Top-ranked boys lacrosse recruit Kevin Graff extends family legacy at Bloomington Jefferson

Bloomington Jefferson senior lacrosse player Kevin Graff commands constant attention on the turf.

At 6-4, the senior attackman has amassed 153 career points for the Jaguars since he cracked the varsity squad as an eighth-grader in 2021.

The youngest in one of Minnesota’s most prominent lacrosse families, Graff has logged countless hours refining his craft on local fields and in backyards and weight rooms.

His dedication led to him becoming arguably Minnesota’s best high school lacrosse player.

“Kevin’s the best player in the state and has the ability to take over any game,” said teammate and senior midfielder Jay Howat.

Graff, Minnesota’s lone boys lacrosse recruit to receive a four-star rating from Inside Lacrosse, committed to Dartmouth in September of his junior year.

“His analytics in the game are next level for a high school kid,” Jefferson coach Scott Cater said. “He’s a once-in-a-generation player for me as a coach.”

Long before Graff became the state’s highly touted lacrosse player, his parents and elder siblings laid the foundation for an indelible family legacy at Jefferson.

In 1992, Rob Graff — a Harvard lacrosse alum and Long Island native — began coaching the men’s club team at Minnesota Duluth, where he mentored myriad high school and youth coaches who are still involved.

A former Drexel assistant coach, Rob Graff founded Twin Cities-based club Team Minnesota Lacrosse as his oldest son, Ryan Graff, advanced through the youth lacrosse ranks. Soon, his three oldest children — Ryan, Rachel and Ella Graff, all Jefferson graduates — became local stars.

“Being raised in Minnesota, I don’t even know if I would have played lacrosse without my dad and my siblings,” Kevin Graff said.

This past summer, Kevin Graff helped Team Minnesota’s 2025 team soar to U.S. Club Lacrosse’s No. 20 ranking nationally, making the club the highest-ranked squad in the Midwest and one of just two top-20 teams outside of the Eastern time zone.

Rob and his wife, Jennifer, who played for the Harvard women’s basketball team, passed down an unwavering work ethic to their children.

It started with Ryan, and the Graff siblings didn’t have to look far for models to emulate. On summer vacations in rural North Carolina, the Graffs peppered their grandfather’s lacrosse cage with shots and found creative ways to build strength.

“They go and work out in 110-degree weather, find the local football weight room [and] pay the guy 20 bucks to lift,” Rob Graff said.

In Jefferson’s practices, Kevin Graff provides a constant vocal engine — whether he’s in the action or taking a rare breather. His status as a player-coach affords Cater the chance to focus on the Jaguars’ less experienced defensive units.

“He loves playing the game of lacrosse, eats it, breathes it, and that passion pours through the rest of our program,” Cater said.

Also a senior captain and defenseman for the Jaguars’ hockey squad, Kevin Graff said his time on the ice instilled physicality and toughness for his lacrosse repertoire.

This winter, Kevin Graff reached his hockey career’s conclusion. Before long he’ll be done with high school lacrosse.

“I’m in the heart of a season right now, and I don’t want to think about it,” Cater said. “It’s a tough spot for a program to graduate your final Graff.”

Like his father, Ryan Graff played at Harvard from 2016 to 2020. Rachel Graff spent her early college career at Columbia from 2019 to 2022 before playing her final season of eligibility at Hofstra. Ella Graff, a senior at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, is one of the program’s most prolific all-time scorers.

“They’ve always been there [for me],” Kevin Graff said of his family. “If I had a rough day and didn’t want to do something, they would drag me out to the turf.”

Kevin Graff’s older brother and father both played for Harvard, but Kevin embraced the opportunity to carve out his own path, though Harvard was interested.

More than 35 schools contacted Kevin Graff, but he felt connected to second-year Dartmouth coach Sean Kirwan, who previously coached one of the nation’s top college players, Connor Shellenberger, as an assistant coach at Virginia.

“You could kind of feel it in the air, [with] the amazing things he’d done over at Virginia with guys like Shellenberger,” Kevin Graff said. “He’s really brought a new energy, a new life, and it has everybody bought in.”

Having been through the recruiting process with her three older children, Jennifer Graff played a huge role in keeping Kevin grounded.

“She was just there with me, scheduling when I was going to call people back, taking notes for me and discussing stuff,” Kevin Graff said. “It really took away some of the stressfulness of the moment.”

Just four months away from his first collegiate game in Hanover, N.H., Kevin Graff is looking to advance beyond Jefferson’s 2024 sectional semifinal finish. Last season, the Jaguars were the lone team to beat eventual state champions Benilde-St. Margaret’s.

Although Kevin Graff’s days of competing in the state are numbered, he hopes to give back to the sport that has afforded him a world of opportunities. He wants to leave behind a sense that he genuinely cared for his teammates and pushed his peers to their best.

Once he departs for the Ivy League, Kevin Graff said he’ll look to show the nation what Minnesota lacrosse is all about.

“Every once in a while it does creep in, and it’s crazy to think that 18 years of my life have led to this moment,” he said.