Beyond Talent: 4X All Star Jules Heningburg’s Lacrosse Odyssey, Part I.

In this engaging episode of 'Get the Lax Scoop,' hosts Big Dawg and Jaybird delve into the inspiring journey of Jules Heningberg, a two-time All-American and Rutgers graduate. From his early struggles at Columbia High School to becoming the first All-American at Seton Hall Prep, Jules shares how his competitive spirit and dedication led to a successful collegiate and professional lacrosse career. The discussion highlights key influences, including Jules' father and brother, the challenges of navigating the complex landscape of high school and club lacrosse, and the importance of hard work and skill development over innate talent. Listeners are treated to anecdotes about the intense sibling rivalry and the roles various coaches played in shaping Jules' path. The episode closes with a teaser for more on Jules' impactful lacrosse career at Rutgers.

00:00 Introduction to Get the Lax Scoop

00:23 Meet the Hosts: Big Dawg and Jaybird

02:13 Special Guest: Jules Henningburg

05:03 Jules' Early Lacrosse Journey

10:05 High School and Club Lacrosse Experience

15:20 Playing with Family: Brotherly Competition

17:53 High School Lacrosse Rivalry

20:47 The Myth of Natural Talent

23:35 Seton Hall Prep Journey

24:13 Overcoming Adversity at Columbia High

29:26 Triumph at Seton Hall

32:21 Conclusion and Reflections

NEW BOOK!
Inside the Recruiting Game: Insights From College Lacrosse Coaches
-Available on Amazon.com as an Ebook and paperback


Links to training videos:
Master The 5 Best Dodges From the Wing!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_7LDOcQQ6Q&t=88s

Blazing Shots... on the Run!
https://youtu.be/XiptPlM63oQ

Check us out...

On YouTube @jaymcmahonlax23
On Instagram @jaymcmahonlax23
On Facebook @: facebook.com/jmcmahonlax23. Page name: Jay McMahon Lacrosse

Check out!... Coach Tintle's Lacrosse Barn:

https://g.co/kgs/eXedCXf

SuccessHotline with Dr. Rob Gilbert on Ironclad & Apple Podcasts

Brian Cain Daily Dominator on Apple Podcasts

Jon Gordon Positive U. Podcast on Spotify

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol Dweck, PhD on Amazon.

