With the arrival of Austin Mai on the 40 Acres this fall, the middie from Highland Park continues a strong pipeline of Highland Park alumni into the Longhorn lacrosse program. Mai joins returning Texas middies Johnny McKnight and William Lawson and returning attackman Joseph Scaling as a tour de force of former Scots.

And while Mai played with the other three in high school, winning a slew of state championships under Highland Park head coach Derek Thomson, he brings something else to the table.

"He was as well rounded a middie as I've had in the last couple of years," Thomson said of Mai's athletic ability.

Mai led Highland Park to a state championship last season as a team captain and earned All-American recognition for his efforts. Thomson said it was Mai's ability to play stalwart defense and then create transition that earned him the esteemed title, despite a plethora of NCAA talent on the Highland Park team.

Thomson compared the three, saying that Mai doesn't have the same offensive mentality as McKnight. Instead, "he's more of a point guard, a distributor," Thomson said.

"All three were also very good defenders," Thomson added. "But Austin was probably the best."

With that kind of resume, Mai is expected to hit the ground running at Texas, where the Longhorns begin practice Sept. 8.

"I can only hope to have a great time playing the sport that I love, and hopefully the team will do well in the next four years," Mai said. "I decided to come to Texas because it's a great school, it's in-state and it has great athletic teams."

And aside from a chance to compete for the MCLA national championship, Mai is also looking forward to reuniting with his former high school companions McKnight and Lawson.

"I have played with Johnny since middle school and I got to play with William in high school for a season," Mai said. "They had a big influence in my decision to play lacrosse at Texas.

Thomson said he spoke with Lawson and McKnight over the summer, and both expressed interest in playing on the same midfield line as Mai.

"They all graduated [from Highland Park] in different years, so they weren't all on same line in high school, but I think they would feed well off each other," Thomson said. "Opposing teams are going to have to pick their poison."

And while the decision of where to play the former Scots is ultimately up to Texas head coach Noah Fink, the threat of having all three on the same team is sure to give opposing coaches fits in 2010.

"Coach Thomson has prepared his players to play at the elite level and Austin is a great example of this. He has every tool needed to play at the top collegiate level," Fink said. "We are very excited to get him on the field and see how he fits in with the team and his fellow HP teammates. The midfield will be a strength of the team and we will have 15 middies fighting for spots. We'll see how the chemistry works out in the fall and how it all plays out. Competition is what makes you better and we have a great group to fight it out in practice. I have no doubt that Austin will be in that mix."