5 ACL Injuries Haven't Stopped Fulton Bayman's College Lacrosse Dream

If there’s a celebration to be a part of, Georgetown can count on Fulton Bayman to be in the middle of it.

Whenever an extra shot of intensity is required to get through a long practice or to provide a spark in a tight game, the graduate student is sure to provide it.

And after missing nearly all of five seasons with ACL tears and spending the last two years in a reserve role on loaded national title teams at Notre Dame, well, it’s safe to say Bayman has some excitement in reserve.

“Waiting for anything for five years, you’re going to have a little bit of pent-up energy,” Bayman said.

He’s also delivered for the Hoyas (11-4), who will visit seventh-seeded Duke (12-5) in an NCAA tournament first-round game Saturday. He had three goals and five assists in Georgetown’s Big East semifinal rout of Marquette, then added a goal and three assists two days later against Villanova.

It’s what Bayman always envisioned for himself while growing up in Atlanta, but his career didn’t follow a conventional script. He still remembers being cut from his high school varsity team as a 5-foot-5, 135-pound freshman, but he posted a 40-40 season as a sophomore for the Lovett School. The next summer, he committed to Notre Dame.

That proved fortuitous, since he suffered an ACL tear before his junior year. Then another prior to his senior year. Then once more when he was at the Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts for a postgrad year, an injury that happened early enough that he enrolled at Notre Dame in the spring of 2020.

But what happened when he got to South Bend? Two more ACL tears, one that cost him all of his freshman season and another that helped limit him to four games as a sophomore.

“There’s just a lot of ‘I did it agains,’” Bayman said.

The original ligaments are long since gone, and the injury recurred so much it’s hard to keep track of which knee required surgery each time. He rehabbed one knee three times, the other one twice. That’s sufficient.

He scored a goal in both of Notre Dame’s national title runs — in the first round against Utah in 2023, and the Irish’s last tally in a 16-11 defeat of Georgetown in last year’s quarterfinals. While the Irish had two more games to win, Georgetown had to start retooling after a significant talent exodus.

The Hoyas had found ways to stay old throughout the last few years, but with program mainstays Graham Bundy Jr. and TJ Haley graduating and Alexander Vardaro wrapping up his grad year, coach Kevin Warne knew he would have a relatively young offense.

So when Bayman — a player Warne remembered from the recruiting process years earlier — went looking for a place to use his last year of eligibility, the Hoyas were immediately intrigued. Georgetown’s experience with another Irish grad transfer helped, too; Connor Morin turned in a 30-goal season for the Hoyas in 2022.

“We lost so many guys, and we had a guy we thought had a little hunger, maybe a little something to prove and is a really good player,” Warne said.

No playing time was going to be guaranteed, but it was available to be earned. That sounded good to Bayman, who amassed seven goals and six assists in 28 games over the previous seven years between the back half of his high school career and time at Notre Dame.

The Hoyas — who have won seven consecutive Big East tournaments and own the second-longest NCAA tournament streak in Division I behind Maryland — matched the criteria Bayman was looking for.

“I wanted a high-academic school; if I’m going to spend another year not working, I’m going to get something out of it, education-wise,” Bayman said. “Georgetown has a phenomenal business school, which I’m in currently. I was also looking for a school that still competed at a high level. I think this team is capable of winning a national championship.”

There was also the typical transfer’s concern of trying to come in and make an immediate difference without becoming too overzealous. Bayman initially let his new teammates come to him with questions before gladly providing answers.

Eventually, he settled in as someone who could address things when fifth-year attackman Aidan Carroll couldn’t. The two also developed a rapport as the central figures in Georgetown’s offense, with Carroll producing a second consecutive 60-point season and Bayman collecting 26 goals and 31 assists.

“That kid’s been through so much, whether it be injuries or straight up not playing even if he wasn’t injured,” Carroll said. “Coming into a program, I don’t think we’ve seen a guy be able to step into a leadership role like that. He was able to do that because people understood what he’s been through. The production he’s had and the mindset he brings every day in practice, sometimes it’s almost insane the amount of effort and energy he brings. But it brings everyone to a higher level.”

It also provided some stability as other players grew into responsibilities at this level. Freshmen Jack Ransom and Kevin Miller rank third and fourth, respectively, on the Hoyas in points. Junior Joe Cesare, who is fifth, hadn’t started a college game prior to this season.

“I think this has just been a home run for both sides,” Warne said. “He’s been great to be around. What a tremendous kid. He’s going to be very successful in life. He’s been successful here. He’s been an unbelievable ambassador for our program for the 10 months that we’ve had him and has brought so much from his experiences to our program.”

A postseason veteran, Bayman views the preparation as the same as what he had done earlier in his career. But the role is different, and he insists the pressure of regular on-field responsibilities is a privilege heading into the weekend as the Hoyas seek their fourth quarterfinal trip in five years.

Besides, this is the scenario he dreamed of years ago.

“I always wanted to be a college lacrosse player, and I always wanted to be a starter and I always wanted to be a guy out on the field scoring the goals,” Bayman said. “I knew I wasn’t going to let anything stop me from doing that. It was super-hard. Am I as good of a player as I would have been if I hadn’t my knees all done? Probably not. But I make the best of what I’ve got.”