Dodge. "He's a very good high school football player. He's on the Long Island Empire State Team, which is the best players in Long Island. He's a good leader and we're very excited that he's coming to Penn."
Leadership may be in short supply next season, as the Quakers will no longer have the likes D.J. Andrzejewski, James Riordan or Andrew Blechman to anchor the team. The strongest class right now is the sophomore one, so the team will be looking for the newcomers to take on more responsibility than they may have bargained for.
For Dodge, though, the challenge may seem like small potatoes compared to the storm he has weathered so far.
