Rookie Paving His Own Path

Talent is something gained through hard work, practice, and dedication. But for freshman Jeff Molinari and his siblings, talent is something that runs in their blood.

Molinari is the fifth child in his family to stake his claim on the college lacrosse field. His sister, Morgan ’06, and brothers Shane ‘08, Cullen ’09, and Terrence ’10, have played at Notre Dame, UMass, Georgetown, and Duke, respectively. Madison, the youngest of the bunch, is now a freshman in high school playing on her high school varsity lacrosse team.

The lacrosse bug hit the Molinari children at a young age.

“When we moved from New York to Florida in ’89, I bought them all little fiddlesticks, which is like a lacrosse stick that you can play with in your pool,” said Mr. Molinari, Jeff’s father. “Then when we moved [back to New York, we moved] to Manhasset because of lacrosse, and I kind of pushed them that way… and they actually went for it, and then we got the family all involved.”

Between the spirit of the town and having each other for encouragement, it was no wonder they all got hooked.

“There was a very deep tradition of lacrosse [in Manhasset],” Mr. Molinari continued. “It had… a very good youth program where all the college guys who played would come back and raise their families, so there was a very good support for the town. At a young age, they already had great teachers in the sport.”

“I always liked to play,” Jeff said. “My older [siblings] always played so it was natural that I played with them… around the house or in the backyard.”

With all the athletes in the house, there was a strong, supportive environment that motivated Jeff to succeed in lacrosse.

“I looked up to [my older brothers], so I definitely pushed myself in the sport and wanted to pursue it because of that, but I also enjoyed it a lot.” Jeff recalled. “When they were in high school, they were all on the same team [that] won the state championship, and in 2004, they were the number one team in the country, so that really motivated me to get where they were, but even before that, I was playing and really had a passion for it.”

That passion allowed Jeff to make his own mark on the field. He made his high school’s varsity team as a freshman and would go on to earn all-county honors his junior and senior year. He also was a two-time All-American finalist and won the state championship in his senior year. Off the high school pitch, he played as a member of the competitive Empire State Games lacrosse team.

His success gained him the attention of several college coaches, and Jeff needed to decide if he wanted to play at the same college as one of his brothers or to go his own way.

“I was considering going where my brothers went, but I wanted to do my own thing,” Jeff said. “It would have been cool to play with my brother Terrence at [Duke], but I just liked what Harvard had more… like the coach, the team, Boston, being in an urban city… and the education is top to none.”

“Our offer to him was to do something really different, to go to a program like Harvard and to carve out your own identity… to be Jeff Molinari, and not anyone’s younger brother,” Harvard coach John Tillman said. “I think he’s really doing that. Being a freshman and playing as much as he’s doing, which is incredible, I think people have a tremendous amount of respect for him… and that’s a credit to his hard work and dedication.”

In his rookie season, Molinari is definitely not living in anyone else’s shadow and is making a name for himself as a valuable player on the Harvard squad.

“He’s done a great job,” Tillman said. “He’s a guy who is very consistent in terms of his approach and his demeanor. He never seems to get rattled… and he is very, very intelligent when it comes to the athletic IQ… His versatility is really important to us, and it certainly has helped us so far this year.”

Even though Molinari has followed in the footsteps of his siblings when it comes to his love of lacrosse, he has forged his own path as a valued individual on the Crimson.

The fit has been a win-win situation for everyone.

“It’s been great so far; it’s been a lot of fun,” Jeff said. “The people on the team are awesome and are my best friends, the coach is really good, and it is something I look forward to every day, whether it is a practice or a game.”

“I think it would have been really easy for him to just go where his brothers went, but that’s not really him,” Tillman said. “He’s the type of guy who loves to take on challenges and broaden his horizons, and I think that’s one of the reasons why he took to Harvard… We are certainly thankful that he decided to come this way. We wouldn’t be having some of the success this year we’ve had without him. He’s been a very important guy for us.”