Jules Heningburg

Heningburg grew up in Maplewood, New Jersey as the fifth of six children of a Black father, Gus Heningburg Jr., and a white mother, Maria Morrison Heningburg. His grandfather, Gus Sr., was a civil rights activist, while his grandmother, Jean, was the first Black teacher at Montclair High School. He played high school lacrosse for Columbia High School before transferring to Seton Hall Preparatory School. He chose to keep his lacrosse talent in New Jersey for college, heading to Rutgers University. In his four years with the Scarlet Knights, Heningburg started all 60 games he appeared in.^[2][3][4]

Heningburg was drafted 7th overall by the Florida Launch in the 2018 Major League Lacrosse Draft. He made 8 regular season appearances. With Jules joining approximately 140 other players leaving the MLL to sign with the PLL, the MLL was forced to contract the league footprint. As a result, the Launch franchise folded during the 2019 MLL offseason.^[5][6]

Heningburg left the MLL for the PLL in the upstart league's first season. At the inception of the Premier Lacrosse League, Heningburg was assigned to the Whipsnakes roster.^[7] The inaugural 2019 season began on June 1, and Heningburg saw action in three games for the Whipsnakes before being traded to the Redwoods on June 17 in exchange for Alec Tulett and a fourth round draft pick in 2020.^[8]

Heningburg played for the Redwoods of the Premier Lacrosse League for 5 seasons. He finished his first season with 33 regular season points and helped steer the Redwoods to the championship game were the Redwoods fell to Heningburg's former team, the Whipsnakes, by a score of 12-11 in overtime. During the 2020 off-season, the Redwoods used one of their protected roster spots to keep Heningburg from being selected in the Expansion Draft by the Waterdogs Lacrosse Club.^[9] During the COVID-19 shortened 2020 Premier Lacrosse League season, it was revealed by league doctors that Heningburg would have to sit out the bubble championship series due to an underlying health condition.^[10] Heningburg returned to the PLL in 2021, where he scored 52 points over his next 3 seasons.^[11] In 2023, his contract with the Redwoods expired and he entered free agency.

On March 7, Heningburg signed a one-year deal with the Carolina Chaos.^[12] He spent the 2024 season with the team, scoring 15 points in 9 games.^[11] Heningburg was waived on May 27, as a part of the last round of cuts before the 25-man roster for the 2025 season.

After going the first half of the season unsigned, Heningburg hopped in the booth for the PLL All-Star game, giving color commentary. On July 9, Heningburg signed with the Boston Cannons.^[13] He scored 3 points in his debut.^[11]

Heningburg was promoted to the San Diego Seals active roster from the practice squad on February 8, 2019.^[14] He appeared in one game. That summer, he worked to improve his indoor lacrosse game in the Interstate Box Lacrosse Association (IBLA). Heningburg was a staple of the Minneapolis Wheat Kings's run to third place in the IBLA Nationals Tournament in Huntington Beach, California.^[15]

Heningburg returned to the National Lacrosse League in September 2020 on a contract with the New England Black Wolves.^[16][17] In February 2021, the Black Wolves announced a move to Albany with new ownership.^[18] He did not appear in another match for the FireWolves, after spending some time on the holdout list, he was waived on March 3, 2023.^[19]

Source:^[20][21]

GP–Games played; G–Goals; 2PG–2-point goals; A–Assists; Pts–Points; Sh–Shots; GB–Ground balls; Pen–Penalties; PIM–Penalty minutes; FOW–Faceoffs won; FOA–Faceoffs attempted

GP–Games played; G–Goals; A–Assists; Pts–Points; LB–Loose balls; PIM–Penalty minutes; Pts/GP–Points per games played; LB/GP–Loose balls per games played; PIM/GP–Penalty minutes per games played.