Lacrosse Charities Mentioned in S2 E36:
https://www.4thefuturefoundation.org/

https://www.harlemlacrosse.org/

https://15forlife.org/

Transcript

0:00

It's time for Get the Lack Scoop, a podcast bringing you all the people and stuff you should know in the game of lacrosse. We take lack seriously, but ourselves, not so much. Join host Big Dog and Jaybird and the biggest names in the game brought to you by Jay McMahon lacrosse. That's JML skills, mindset, and lacks IQ training. Ron Doglish, the big dog, was a collegiate football and lacrosse player at Brown. He was also an assistant lacrosse coach and the executive director of the Sports Foundation. And Jay McMahon, the Jaybird, a three time All American midfielder at Brown. He was the captain of the U. S. Junior National Team and is the founder of JML. And Joining us in the studio, Steve Grisolfi, who's collegiate lacrosse career statistics equals one goal against Dartmouth brought to you by Jay McMahon lacrosse. That's JML skills, mindset, and lacks IQ training, helping the next generation of lacrosse players get to the next level Well, Jay, here we are again. Another episode of Get the Lack Scoop. Absolutely. It's trying desperately to act like spring. The lacrosse is definitely, definitely heating up, no doubt. I see. In the division one, the, I think the TURPs and the heels are beginning to separate themselves, if I might say. I would agree. Can't deny that our next guest is silent right now. We haven't announced him yet, dog. Don't try to ask him and ruin the surprise. Jay, do you think this is my first goddamn episode? Jesus. I wonder, Ron, I always wonder. Unbelievable. Jay. Jay, yes. It's your job to introduce the guest. I have not blown anything. Do your job, Jay. Introduce our guest. Our next guest is a graduate of Rutgers University where he was a two time all American attack man, two time captain, and all big 10 selection, as well as the school's second, all time leading scorer. He completed his high school education at Seton Hall Prep, where he was the school's first ever All American, and led his team to winning the ES Essex County Championship. After Rutgers, he went on to the professional ranks where he was the seventh overall pick in the 2018 draft, and has been a four time all-star selection while in the professional ranks. He currently plays with a Carolina Chaos. He's also the founder of three organizations, the LAX Lab, which is a skills training program Mission primed, an initiative geared towards preparing lacrosse players to excel in lacrosse and life while at college, as well as the Black Lacrosse Alliance, which works to build a pathway for players and coaches to navigate racial barriers and provide inclusive diversity in the sport we all love. Please give a warm welcome to the one the only Jules Hen welcome. Yeah, Jules, I appreciate that. It's, it's funny to hear like people talk about you know, kind of what you've done. I feel like I'm, I'm getting old now, just like getting old. You're just a kid, but yeah, you've done a lot. Jay, Jules, busy guy's. Resume college. Lacrosse, resume. Looks just like mine, Jay. Oh yeah. I mean, you know, two time all American captain, he looks kind of speedy. I'm sure his game and my game are very similar. Just like you, just like you Ron Jules couldn't be farther from the truth. Ron, did you play Jules, take a guess, please. Defense, I, I put him in the goal right now, right? You, you, you could say goalie. I'm not gonna do that to you though. Like that. I gotta throw that at you, right? That this early on the podcast, you know, oh, Jay, I like it. Jules is testy. He is coming in hot, I say, and for those of you who have never actually. Watched us on video. I am larger than the average guy. So I think Jules just called me a fat guy who might've been standing in the goal. I think you're a fat guy who could take up a lot of the goal. I think that's what I just got from the guests that I just met. Jay. Well, blaze Beard, his teammate. I wouldn't do that to you. I, I would say that you were, you were a defender and, and maybe, you know at some time you tried goal. I don't know. But I, I wouldn't put that on you that I would put that on. Yeah. I'm sure Jay put you up to that leading into the podcast. Oh yeah. That's right. But Jules, hey, as we get started, you know, we love to ask every one of our guests you know, as we were just talking before we came on air, you know, how much. We each love the game. Right, and Jay and I still do this because we just love talking to people in the game of lacrosse, and clearly you are so committed to the game in all the different ways you're giving back. But where did it start, Jules? Where did you first develop this passion and love for the game? Yeah, it started in Maplewood, New Jersey back when I was seven years old. It honestly, I didn't wanna play lacrosse when I was growing up. I was, I was playing basketball and my sister was playing, and my dad would keep saying to me, Hey, like, there's this game lacrosse, like, you know, you really should try it out. And I was like, no, like that, that's not for me. Like I'm, I'm gonna play basketball and that's gonna be my thing. And then I just remember for some reason, like it, it became not an option. Like we had to go, me and my brother had to go to, to practice one day. And I just remember going and I was so bad and I remember leaving being like, damn, like, I don't know how to cradle. I don't know how to throw, I don't know, to catch like, I'm not going back. Me and my brother were both crying about practice and then it's like my dad said to us, Hey, if you sign up for something, I, I signed you up for this. You're going back, like there's no quitting in the middle of the season. So