Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.
Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.

Willie Klan remembers when he and Stephen Rehfuss were so intimidated by the upperclassmen that the two — who transferred to Syracuse in 2017 — ran 10 p.m. sprints at Manley Field House to avoid crossing paths with them. Former SU midfielder Nick Mariano didn’t talk to Rehfuss until the spring semester, half a year after the attack arrived from Holy Cross. Back then, Rehfuss was quiet. 

His stick spoke for him, though. He picked up a hat trick in his debut against Siena, then scored a pair and assisted another two in a comeback win against North Carolina. When the Orange canceled the next year’s fall ball, Rehfuss’ talent continued to impress at unofficial practices held at Tsha’ Thoñ’nhes, an indoor lacrosse facility that’s part of the Onondaga Nation’s reservation. He replicated moves he saw other great players make — practicing moves as a kid in his backyard that he saw in the highlight tapes of former Tewaaraton-winner Steele Stanwick — and he showed them off during those unofficial sessions.

Rehfuss went on to lead SU in points and assists in 2018, a feat that former teammates Matt Lane and Klan thought would give Rehfuss a shot at the Tewaaraton Award. But the attack didn’t earn national recognition. Back then, Klan said friends would joke about the Stephen Curry jersey that Rehfuss often wore, laughing that it should really be a sixth-man’s jersey — not because his talent was comparable to that of a sixth man, but because of his recognition. 

Now, the attack is finally garnering the national attention those close to him have anticipated for years. Friends and former teammates such as Klan, Mariano and Lane aren’t surprised. Neither are Rehfuss’ sisters. The Tewaaraton Foundation added him to its watch list last week, and he sits at No. 8 on Inside Lacrosse’s midseason watch list for the annual award honoring the best player in college lacrosse. 

He leads SU (4-3, 1-2 Atlantic Coast) with 34 points and is on pace to shatter his single-season career-high for points and goals. He’s ranked sixth nationally in shooting percentage among players who have taken at least 15 shots, and he’s ranked in the top 20 in points per game. But for Klan, who roomed with and played with Rehfuss for four years, he’s always been “that guy.” 

“We always have known how good he is,” Klan said. “It’s just him getting the touches, and now he’s finally getting the touches that he deserves.” 

Rehfuss was that guy in high school, despite being undersized and under-recruited. He was that guy as a redshirt freshman transfer from Holy Cross because he made a name for himself as “the party starter” on the field, Mariano said. When Rehfuss touched the ball, teammates knew something positive would come of it. And he definitely was that guy as he led the Orange in assists each of the last three seasons, becoming the lead playmaker even in offenses that mainly initiated from the midfield. 

His sisters saw it in the family backyard as their only brother stood by the goal, feeding them passes the same way he now feeds Chase Scanlan and Owen Hiltz. His sister Caroline even turned to her fiance a few games ago and said, “I’ve seen him do that 100 times in the backyard,” when Rehfuss faked the goalie out at the crease and scored.

He always carried a stick around back then, even inside the house, using spin-moves and dodges to dance around his family members in the kitchen. That didn’t change when he got to Syracuse. Ask any Syracuse player, Lane said, and they’ll have a memory of walking through Manley and seeing Rehfuss throwing against the wall. 

“There wasn’t really ever a time where we weren’t trying to shoot and Stephen (shot) more so than me,” Lane said. “I can say I didn’t love the game as much as Stephen does, and that’s something that really sticks out.” 

At Syracuse, Rehfuss is “rewriting the same story” from his time at Shaker High School, said Shawn Hennessey, the program’s head coach. Rehfuss flashed his talent during his freshman year and led the team in points as a sophomore before blossoming into a star in his final season.

Every three years, when Hennessey receives a new shipment of Shaker lacrosse jerseys, he sets aside the No. 5 that Rehfuss once wore. It’s not officially retired, but until a player surpasses his program record of 164 assists and 319 goals, it may as well be.

For the newest No. 5 jersey, which came in this school year, Hennessey has a plan. He wants to have Rehfuss sign it this summer before hanging it up on the wall at Precision Lacrosse, a new store that two Shaker graduates opened. Hennessey will also send along Shaker’s only official retired jersey, the No. 37. The jersey was worn by former Georgetown player Jason Decker, who died in a car crash in 2000.

“Hopefully they’ll be side by side because those are two of the most important people in our program,” Hennessey said. 

As a four-year varsity member, Rehfuss revived a program that didn’t win a sectional title between 2000 and 2017. Rehfuss couldn’t find the elusive title, either, losing to the state-champion Niskayuna during his senior year. But Shaker saw a real “uptick” with the arrival of Rehfuss, Hennessey said. 

Stephen Rehfuss cradles the ball in Syracuse’s win over Holy Cross. Courtesy of Scott Schild | Syracuse.com

Now, the SU attack serves as the “measuring stick” for the Shaker program, Hennessey said. During breaks, Rehfuss is a role model who lives down the road from the school and still comes back to shoot with current Shaker players over breaks. One of the program’s current mantras, “wall ball over shooting,” was initially uttered by Rehfuss to Hennessey’s son, Eric, just over three years ago. And Shaker’s coaches now tell the story of how Rehfuss was doing sprints on the Siena turf the day after losing that sectional final. Hennessey said it demonstrates the program’s other motto that Rehfuss inspired: “It’s not what you did today, but what you’re going to do tomorrow.”

“In our small community that we have here for lacrosse at Shaker, those things are irreplaceable,” Hennessey said. “Because this is a real person doing real things, and anybody can do that.”

For Rehfuss, who’s been a constant presence at SU, not a lot has changed. There’s the little things, like the “C” embroidered on his jersey below the Nike logo and above the “Syracuse” lettering. He’s had to become more vocal as a result. It’s bled into how he interacts with the media, his sister Charlotte said — he keeps responses short and to the point because, even five years after transferring, he still talks best through his stick.

And this year, that stick, often with a candy-cane tape job, has made a statement. Just not one that’s new.

Published on April 7, 2021 at 9:59 pm

Contact Arabdho: armajumd@syr.edu | @aromajumder