Longtime USHL defenseman Dan Willett finds perfect match at RIT

RIT defenseman Danny Willett (RIT Athletics)

They say good things come to those who wait, and that certainly seems to be the case for Dan Willett.

The undersized blueliner from Long Island set a United States Hockey League record for most games played, appearing in 266 contests, before embarking on an NCAA path. Willett spent five seasons in the USHL, an unusually long amount of time for an aspiring collegiate athlete to be at the junior level.

There were stretches where Willett playing Division 1 didn’t seem like a guarantee. Yet RIT eventually reached out to Willett, and the defenseman has become a key cog in the Tigers’ system.

RIT head coach Wayne Wilson believes other schools shied away from recruiting the 5-foot-6 Willett because of his lack of size. That hasn’t stopped the sophomore from posting 32 points in 61 career games with the Tigers.