we ended up going back and, and very quickly it turned from, I wasn't very good to, okay, like I gotta figure out how to cradle. Do I use my top hand or my bottom hand? You know, I'm gonna figure this out. Like, I started to, to compete with myself a little bit'cause there was a lot of kids out there. Honestly, at the time I, looking back on, this is silly to think, but I was starting in second grade and there were kids that were out there who had started in kindergarten and so they were already three years ahead of me and doing stuff that I was like, man, like that can do that. Like, all right, I need to figure this out. So it became competitive for me, which was you know, it, it was exciting. Like I, I was, I was playing basketball for a long time and this was something new. And that, that drove me. It got my competitive juices going. And the town that we were in, Maplewood that I grew up in Maplewood and Montclair are the two oldest club programs. When I say club they ended up, it initially was club, but then it became high school programs, but they called'em clubs back in the day. I'm not gonna say any of you guys, but back in the day. And they basically had, I was very fortunate. Like we had dads that played in, in the club and at the high school who moved back to the town and, and they were coaching us and they were just taking the game so seriously. And were just, were talking about the Native American roots and they were talking about, you know, legends that had played on in, in the program that had passed away. You know, we have their number on their sleeve. I could talk more about that. And I'm just over here soaking all in and being like, wow, Maplewood Lacrosse Club is unbelievable. I can't believe I get to have this coach who played at, you know Colgate or, you know, Wooster College, wherever these guys are playing. And, and I was like, wow, I'm so grateful for the opportunity. And I kind of just bought into that. And then that, that, you know, led me on to to a lot of different things, which, which I'm fortunate for in my lacrosse career. So, Jules, you talked about your dad pushing you. Was was he particularly connected to the game? Had he played, what was, what do you think really ha inspired him to push you and your brother into the game? Honestly, so when you're young, you know, you guys have probably experienced this with, with, maybe your parents and, and maybe your dad, I don't know. But my dad would, would fabricate some things about his. And so he would talk about, oh, I played lacrosse back in high school and, you know, I was the scrub on the team, this and that. And, and come to find out, I'm like, you never actually like played on the team. I think you were just adjacent to some guys who were very good, who went on to play at some amazing programs. Like the, the teams in the seventies and the eighties and the nineties in Columbia. They were producing guys gonna Maryland, Rutgers, Loyola Navy, like there was, you know, some nice high level talent. And so he was playing, he was at school with them. And so he would hang out with them and he would, he would see, you know, the game and enjoy the game. But he was a basketball player. So for him it was, he had lifelong friends that I had played lacrosse and he was still connected to, and they were always just telling him about, you know, about this game. And, you know, he would call like the ticket, like, this is your ticket. Go, go, go run with this game and, and see how far you can take it. Like. Basketball. I played basketball at a high level. It's really hard, you know, unless you're gonna be six four Jules and, and Dunking when you're 13, 14, you're gonna have to be Steph Curry. You're gonna have, you're gonna have to be an outlier to make it. But if you play lacrosse, you know, there's just so much creativity. There's so much opportunity for, for your skillset to blossom. And again, like, I didn't know that at the time, but when I got to eighth grade, I started to realize, like, I love basketball. I was very good at it, but some of my friends had just shot up in size. And I, I was still kind of a late bloomer and I was like, like, I don't know, maybe I should just keep going with this lacrosse thing. I'm, I'm, I'm really good at that too. And, and that was kind of just I think the, the matriculation of it and, and how it started with, you know, with him kind of pushing me a little bit. And it was always him being a guy that made it seem like he played, but I pushed him to stuff. I'm like, dude, you never really played well. It seemed like, it seemed like you saw the opportunity though, huh? That's great. Yeah, clearly. Definitely seemed like those stories worked out. I mean, we'll, we'll eventually let Jay ask a question, Jules, but I'm a much better interviewer, so we'll we'll just keep going here. You just mentioned a little while ago, Ron, the club team in your town was actually like the high school team, but we al always like,'cause the recruiting thing has just changed so much over the years. Mm-hmm. We're wondering when you started to play in that high school age group, were you playing club, was that a thing for you and your player development and your recruiting process? So tell us how you, how your high school and club career evolved. Yeah. I think honestly I remember being in class in seventh grade and the summer kind of getting close to the summertime and, and thinking I knew how good I was relative to my, like, classmates right at my school or on my rec program. And I had an idea of it also relative to, to some of the other towns that we'd play in the state of New Jersey. I remember being in class and having a friend talk about going to Trilogy Camp and me being like, oh, like I don't