#43 Dan O’Connor

Nickname: DanO
Height: 5’10
Weight: 155
Position:
Years w/ESN: A 2014-2015
Major: Natural Science
Hometown: Springfield, PA
Former Teams:

  • Cardinal O’Hara 2009-2012
  • Pitt B 2013
  • BANG! 2013-Present

E-mail: Djo14 AT pitt.edu

Biographies
2013-2014
What do you do when you don’t make the Pitt A-team on your first try? If you’re Dan O’Connor, you go to China.

Last summer, two semesters removed from being cut from the Pitt A-team, O’Connor got on a plane and left for China. For an entire month, O’Connor studied with Shaolin monks, spent time meditating and doing his best to find balance within himself.

“I figured my mental game needed to be as strong, if not stronger, than my current physical game,” O’Connor said.

After his journey abroad, O’Connor came back to his hometown in Philadelphia, PA and played summer league and Club with Bang. There, on the field with his co-ed team, O’Connor took strides to improve the weakest part of his game: dropping the disc. As he handled on the d-line and Dan made a conscious effort to get as many touches as he could, and the result was an improved confidence in both his catching ability and comfort with the disc.

As for coming to Pitt, well, O’Connor says he knew that this would be the school of his future since July of 2011, before Pitt ever won its first title. He wanted to attend a college where not many of his friends were going and be in a place that he could branch out and meet new people. Apparently his mother loves him very much, because he also claims Pitt was the furthest she was willing to let him go.

When asked what it means to finally play with this team, the answer was simple:

“It means hard work pays off.”