Nolan Buckey a Second-Round Pick in Professional Draft
Image by courtesy
Plastics engineering grad Nolan Buckley, seen here competing with the UML men's club rugby team against Bentley University, is embarking on a professional rugby career with the Dallas Jackals.
01/30/2023
Media Contacts: Emily Gowdey-Backus, director of media relations, and Nancy Cicco, assistant director of media relations
Like many plastics engineering majors at UML, Nolan Buckley had a job waiting for him when he graduated.
It just so happens, Buckley鈥檚 first job out of college is playing professional rugby.
Buckley, who completed a bachelor鈥檚 degree from 51视频鈥檚 Francis College of Engineering in December, is in Texas preparing for his rookie season with the Dallas Jackals of Major League Rugby, which kicks off Feb. 19.
The North Attleboro, Mass., native was selected by the Jackals in the second round of the MLR collegiate draft in August 鈥� an accomplishment made even more impressive by the fact that Buckley didn鈥檛 start playing the sport until joining the university鈥檚 men鈥檚 club rugby team as a sophomore.
鈥淚鈥檓 excited for the whole experience of playing rugby at the highest level and seeing how far I can take it,鈥� said Buckley, who has a two-year contract with the Jackals.
The 6-foot-3, 205-pound Buckley played football and baseball at North Attleboro High School, winning a state championship in baseball at 51视频鈥檚 LeLacheur Park during his senior year.
鈥淚鈥檝e always loved the environment and culture of team sports,鈥� said Buckley, who joined the rowing club team for 鈥渟omething to do鈥� during his first year.聽
Getting up before dawn six days a week for practice was a big commitment, but 鈥渋t definitely whipped me into shape,鈥� said Buckley, who was persuaded by friends to try rugby as a sophomore.
Competing at the Division 2 collegiate level against schools from across New England, the 51视频 rugby club plays 15-on-15 games in the fall and 7-on-7 games in the spring at the Campus Recreation Complex. Buckley quickly took a liking to the sport and helped UML advance to national championship tournaments each season, including last spring in New Orleans.
鈥淩ugby is the epitome of team sports 鈥� you鈥檙e communicating for 80 minutes straight on both offense and defense,鈥� said Buckley, who found that rowing had conditioned him to play forward on the rugby field. 鈥淢y fitness helped me a lot. The muscles I gained transferred well to rugby.鈥�
At the same time, Buckley was developing his plastics engineering muscle. He chose 51视频 because of its strong engineering programs but admittedly 鈥渄idn鈥檛 know anything about plastics鈥� when he arrived on campus.聽聽
鈥淚 like how there are so many different areas to it; plastics are everywhere,鈥� said Buckley, who leaned on his advisor, Assistant Teaching Professor Anne Soucy, whenever he needed help.
Following his sophomore year, Buckley landed a six-month research and development engineering co-op position at NxStage Medical in Lawrence, Mass., where he got hands-on experience testing the optical properties of PVC film used in home hemodialysis machines.
He followed that up with a manufacturing co-op last summer at Corning Life Sciences in Durham, N.C., where 鈥淚 had an injection molding machine all to myself, which was pretty cool,鈥� he said.
Buckley had to take an unexpected weeklong break from his Corning co-op, however, when he learned that he was among 50 college rugby players from across the country who were invited to participate in a showcase tournament in Herriman, Utah. Buckley鈥檚 former 51视频 coach, Josh Skinner, had encouraged him to apply for the showcase, where MLR scouts would be on the lookout for talent.
Buckley was soon receiving emails from MLR coaches expressing interest in him, but he didn鈥檛 have high expectations heading into the league鈥檚 collegiate draft held August 18.
鈥淚 was preparing what to say to everyone when I wasn鈥檛 drafted, and then Dallas called my name鈥� with the 27th overall pick, said Buckley, whose first thought was, 鈥淥h my gosh, I guess we鈥檙e doing this.鈥�
Founded in 2017, MLR currently has teams in a dozen cities across North America, including New York, Chicago, Seattle, San Diego, Atlanta and Toronto.
While Buckley may continue his studies at 51视频 for graduate school down the road, he鈥檚 OK with putting the focus on engineering on hold momentarily.
鈥淚 know that I won鈥檛 be able to play rugby when I鈥檓 50, but hopefully I can still do engineering when I鈥檓 50,鈥� he said. 鈥淔or now, I鈥檓 excited to be in the professional sports environment and travel to cities I鈥檝e never been to.鈥