know about, I don't know about the camp. Like how would you know about a camp? And I don't know about a camp. I, I know how good I am relative to you. That was, I should be going to that camp. You should be staying home. Exactly. See that Ron, like, get home. And I'm like, dad, like, what is this trilogy camp that my buddy's going to? And he is like, to be honest buddy, I don't know what the trilogy clamp is. Send it to me and I send it to him. He's like, you know, whatever amount of money he is like, yeah, you're not gonna trilogy camp. And I was like, oh man. Like if I don't go to this camp, then, you know, maybe I'm not on the right path. Whatever I come this, you know, tossed it to the side. And at that time I was, I was just playing pickup lacrosse in this league in the summertime that you, you would go with your rec program and you would play different towns like through the summer.'cause the club lacrosse had a holding, but there were still like these leagues that you, you could play in. I would just play lacrosse on like Wednesday nights for four hours and like straight, whether it was on our team, and then we would maybe play two games and then I would stay and play for other teams that needed extra guys. And I remember the following summer where again, I was like, Hey dad. You know, some of my friends, some of the guys that I'm playing against that again, I'm, I know how good I am relative to them. They all seem to be doing this club thing. Like it's, I kind of need to, to do this. And so he, he bit the bullet, he let me try out for this team called Trilogy which Ryan Boyle started in New Jersey. Mm-hmm. They don't participate in, in the club scene anymore, but they, they run a, a bunch of camps and showcases and things and tournaments still. And I played on that team and that team was kind of the team. They had these baby blue helmets. Like every, you know, if you saw that, you were like, that kid's pretty nice. Yeah, and I, so I started to play that, but the team kind of was like gutted a little bit going into ninth grade. So I got on it like at the last time before it was kind of just falling apart. And so I just felt like I didn't have a great experience with it. And my, my dad felt the same way. And so the following year he's like, okay, well now your brother has to play club too. So I kind of pushed it where I was like, I gotta play. And now my dad's like, oh, well I gotta start thinking about if you're gonna get recruited, I guess you gotta play club. So the following year he, he got us on this team with this guy by the name of Andrew Deco. I don't know if you guys are familiar with Andrew. I've heard the name, but I don't, I haven't met him. But yeah, played at Rutgers huge, phenomenal talent at Rutgers. Graduated from there, I think he was like an eighties, nineties guy and he had had a club team, you know, and, and so I was like, okay, like I guess I'll play on this team where my brother, my dad got us both from the team, kind of a two for one deal. Figuring out ways to make it work financially. And I played on that team, now I'm playing up two grade levels with this club team. And then that year, I'm going into my sophomore year now'cause it was like kind of that ninth grade summer and I'm, I'm remember I'm sitting now my sophomore year after playing for the Deigo program in class and like inside lacrosse is dropping, all these guys are getting recruited and like committed. And I was just like, wait, how is this possible? I don't, I don't even, I haven't even talked to a college coach yet. I don't, again, I'm seeing like my co like I call'em colleagues now, my friends, teammates, other on other programs committing to schools. And I'm like, I'm like, I know how good I am relative to you. How are you already going to a school? And I haven't even talked to a coach, let alone gone on a visit and you're already committing like, this doesn't make a ton of sense to me. So now at that point I started to recalibrate. Okay, maybe I was playing against kids two years older. I wasn't standing out enough. Maybe I was at the wrong tournaments. Now what do I need to do? And then finally I go, okay, let me, let me really dial this in and take some, some ownership of what's going on here. It's not gonna be my dad or this kid or what team he plays where it's like, what do I want to do? And so I found this team called Leading Edge, which is pretty prominent club in New Jersey. And yeah, I went to the tryout and I ended up getting on the team going into my junior summer, which means I had to take someone's spot that had already, they already would, did two summers where they were getting looked at by, right? Yeah. At that point, college coaches and I got on there and you know, the, that was, the rest was history after that for as far as recruiting goes. But it was all kind of like. Me just figuring it out along the way and having to, yeah. To be like, all right, like, let me, let me just try to lock in a little bit more if this is what, you know, I kind of want to do. That's cool. Nice stuff. Yeah. And we love, you know, talking about the relationships, you were talking about, you know, your dad and then your brother Dylan, and then, you know, taking a look, your high school at Columbia, you went there to 10th grade and then mm-hmm. As you, as we were saying, you went to Seton Hall after that. But looking at the stat sheet, you know, you had, they have all the stats on there for Columbia High School, like every year. So I could see, like when you're in 10th grade, I. You had like a few more points than your brother Dylan, but he did have a few more goals. So, but I was thinking that must have been so cool to play with your brother. I have a younger brother, but he kind of was