Introduction of D.J. Hessler, presented by Casey D'Annolfo, Tufts Men's Lacrosse Head Coach

At the first-ever Tufts Athletics Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 2018, a very special team was inducted as an inaugural member of the Hall of Fame. It was the first team in Tufts Athletics history to win an NCAA team championship. It was the 2010 men’s lacrosse team. 

And tonight, we are so pleased to recognize and celebrate a key member of that championship team – D.J. Hessler.

That 2010 men’s lacrosse national championship was 11 years in the making under Head Coach Mike Daly, and great recruiting was a key component to building that team. Coach Daly always said that he wanted to bring in “lacrosse junkies” – guys who ate, slept and breathed lacrosse. 

From St. Paul’s School in Moncton, Maryland, D.J. Hessler certainly met that standard. 

In high school – like the slightly more famous “MJ” – our “D.J.” didn’t make the varsity team until his junior year. And he didn’t play substantial minutes until his senior season. But D.J. had a lacrosse stick in his hand since the moment he could crawl, he loved the game, he developed quickly, and he was determined to excel at the collegiate level.

Coach Daly saw something special in D.J., and D.J. saw something special in the Tufts men’s lacrosse program and the Tufts School of Engineering. And it turned out to be a perfect match. A skilled passer with excellent field vision, D.J. would become the offensive leader of the Jumbo teams from 2008 - 2011. 

D.J. really has too many accolades to enumerate fully here. But some highlights include:

•    He was a two-time NESCAC Player of the Year
•    He was a selected as an All-American 3 times
•    In 2011, he was named the Lt. Col. Jack Turnbull Award recipient as the Outstanding Attackman in Division III after helping lead the Jumbos back to the NCAA final
•    At the time he graduated, D.J. was Tufts' all-time leading scorer with 321 points on 140 goals and 181 assists
•   And did he rise to the occasion during the 2010 NCAA championship game?? He most absolutely did – he tallied 1 goal and 4 assists in the Jumbos’ 9-6 win over Salisbury on his way to being named the NCAA tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

Epitomizing what it means to be a Jumbo student-athlete, D.J. was an academic stand-out as well. He earned his degree in Biomedical Engineering with a GPA of 3.49 and seven appearances on the Dean’s List. And to cap it off, he received the NCAA's very prestigious Elite 88 Award (now called “Elite 90”) that recognized the student-athlete with the best overall academic performance participating at the 2011 NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship.

"D.J. was an instrumental part of our program winning our first national championship," said Coach Daly. "He was a great player, but he made everyone around him better as well. Beyond lacrosse, D.J. came from an amazingly supportive family and was a top student, often missing practice for engineering labs. He always found time and a way to balance everything."

All of D.J.’s individual achievements were never as important to him as his team. He and his teammates laid the foundation for a men’s lacrosse program that has won three NCAA championships and 12 of the last 13 NESCAC titles.

Affectionately known by his teammates as “The Hess Truck” and “Land Shark”, please welcome D.J. Hessler to the stage to accept his Hall of Fame award ...