DURHAM, N.C.?Three former Blue Devils recently were selected by the newest team in Major League Lacrosse in the 2016 MLL Expansion Draft. Justin Turri, Chris Hipps and CJ Costabile all will make the move from their current squads to the Atlanta Blaze as it begins its first year of competition in 2016.

Turri, a two-year veteran of the Rochester Rattlers and four-year member of the league, was picked up by the Blaze with the No. 4 pick overall. The former Duke midfielder has played in 47 career games in the MLL and owns 37 goals, 26 assists and 69 points overall. He helped lead the Rattlers to the MLL Championship game each of the past two seasons and was voted MLL's Most Improved Player.

Hipps, the eighth pick, will join the Blaze after a single season with the Chesapeake Bayhawks. The two-time NCAA Champion defenseman played in 12 games for the Bayhawks in his inaugural MLL campaign and finished with 20 ground balls.

A recent member of Team USA at the World Indoor Lacrosse Championships, Costabile will begin his third season in the MLL with the Blaze. The longstick midfielder played in 14 games for the Bayhawks last season, scoring three goals and three assists and picking up 37 ground balls. He ranked second on the team in ground balls and took a team-high 114 faceoffs.

The expansion draft process involves fifteen rounds of picks given to the league's newest addition, the Atlanta Blaze, in which they are given the opportunity to set the foundation for the organization's inaugural season roster. Prior to the draft, each team chose a list of 10-12 protected players off of their current roster that could not be picked by the Blaze during the expansion draft. The Blaze were then limited to 15 draft picks, all originating from the remaining “unprotected” players that were left after the protected rosters were chosen from each of the 8 existing teams. The draft was conducted over a league-facilitated conference call, with the inaugural Blaze making all 15 of the draft selections.

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