like a maybe a year behind where he wasn't as good. He wasn't gonna play in the same midfield as me. I was a midfielder. But tell us about that. That must have been awesome to be playing and at, at this stage, you're really getting competitive with it playing with your older brother there at Columbia High School and looked like you guys had a good little season there. So tell us about that. Yeah, JI mean, you know, you kind of hit the nail on the head. The opportunity to, to play with your brothers is definitely a special one. I, I think you, you might take it for granted when you're, when you're young you know, our dad was definitely pushing us around it and looking back on that, like that, that's such a special experience. But in, in the time, me and him butted heads a ton, honestly, really. I think it started in the backyard. We had this like dirt court with like tree roots grown out of it. And my dad put up a basketball hoop. And you could raise it higher or lower. So we started pretty young, like you could put it lower and we would just go at, go at it after out there. And he's got a completely different build than me. Like I'm slim. He's, I'm six two, he's 5 8, 5 9. But like stocky, more like a Matt Rambo type. Yeah. I'm skin and bones. He's solid. I'm more shifty, you know, we're playing against each other. It was always competitive and eventually I figured out like how I could beat him. Right. And become like, all right, I can't have my, my younger brother beating me. So, right. Like, okay, I'm gonna, I'm gonna foul the outta you. So starts dropping the hammer. Exactly. Like I'm shaking past you. I go for a layup and I'm just getting like, jumped the ball. I would, I would never have done such a thing, Jay, that's I, I, oh yeah, right. Ron. Ron was the oldest of, he seems like Dylan and I've had a similar strategy. Yeah. Oh man. Dylan's not here to defend himself. He just had a baby. He was gonna be on the podcast to let everybody know, but, but that's great. No. And I got, I gotta give him his flowers though. Like, we'll get a statement from him perhaps, and he'll admit that like I, because we have a great relationship now, and that, that's why I want, you know, wanted to get him on here. He's a, he's a brilliant lacrosse mine. He is the offensive coordinator at Lawrenceville. Yeah. National championship program. Yeah. That's awesome. When you, in high school, like I was more of a gifted lacrosse player from like, the overall sense, because I worked really hard and I was, you know, I was shifty, but he was actually more naturally talented than I was. He just didn't like put in as much work as a player because, you know, I just, I loved to, I loved to work hard. Like I, that was my thing when I was young. Mm-hmm. I knew I was good, but I didn't ever feel like I was the best, but I was competitive, so I was like, what's it gonna take for me to, to become my best and, and beat these other guys that are playing on the club or they're, they're getting this ranking or whatever. He was, I'm always just naturally talented and, and bigger. So he would just show up and he'd be like, it's game time. Like I'm, I'm right. Get it. And so in, when we would look at the course of a season when I was younger, I would be the more productive player. But when mm-hmm. To you wanted to give him the ball'cause you're like, he's just gonna go get us a goal. He's a gamer. He's a gamer. Yeah. I wasn't a gamer growing up. I was more strategic, high iq. Like, I'm gonna make everyone better. And I had to develop a gamer kind of sense for, for me. And you know, it's, it's funny'cause my dad was like, if you could combine you two, you'd be like the best lacrosse player ever. It was like just, you know, figuring out things. And he's taken more of the, the work ethic approach now as a coach for Right film. You know, what he does for his guys and, and just that side of things. But he has always loved the game. So, you know, it's kind of coming together for him full circle as a coach where. I talk lacrosse with a decent amount of people, but like there's only a handful of people that I will actually trust, wholeheartedly, trust their opinion about the sport with. And, and he's one of those guys and he wasn't always that way, but he's worked himself to just understanding the game at such a high level to where now I can throw something at him and he's gonna be able to give me solid advice about it. And, and so we, we bond over that and it, we have a a solid relationship now in that, in that aspect. That's great. Despite all those hard fouls, you've, you've gotten over it, despite the hard fouls, the controllers being broken and, and you know, like just throwing me through a window. Like I, a lot of stories, I mean, Jules, it doesn't sound like you harbor any ill will.'cause if I could summarize what you just said about Dylan. Well, basically I was a better athlete than him, and I was smarter. He is worked harder. And now I kind of e listen what he has to say about the game. I mean, is that, have you heard this a pretty good summary from your brothers out there, Jules? I mean, yeah. That, that, that's a, that's a pretty good summary. And I, I would just, I was always like, yo, like I'm, I'm a good player. I'm like, dude, why don't you just come work with me? Like, yeah, you, you would be, you would actually be the goat if you came and worked with me, but you want to go do this, go do that. It's like, all right, I'll just work in silence. And then we show up, shocker that I'm, you know, the, the better player. And he would, he would literally at the time be like. Like, screw you, this and that. But now he's like, no, Jules just, he literally just worked hard. He didn't do anything special. Like talented.

