Graham Kaestner is a standout defenseman from the ADVNC SF & NDP 2024 team committed to play for Johns Hopkins University, starting next Fall.

Graham has been playing lacrosse, literally since he was a toddler. “I have this great picture of Graham playing in the yard with a stick in his hand, and a pacifier in his mouth,” said Graham’s mom, Kimberley Kaestner. 

“I’ve been playing lacrosse my whole life,” said Graham Kaestner. “The sport is just in my family. My two older brothers (Benjamin, 21, currently attends Santa Clara University and Joe, 19, currently attends the University of Notre Dame) were playing when I was a baby, and I’ve just been playing in the backyard with them from the start.”

His father, Henry Kaestner, grew up in Baltimore in a lacrosse family. Graham’s great grandfather, grandfather, and cousin all played for Johns Hopkins. His family inspired him to become a great lacrosse player.

“Lacrosse has always been our family’s sport,” said Henry Kaestner. “And Graham has always wanted to play at Johns Hopkins. He became crazy focused on this goal in 7th grade. It became the thing that he spent all day on, and that has continued to this day. He works out 4-5 hours a day. When he’s not working out, he’s watching film. He’s been remarkably driven on playing for Hopkins.”

“When I was 7 years old, my dad’s cousin, Johnny Kaestner, played for Hopkins,” said Graham. “That’s when I decided that I wanted to dedicate my life to playing for Hopkins. That goal has been my passion. I decided I wanted to do the work necessary to achieve that goal.”

Graham joined ADVNC right when he moved to Northern California from North Carolina when he was 9 years old. “When we moved, we didn’t know if Graham would be able to continue his lacrosse dream,” said Henry Kaestner. “But we found ADVNC, and Graham found this great group of friends that he cares about and they care about him. His 2024 class is special. His former ADVNC coach, Mo Ryan set the tone for his group early on. With all the kids in the Program, it’s amazing how the ADVNC coaches make each kid feel special.”

“ADVNC has been awesome,” said Graham. “I loved it when I was 9 years old and first moved, and I’ve wanted to play for ADVNC ever since. I was an attackman at first, and my first ADVNC attack line was me, Blake Hetherington (Harvard signee) and Matt Higgins (Maryland commit). That was a blast.”

“ADVNC and Coach Rotelli have been amazing,” said Kimberley Kaestner. “Coach Rotelli is always there for Graham. He was present through the entire recruiting process and helped Graham figure things out. He’s always available for questions and always gives sound advice. Also, the ADVNC families are amazing and fun to be with. It’s a great community of people who want to succeed. ADVNC is a great organization, and it’s been a very good experience for our family.”

“I remember about a year before the recruiting process began, I was wondering how I would get recruited to play on the East Coast, since I was from the West Coast,” Graham recalled. “But hearing how much credibility Coach Rotelli had with all the college coaches, I started to feel like I had a shot.”

When September 1, 2022 rolled around, and coaches could formally contact Graham, Johns Hopkins was one of the first schools that reached out. “They recruited me the hardest, and I set up a visit to Baltimore at the end of September. I visited, and committed to Hopkins the very next day. I was so pumped. It was the culmination of all my dreams and hard work. I was on the East Coast with my grandparents when I committed, and that was awesome because they know about my dreams and my passion.”

“It felt surreal,” said Henry Kaestner. “It was fun to see his dream come true. For Hopkins to show as much interest as they did, was really rewarding.”

“It happened so quickly,” said Kimberley Kaestner. “It was awesome and so exciting. To have that dream come true is amazing and surreal.”

Graham said he wants to study international relations and follow in the footsteps of his dad, after he finishes playing pro lacrosse. “My dad does a lot of work with entrepreneurs and investors in foreign countries, especially Africa,” Graham said. “I’ve gone on a bunch of trips overseas with him, and that’s what I want to do.”

Looking back on his journey, Graham points to playing for ADVNC NDP with helping his game develop. “The NDP practices are so fun,” Graham said. “Playing against guys like Blake Hetherington, Ian Dykes (Duke signee) and Joey Bambrick (Notre Dame signee) .. those are the most talented guys I’m gonna go up against all year. It’s really fun to see how much ADVNC and West Coast lacrosse has grown with talent. It should be encouraging to younger kids in the ADVNC Program and younger kids who might want to play for ADVNC. You will really develop in this Program.

Graham also credits ADVNC Director of Training, BJ Grill, with helping develop his game. “I worked with him a lot, especially during Covid,” said Graham. “He was under recruited and went to a smaller school (Marquette) but still became a great pro defenseman because of his toughness, his hard work and attention to detail.  He showed me how if you do all those things, you can be really good.”

Graham has this advice for younger defenseman who aspire to follow in his footsteps. “If you put in the work, there is nothing keeping you from going to the school you want to go to,” he said. “For younger players, it doesn’t matter how good you are compared to your peers right now. Even if you get cut from a team when you’re younger, some kids stop working hard. That means you have the chance to just keep working harder and get better. Just keep your desire to work hard all the time, and you can play wherever you want.”