Thanks D-I: Tufts Happy to Have Hessler
by Jac Coyne | Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff | Coyne Archive | Twitter
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| A talented scorer and an assist machine, D.J. Hessler
is pleased with his decision to join the Division III ranks at
Tufts. © Robert Augart/Mass. Event Photos |
Who says Division I coaches don’t care about Division
III?
Due to the blue-chip mentality that has taken over the scholarship
landscape of late, the top dogs are allowing more and more
talented late-bloomers to trickle down to the D-III world. For
Tufts University, this paradigm has netted the Jumbos junior
attackman D.J. Hessler – the best player in the
program’s history.
“In a conversation with [St. Paul’s (Md.) head coach]
Rick Brocato, he said, ‘Hey, listen, no one is going to talk
to this kid because he’s our fourth attackman, but he’s
a great student, he’s an engineering student and we’d
love him to look at Tufts,’” said Jumbos head
coach Mike Daly. “That’s really where it
started.”
“I didn’t even hear of Tufts until my senior year when
one of my counselors said, ‘Hey, you might want to look at
this school,’” said Hessler, who played mostly man-up
his junior year before finally cracking the starting line-up at St.
Paul’s as a senior. “’They have good programs and
they have an up-and-coming lacrosse team.’”
The Jumbos were able to take advantage of Division I programs
moving their recruiting timeline forward to lock in players who
have established themselves earlier in their prep
careers. Players like Hessler, who get their first opportunity
to impress in their final season, are typically only given the
chance to walk on at a scholarship school or encouraged to take a
post-graduate year in order to give the D-I teams another chance to
evaluate.
“I never thought before the college process that I would
go to Division III or this was what I wanted to do, but
it’s really difficult when you’re not playing a lot
until your senior year because you’ve already passed that
point,” said Hessler, who toyed with attending an Ivy school
or a service academy before choosing Tufts. “With a sport
like lacrosse in the spring, all of the recruiting is already done
by the time your senior seasons comes up. That was the first time I
got to play and start an entire year, but at that point it was a
little too late to make a D-I impact.”
Hessler’s impact at Tufts, however, was immediate.
Starting his freshman year in 2008, when he scored 23 goals and
dished out 23 assists, Hessler has led the Jumbos in points every
season. Last year, it was 42 goals and 47 assists, leading to the
first of his two NESCAC Player of the Year plaques. That was
followed up this year with 36 goals and 50 helpers, and the
Jumbos’ first-ever trip to the national championship game on
Sunday.
While he certainly has a scorer’s touch, it’s Hessler
passing ability – one opposing coach described him by say he
has “great eyes” – that continues to impress Daly
after three seasons.
“There are times when the offense is down by our bench area
and I’m standing 35 yards away and I’ve got the whole
picture,” said Daly. “And then you see a d-middie
that’s floating down on the opposite pipe or something like
that, and all of a sudden he puts it in that guy’s stick and
you’re shaking your head saying, ‘How did he see that
guy?’ He scores a lot of goals for people by putting it right
where it needs to be.”
The stats have been a constant, but this year Hessler has had to
assume more of a leadership role. It’s not something he
necessarily craves – Hessler paints himself as quiet
individual on a team full of jokesters and clowns – but the
graduation of Clem McNally, who was the leader of the attack unit
for several years, has forced him out of his comfort zone.
“I’m more of a lead-by-example guy, but I’ve
taken a more vocal role this year,” said Hessler. “Me
and Ryan [Molloy] played with Clem for the last two years so when
he graduated, we knew it was time to step up. We had enough time in
the system and playing at our position that we were confident
enough to know what to do and when to do it.”
“He’s a real competitive guy; he probably undersold
that a little bit,” said Daly, who noted that Hessler has a
3.51 GPA in biomedical engineering. “He’s not a vocal
guy, but he wants to win.”
On Sunday, Hessler will return to his hometown and play on the
sport’s biggest stage. It will be there that he’ll
finally catch the attention of coaches from all divisions, even
though it might be three years after he initially had hoped.
That’s okay. Being ignored by the Division I types has been
the best thing for Tufts, the Jumbos program and Hessler.
“It’s an awesome feeling that we can put our program
and our school on the map,” said Hessler. “Maybe I felt
like I got short-changed or I didn’t get an opportunity, but
it all worked out well. I couldn’t be happier where I
am.”