MacBook Pro Microphone: 20:22

Ladies and gentlemen, this is a great time to talk about one of the biggest myths in all of sports. The idea that some players are just born with talent while others aren't the truth. No one is born knowing how to cradle shoot dodge, or throw a perfect pass. Everything you see an athlete do with a lacrosse stick. They had to learn. Think about the greatest athletes of all time. Let's look at basketball. Steph Curry didn't come out of the womb draining threes. LeBron James wasn't born with a perfect slam dunk or jump shot. These guys put in countless hours of work. If they were just naturally talented, why would they need to practice so much? Why? Because skill beats talent. When talent doesn't work hard, I. Remember that skill beats talent. When talent doesn't work hard, lacrosse is no different. If you want to be great, it's not about whether you were born with it in quotes. It's about how much time you're willing to put in your skills, your lacrosse, iq, your mindset. Those are all things you can develop. The difference between a good player and a great player. It's not talent. It's who's willing to do the work, who's willing to get on the wall, work on their weekend, break down film, and sharpen their mind. So if you ever thought, I'm not just as talented as that guy, stop it right there. So if you ever thought, I'm not just as talented as that guy, stop right there. Talent is just potential. Skill is what you create through effort and the best part, skill has no limits. You can get better, you can close the gap. You just have to be willing to put in the work. So the question isn't, do I have talent? The question is, how much are you willing to earn your skill? Think about that one, folks. Now, we'll, return to our interview and you'll find that interview in progress.

