By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
When Chris Donovan needed another year of schooling, MV Whitlow thought he was a perfect fit for The Hun School.
“He’s played for me in the summers for a long time,” said Whitlow, the Hun head coach. “I coached his older brother at Lawrenceville. I knew he was an incredibly talented athlete who was ultra, ultra competitive and a very dynamic player. He could do a lot of different things. He can score, and he is also a great decision maker. He’s almost like a coach on the field.”
Hun could utilize his experience and leadership while Donovan used the year to mature, strengthen and feel better prepared in the classroom.
“I feel like I needed this a lot, academically, athletically,” said Donovan, who went to Seton Hall Prep. “PGing is a great thing. It’s going to get bigger. I knew I needed to get faster and stronger. And I wasn’t the best student. I needed it academically.”
What developed over the year was a greater confidence across the board. Donovan is more confident that he can excel academically at Georgetown University, and he is more confident that he can make an impact on the lacrosse field for the Hoyas. Donovan had been good enough to accumulate 89 points as an All-Essex County player in his senior year, but he wasn’t quite where he wanted to be.
“Confidence wise, my confidence last year wasn’t very high,” Donovan said. “I didn’t think I could play at the next level. I thought this year was exactly what I needed. Coach Whitlow, he’s given me everything. He’s the reason I’m here. He’s the reason I got through this year. He gave me the motivation and confidence I can have an impact at the next level.
“And Coach (Jeff) Snow is one of the best coaches that I’ve ever had. He implements a great offense. He lets you make your decision making. I thought that was great for us. The kids, with the talent we had, I thought that worked out well.”
Donovan was a key on attack for the Raiders. He had 56 goals and 49 assists in a balanced effort that helped push Hun to a historic season. Hun went 19-1 with its one loss coming in the Inter-AC championship against national No. 1 Haverford despite Donovan leading the Inter-AC in scoring. Hun capped its year by winning the Prep A state tournament title for the first time since 1998. They finished ranked fourth in the country.
Chris Donovan is the Princeton Packet Boys Lacrosse Player of the Year.
“I really think Chris Donovan this year might have been one of the best players I’ve coached,” Whitlow said. “I’ve coached a lot of great ones, Division I All-Americans. You could see what a great teammate he is and his level of competitiveness.
“Chris and some of other leaders were a willful bunch. They wanted to be good, they wanted to be successful and they were willing to work to get there. There were no shortcuts. They worked to get there.”
The results spoke for themselves. Hun rolled through the year, gaining confidence with every win and building toward a Mid-Atlantic Prep League championship and the Prep A crown that had always gone through Lawrenceville. Donovan helped to bring it back to Hun.
“Bringing it, giving it all you’ve got, staying hungry and humble,” credited Donovan. “No matter who it was, we gave it our all. We wanted to stay humble and get back to practice. There were no egos on the team. Everyone wanted to play for each other. It’s what brought us together and brought us a good year.”
Taking an extra year allowed Donovan to develop his game further. He grew into a more confident player as he took on more responsibility and a bigger role than he had had at Seton Hall.
“We were good,” Donovan said. “Jules Heningburg — he goes to Rutgers — he was the go-to guy. We played pretty well together. He was the go-to guy. I saw how he carried himself. It was good last year, but I saw this year I could have an impact on the kids around me.”
It started early in the year. Hun had its share of older players, but it also had a lot of young players, including a freshman and two sophomores on the field. They looked to veterans like Donovan, and it helped him embrace more responsibility and grow as a leader.
“Each kid, they would come up to me and ask questions,” Donovan said. “Even them coming up and caring, it shows whether you like it or not, it shows you’re a leader. There are guys believing in you. Guys trusted us, not just me, but other PGs and other guys to make plays when they needed to be made.”
Donovan never changed as a player. He tried to be steady day after day to set the example.
“Hopefully you can influence younger guys, working hard every play, every ground ball, every practice,” Donovan said. “Hopefully I shed some light on the younger guys. You like to think you’re more mature than most of the younger guys. You want to make sure every day you bring your A game to every practice.”
Whitlow thinks that Donovan’s example will have a lasting impression on his returning players. It’s why he was willing to welcome him to the program. Donovan left those younger players a legacy.
“It’s important to a coach who wants to build a program from the bottom up,” Whitlow said. “Bringing in a leader like Chris will help the program from a building a foundation standpoint.
“He did all the stuff. He stayed extra after practice. He was at practice early. He was out on Sundays working out on his own. I think he was great, but he was a perfect example of what greatness takes.”
Donovan could fit so easily into Hun’s humble and hungry mantra because he’s never forgotten what it means to be both. An attackman his entire career, he was moved to defensive midfielder for his junior year at Seton Hall.
“It was a different style, but I did it,” Donovan said. “I played defense and cleared the ball and came off.”
Over the next two years of high school, he would score almost 200 points, but he still plays with a sense of trying to prove that he is good enough. He hasn’t allowed any success to go to his head.
“You wouldn’t know if you met Chris Donovan that he was hands-down the best player in the state and one of the best players in the country,” Whitlow said. “People are talking about him as one of the best players in the country, Division I coaches have said that. And we had him here in Princeton, so we were lucky to have had that.”
It’s Donovan that feels lucky. He was thrilled to have the chance to acclimate to different teammates and a new team and a new environment, all things that helped him grow and be better prepared for Georgetown, and excited that he could help Hun develop.
“I can’t say enough about the guys around me,” Donovan said. “The other seniors and PGs and juniors and guys, they put me in position to score. The Canadian on the crease finishing all my passes. They made me who I am.”
Chris Donovan got all that he needed out of Hun, and the Raiders got a big boost from him. It worked out for both of them in an unforgettable year.
“His biggest asset to us was his IQ, his game IQ, and the decisions he would make on top of what a talented and dynamic player he was,” Whitlow said. “He was truly one of those generational players that makes everyone around him better.”
