Heckman traveled to Philadelphia with the entire Cardinal Hayes team to watch Koita play against Saint Joseph’s his freshman year. The reunion was a bright spot in a season in which Koita won only 38.8 percent of his faceoffs.
Voelker could see that spring that the lack of statistical success weighed on Koita. He pulled the freshman aside one day after practice and told him not to let what he does on the field define who he is. “We know you’re working hard and you’re going to get there,” Voelker told Koita. “But there’s a lot more that you can take out of this thing than just winning some lacrosse games.”
Koita improved by more than 15 percent the next spring. Before he returned to Philadelphia in August 2018 for his junior year, he made the several-hour trip via public transportation from the Bronx to the Kanas Center for Hospice Care in Westhampton Beach, N.Y. He arrived at around 10 p.m. bearing a pink hat and Drexel helmet signed by all his teammates for Fowler’s wife, Sarah de Havenon-Fowler, who was battling brain cancer.
At that point, her condition had largely eliminated her ability to speak. Fowler remembers his wife’s words as if she spoke them yesterday.
“What a beautiful boy,” she said, remarking at Koita’s gesture. “What a beautiful boy.”
“Those were the last words before she went into a deep sleep,” Fowler said.
Last month, Fowler drove Koita’s mom to Drexel’s senior day at Vidas Field. It was only the second collegiate game she was able to attend.
Koita will be the first member of his family to graduate from college in June when he receives a bachelor’s degree in marketing with a minor in economics. This week, he had a job interview with a medical sales company. He’s exploring grad school options in Europe.
“It’s sort of a Hallmark story,” Fowler said.
First, Koita has at least one more game guaranteed with the team he kept telling Fowler he knew could have been special in 2020 if it were not for the pandemic. It’s why he trained at the West Bronx Recreation Center after a long days of work as a management intern at Sciame Construction throughout last summer and fall. He upped his conditioning and cut down from 235 pounds to 215 to prepare for the quicker style of draws coming to college lacrosse in 2021.
The hardest part was not having anyone to train against, but Koita never made excuses.
“As soon as I found out we had the ability to come back, I didn’t even question it,” Koita said of his decision to return for a fifth year. “I was fully on board because the job wasn’t finished and we didn’t get to finish up the right way and do the things that we wanted to do.”
The hiccups in preparation were evident after a two-week COVID pause in February afforded Drexel only one week of real practice before the Dragons’ first game. Still, Koita maintained belief in himself.
“What we’re seeing now is him getting comfortable and confident in his technique,” Gurenlian said. “I'm glad they made the tournament, because he’s just started to figure it out and now has an opportunity on the biggest stage against two of the top guys in the country to show what he’s got.”
Koita will face his sternest test of the season in Notre Dame’s Kyle Gallagher and Charlie Leonard. Both players were selected in last month’s Premier Lacrosse League draft.
Koita views the matchup as an opportunity. “I always play my best when I play against the best,” he said.
He texted Fowler a similar sentiment the other day.
“The road to the final four is going to be very tough, but if there is anyone who can lead a group of men to that, I think Jimmeh’s the one,” Fowler said. “Great things are gonna happen for him.”