Cover Story: Connor Shellenberger, Virginia's Selfless Superstar

This article appears in the April edition of USA Lacrosse Magazine. Not a member? Join our momentum.

Connor Shellenberger gave each of his Virginia teammates a pullover in February. They did not know he left NIL money on the table to do so.

“I definitely wear it a lot,” said Cole Kastner, the Cavaliers’ 6-foot-7 senior defenseman.

Shellenberger’s gifts came from the apparel company Rhoback. He’s a sponsored athlete.

“We already knew he was really charismatic and really selfless, and he was willing to take less base compensation as long as we were able to fulfill that simple request,” said Shalen Moore, athlete relations coordinator at Rhoback. “All he wanted was gear for his teammates.”

Shellenberger’s latest gesture — a thank you to his teammates, he explained — follows a pattern of acts done for the betterment of the program he grew up watching and now headlines. The fifth-year Virginia attackman from Charlottesville is fixated on the Cavs winning another national championship, and that includes relentlessly pushing himself to be the best.

“Connor is the most complete player I have ever coached,” first-year offensive coordinator Kevin Cassese said. “He is the total package. He is incredibly talented, committed at the highest level to being the best athlete and lacrosse player he can be, a passionate high-level leader, a selfless teammate, mentally and physically tough and as humble a human as I have ever met.”