22:18

I did. Didn't work. Say all that. Yeah. And, and you know, if I did, I would've been a better player. So I, I appreciate him for, you know, kind of us having those conversations and dialogues as you get older.'cause when you're young, yeah, we're just in the trenches together and, you know the season and everything. But definitely being really competitive too. Well, I get you Jules.'cause I was a worker and it's hard to convince people like dog who's a big talker and loves the game and everything, who just shows up, you know, it's like impossible. So I, I get it. Oh yeah. Jay, I'm a grinder. I'm a natural athlete who showed up. I never, I thought I was a natural athlete, but I did work hard, Ron. I You did. So gotta give that. I will. I will give you that. Jay, you were a grinder. Jay Grinder. You were a grinder. I'm a grinder. I'm not sure how we got that back to you, Jay, but George, you'll notice. Well, I'm just encouraging our guests that Jay will bring it back to him. Quite often. That's all right. It's, you know, I'll let you have it. Hey thank you Jules. So, you know, moving on, you, you then go to Seton Hall Prep and I will give Jay props. He does some tremendous research for our shows and to learn that you were the first worker run grinder, you were the first high school all American. That's kind of a cool thing, you know, to be the first All American ever at your high school, and then you lead'em to a county championship. So first of all, why'd you move on to Seton Hall Prep? And then how did your career grow? And really, I'm sure it's in those years where now you're putting yourself in position to be, you know, a Division one big 10 lacrosse player. Yeah. Honestly, the, so when we were growing up, the, the rec program, right, which was the club program originally Maplewood. They were selling, they were selling me a dream. Like honestly, they're great salesmen. All the coaches there and, and the, the development that they were looking to have with us to get to the high school. And so I bought into that. I was like, I'm gonna go to the Columbia High School. I'm gonna be one of the great that have been there. I'm gonna break all the records. Like that was I, and I thought a bunch of my teammates were all like, yeah, like, we're gonna go to Columbia, it's gonna be great. And eighth grade comes and all the, my team just like leaves to go to other schools, basically like all the good kids. Hmm. So in my mind I'm like, wow, like we just spent all this time together growing up playing rec, we had an amazing experience. And then eighth grade kind of starts to dip. May maybe some guys don't go to puberty, some guys aren't working as hard, which I think that's what you see in eighth grade. And then ninth grade came and everyone was gone. But during that time, I would, I would play I would play up. So I, in the summer times and in maybe in the tournaments that we would go to with each other. I would be playing with the older kids and I would, I would be doing well and like I wouldn't just be doing well. I'd be like one of the best guys out there. So there was always a sense of when I got to Columbia that I was gonna be a freshman on varsity and, and make a big impact. And then the coach that was there originally, he moved on to another school. So they got a new coach and he kind of was a little bit more old school. And I, I think his rule, I know his rule is freshmen cannot play varsity, which is, I'm a coach now. It's a ridiculous rule. And I would never yeah, have that in place. But like, I get it, like everyone kind of has their own approach. And if it works, it works. But we weren't good. So like if we, if we're not a good program, like you need to put the best players in the position possible to help your team succeed. And so when I started hearing from my brother and some of the upperclassmen, they're like, Jules, like you're not gonna be able to play varsity. I'm looking at these guys like they got 10 heads.'cause I'm like. Let's go out to the field right now and let's see. Right. Let's see who's best player he is. Like, I'll take you. I'm only another guy out there that I know who's more talented than me. And, and that's it. And so I was like, I'm just gonna go to the coach's office and I'm gonna ask him like, I don't know why this is this kind of weird gray area when we've been playing together for three or four years. Like, I, and this doesn't make sense. So I go in there and I asked him and, and he was like, yep, you know, freshmen can't play varsity. And I was like, I'm not asking to play. I'm asking for a tryout. I'm asking for you to evaluate my skillset based on where, where I'm at right now, according to the, the rest of the group. And he was like, nah, it's just not gonna happen. And I was crushed, you know, like,'cause that was my, my dream for a long time. And I, I also thought, if you don't play varsity as a freshman at Columbia, like how am I ever gonna play at the next level was also my mindset. And I kind of, you know, I took that in stride and I flipped this switch and I was like, okay, I'm playing freshman lacrosse for a team that, you know, with 90% of kids that have never played lacrosse before. Because all my rest of my teammates left and I made the most of the experience. I got to play jv, we won the JV championship, you know, like MVP of the JV championship, whatever. And so that gave me, you know, some, some sense of like confidence, belief in myself. I see what I can do, even though maybe the coach doesn't see it. Even if he does, he doesn't care. He is got rules, whatever. But the next year comes and he starts to like, honestly pick on me and bully me. Which again, crazy thing to do as a coach now is, is someone working with young men and women. He would just be saying things that were just completely off, off base. And I would just kind of have to take it on the chin. And I, you know, eventually my, I wouldn't talk about it'cause I was just like, whatever. But my brother would, would bring it home to my dad and then my dad would catch wind of it. And then my dad, you know, like. He's a big guy. He's not, he's not scared anyone. He goes up to the coach