Confidence carried Rehfuss to stardom
school, and during the kind of target recruiting years, he was undersized. He didn’t really hit his growth spurt until his senior year of high school, which by that point, the recruiting process is over. I think he kind of fell victim to that.”
Though he became an Allamerican as a Shaker senior, he spent an unfulfilling freshman year at Holy Cross, never appearing in a game there. When he decided to transfer, even Abby wondered if he was making a mistake.
“I think one thing that’s really admirable about him is just, he’s never lost confidence in himself,” Abby Rehfuss said. “Even when I sometimes was like, ‘I don’t know, maybe we’re wrong about this. Maybe Holy Cross is kind of where you’re meant to be. If you leave there, what if nothing else comes through? He just said, ‘No, I can play somewhere else. I can do better.’ And he was right.”
Rehfuss, a lefthander, has 18 goals and a team-high 34 points for ninth-ranked Syracuse (4-3), trying to rebound against Ualbany after back-to-back losses to Duke and Notre Dame.
In a Zoom conference call on Tuesday, Rehfuss credited his family, including five older sisters, for instilling in him the confidence to persevere even when no school wanted him.
He will enter Albany Law School in the fall, following the path of several family members — including Abby and his father, Stephen, who both specialize in civil litigation.
“I knew how much work I’d put in through my entire life and how much I appreciated the game and paid attention to my game and worked on my game all the time,” Rehfuss said. “Growing up, I was watching players all the time, watching teams, and I knew I was capable of playing at that level. I just needed to get my shot and so it was a frustrating process through all of high school and my freshman year at Holy Cross, but I really just kept that confidence.”
Syracuse coach John Desko said someone contacted assistant Lelan Rogers to let him know Rehfuss was available. Desko didn’t recall ever seeing Rehfuss play in high school, but was intrigued that Rehfuss was a lefty and had scored 128 points as a Shaker senior.
“You’ve got to be a decent player to be able to score that much in high school,” Desko said. “There was a need for him at the time and it all worked out. Fortunately, he chose Syracuse coming out of the portal.”
Rehfuss said he followed Ualbany’s program growing up, especially high-scoring superstar Lyle Thompson, but didn’t go to many games because it conflicted with his high school schedule.
“I knew of Steve when he was in high school but honestly don’t recall how much interaction I had with him,” Ualbany head coach Scott Marr said.
“But good for him … He went to Holy Cross and improved there and has been getting better every year since he moved to ’Cuse. He is their most consistent player this year so far.”
Rehfuss didn’t attach any extra importance to playing Ualbany because it’s his hometown school.
“Honestly, not too much,” he said. “It really is just our next game and the game has a lot of meaning for our season where we’re at right now. We’re all super-focused on getting a win.”
Note: Desko said he thinks Syracuse will make its long-awaited first trip to Ualbany’s Casey Stadium next season. Syracuse was supposed to come to Albany last year before the pandemic canceled the remainder of the season.