Standing in the woods, in front of his Marquette men’s lacrosse teammates, Nolan Rappis finally got to say what he had been wrestling with for months.

After an offseason of going back and forth between entering the workforce or returning to Valley Fields for a fifth season, the attacker was in for one last ride with the Golden Eagles. But it wasn’t a decision he made overnight.

During a team retreat at the start of the spring semester, Rappis finally shared why the decision was such a difficult one for him.

“It was a moment that really felt impactful, as everyone got to listen to why he made such a big decision,” head coach Jake Richard said. “They were all pretty energized to make it a great thing for him.”

Although Rappis was honored on senior day last season, he had another year of eligibility because of a medical redshirt he took after suffering a season-ending knee injury in his first year at Marquette.

After graduating in May with a Corporate Communications degree, Rappis was at a crossroads in life. He was unsure what the next step looked like for himself.

“At that point in the summer I was looking for jobs,” Rappis said. “But then thinking like, ‘Why am I looking? Because I might play.’ And then I was like, ‘I should be looking for jobs because I might not play.’ It was kind of a weird spot to be in.”

Along the way, Rappis had several voices in his ear helping him make the decision, including newly hired offensive coordinator Andrew Smistad.

Two days after Smistad got the job, he made his first recruiting pitch to Rappis.

“We talked for over an hour in the summer, and I just kind of gave him my vision,” Smistad said. “I gave him my thoughts on him as a player, where I thought he’d fit. And then I left the ball in his court.”

Rappis kept in contact with Smistad and Richard throughout the summer and in the fall. Rappis didn’t know it at the time, but if he didn’t enroll in the fall semester, the spring semester would still be an option.

“I knew he was still on the fence, he wasn’t sure,” Smistad said. “He was leaning towards not coming back.”

In early September, Rappis, along with former teammates Bobby O’Grady, Will Foster and others, made a sudden, unexpected trip back to Marquette’s campus after Noah Snyder and Scott Michaud had been killed in a car accident.

It left everyone who knew Snyder and Michaud devastated, including Rappis — who was close with both after sharing the field with them last season. But it meant he re-immersed himself with the program in the immediate aftermath.

At the time, he was leaning even further towards not coming back for a grad year. He then had a conversation with Richard that changed the course of his entire decision-making process.

“Coach Richard had talked to me and was like ‘If you want to come back, we can still make it work for the spring,'” Rappis said. “I was like ‘Oh, really.’

“I didn’t know that was going to be a possibility at all.”

After months of uncertainty, the time Rappis spent with his teammates and the conversations he had with coaches provided him the clarity he needed to make his decision.

He wanted to play again.

“I was wanting to play for [Snyder and Michaud] more than anything,” Rappis said. “I wanted to do whatever I could to help.

“Just not being [at Marquette], I felt helpless. I know a lot of alumni felt that way, but a lot of alumni didn’t have the option to do anything about it, and I did. So, I was kind of just like, ‘Why would you not do that?'”

Rappis began taking the final steps towards officially returning to the Golden Eagles around Thanksgiving and returned to campus during winter break to work out by himself and get ready for the season. 

Not only did the Golden Eagles get a player back that was tied for the team-high in points last season and a unanimous preseason All-Big East team selection, but also a guy whose character they value. Over the past two seasons, Rappis has quickly turned into a leader for Marquette.

“When your best players are also your best people,” Smistad said, “that’s a cool thing to have.”

Rappis may have missed the fall season, but you wouldn’t know it by the way he’s playing.

Rappis’ 26 points rank second on the team behind Carsen Brandt’s 29. The 11 assists he’s tallied are a team-high.

He most recently recorded a season-high seven points in Marquette’s 15-10 win over Bellarmine on Saturday. Rappis has scored three or more goals in half of the Golden Eagles’ contests this year.

This story was written by Matthew Baltz. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @MatthewBaltzMU.