and he is like, yeah, you got something to say about my son. Like, I'm happy for you to tell me about it and let's talk about it. He didn't like that. He was definitely afraid of, of that conversation. And so my brother and I were there, my brother graduates. I'm like, I'm not staying here. Like, there's no way I'm staying at this school. Right. And then that's, that's what brought me to Scene Hall. And ironically one of the kids I had left the program, he, once people started to catch wind that like, what was going on? Like this coach was doing this, and then they were like, Jules is leaving. Everyone's like, that's crazy that this is going on, but like, gotta get him to C Hall. Don't let him go to, you know, there's like a bunch of parochial schools. And so I had a friend and he, he was vouching for me. And then that coach was the coach of, that we're based in counties in New Jersey. So they'd have these county tryouts and the coach of our county tri, like tryout was the, the seed hall varsity head coach. So I go there and then like he sees me, gets to meet me in person, you know, I'm the best, best player on that county team. And so that it became like a no brainer that he was like, I don't understand what's going on here, but come one, come all happy to Right. Pick you on. Yeah. And so I, you know, I'm forever grateful for, for him to do that to, you know, to see in me like a, another coach could have been like, oh, you're a problem. You're this, you're that. But, but he took me at face value from the tryout, from the in, you know, the conversations that we had and then you know, had a, a crazy experience at, at c Hall, like I got there. And they, they weren't very good at that point, right? When you first got there? No, it's, so the, the weird thing was they had some tradition at the school and not as much as I thought there was more tradition.'cause it had some programs in the past. Coach Deco was coached them to a state championship in 2004. So I knew there was some tradition. I knew they had division one players. But when I got there, like we had won in the off season in the winter tournament and you know, I, I was a part of that. I was, you know, guys started to learn about me, what am I bringing to the table? I'm building relationships with these guys. Then the season starts and we just, we are two and eight because I have to sit out for the first 10 games of the season'cause of transfer. Oh really? Yeah. Transfer rule. Yeah. And, and so I'm sitting there and I'm like, I can't believe I just transferred to this school and I had a better record at Columbia with a bunch of kids who just we're just playing lacrosse. You know, granted, like, honestly, the schedules weren't that much different either. And, but we had talent. So I was like, okay, again, I gotta figure out what, what can I do to make an impact, a positive impact. I gotta make the most of this. And then I started playing and like, honestly, they just needed someone to, to reel it in a little bit and be the quarterback. And I, that speaks to like how important that. That role really is, and they just happen to not really have that on the team. Mm-hmm. And so it kind of just worked out with some synergy there that I came in, I slotted in, you know, first game we win and like, everyone's like, wow. Like that felt so much different. And then all of a sudden we, we go on this 10 game winning streak. We, we beat Del Barr in their ranked number one in the country by inside lacrosse. Wow. Won the county championship. We lost in the finals to Don Bosco. Incredible. Don Bosco. Oh man. Yeah. But it was kind of a Cinderella story thing where we went from two and eight to 11 and nine, like didn't lose until the state championship. And Wow. The following year the coach is like, Hey, like you're a captain now. Which like, you know, I was a transfer. No one knew who I was. I didn't play. And then all of a sudden I'm a captain. So it's again, speaks to like him as a, just as a coach, as a man for giving me that opportunity. I would not be here if he didn't do that. And that was, that was just how it worked out. So really. It always felt like I had a lot of belief in myself. But my circumstances just weren't really the best for me and for all intents and purposes. But I didn't ever let that like, define my experience. Like I was always like, what can I do to control and do the best I can? Whether it was on the freshman team, whether it's on sophomore where the coach doesn't even want me to be there, I'm on an a team that's two and eight. Like I was always just kind of trying to write my own story and eventually, you know, the story started to to work out for me. That's great. Good stuff. And, and a little bit of that research that came up that you weren't a ranked recruit. I guess the way things were done at that stage, Ron and I, there was wasn't much of a ranking. People might have had some rumors, but there was, there was nothing published. But then you go into their r to rts, Jay would've had himself high in the rankings. Oh yeah. Just so you know. He would've, the rumor wa the rumor was I was very high in ranking actually. That's great. That's, that's all he wanted to say, Jules. That's why you brought that whole thing up as long as you earned it, Jay, you know, that's, that's what I respect. Exactly, Jules. Lots of hard work. But you know, there you are at Seton Hall, you become a leader there. And then same thing at Rutgers, you're a two time captain, so by the time you're a junior, you're one of the leaders on the team. And then by the time you're a senior, you're one of the best attacker in the whole country. So just awesome stuff there. So tell us, tell us about that journey there at Rutgers with the Scarlet Knights.

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Uh, yes. What a journey it was. To hear all about it. That is how Jules Denberg, metaphorically speaking, wrote a powerful steed, dressed as a scarlet night onto victory. Tune in next week, my friends.

33:06

Until we meet again. Here's to hoping you find the twine. We're signing off here at the get the lax scoop. Thanks again so much. We will see you the next time.