Sitting in the crowded hall on May 31 at Stony Brook University in New York, Pat Heim patiently waited for the start of the 2007 Major League Lacrosse Collegiate draft.
The former Penn State midfielder had just concluded a superb showing in front of MLL team officials, scoring three goals in the USILA North-South Collegiate All-Star game and putting up impressive numbers at the MLL combine. Heim was confident his performance would land him with a top-10 selection.
But a No. 1 pick? That was hard to believe.
However, as the team officials from the Chicago Machine named the first selection of the 2007 draft, Heim was pleasantly surprised to hear his name and the subsequent chorus of cheers and high-fives from the draftees sitting around him.
"As far as being number one, that never really crossed my mind," Heim said. "I kinda heard a buzz going around [after the combine] saying, 'You're gonna go No. 1,' and I was just like, no way. There are definitely other players out there that are capable of going ahead of me. When they called my name out, it shocked a lot of people."
In his final season as a Nittany Lion, Heim had 14 goals and four assists, en route to a USILA All-America Honorable Mention award.
Although Chicago had been considering Heim since January, it was his performance at the combine and North-South game that earned him the No. 1 pick. When the seniors from the Duke lacrosse team were given an extra year of eligibility right before the draft and after the much-ballyhooed scandal smoothed over, the doors opened even wider for the Penn State midfielder.
"We watched Pat play at the combine and at the All-Star game, and it was really visible to most guys that he was the perfect fit for Chicago," Machine general manager Mike Culver said.
"He's a great player, a great team guy. He's really enthusiastic, and we couldn't be more pleased to have him."
It didn't take long for Heim to make an impact on his new team. Named a starter in his first professional lacrosse game on June 2, Heim led the Machine with four goals, en route to a MLL Rookie of the Week honor.
His efforts led the Machine to its first-ever franchise win, defeating the defending western division champs, the Denver Outlaws, 19-17. After only a few games on the professional stage, Heim also earned a spot on the 2007 MLL All-Star roster. Currently tied for fifth on the team in points with ten goals and eight assists in eight games, the Chicago midfielder is living up to the hype.
"Pat is just a fantastic athlete," Culver said. "He brings an athleticism to the game of lacrosse that surpasses a lot of other players. He has tremendous potential. He's always the first one to have his equipment on before practice, and he's always shooting, continuing to work on his skills after the game."
Heim's first summer in the MLL has been far from relaxing. Living at home in Wayne, Pa., Heim is completing an internship with the Reading Phillies minor league baseball team to earn his college degree.
Since Chicago plays in the MLL's four-team Western Division, Heim has to fly across the country every weekend to play lacrosse, either to Chicago for home games or to Los Angeles, San Francisco or Denver for road matches. Despite the exhaustion, Heim is having a blast.
"It's like one of those awesome feelings," Heim said. "One day you're [playing for your college lacrosse team] and next thing you know, I get drafted, and I'm playing in an awesome city. I'm flying to all these cool places, and I'm meeting all these players that I've grown up watching on TV.
"I play a game and come off the field with kids screaming at me, throwing me T-shirts to autograph. You feel like a celebrity because all these kids look up to you."
With Heim's MLL selection, Penn State can also claim a top spot in the collegiate lacrosse world alongside perennial lacrosse powerhouses like Virginia, Cornell and Syracuse, who also graduated first-round draft selections this year. Heim hopes the Nittany Lion program will gain more attention because of his success.
