Look around the landscape of the NCAA’s most profitable and popular sports and it becomes clear that the mantra surrounding the term “student-athlete” tends to tilt noticeably in the direction of the latter half.

Basketball programs like Kentucky and Duke continue to thrive by replenishing their systems with one-and-done players, while many college football players jettison and head to the NFL as soon as they are eligible to declare for the draft after their sophomore seasons.

But in the shadows of this controversy surrounding the NCAA’s focus – or lack thereof – on academics, is a wealth of programs and student-athletes that more precisely fit the association’s mission of achieving “success on the field, in the classroom and in life.”

Here, within the programs that aren’t featured on ESPN or any major network’s primetime slots, student-athletes who seek a future outside of a professional sports career thrive.

Massachusetts men’s lacrosse’s Dan Muller is one of these many cases of the often overlooked side of college athletics.

A third-year Isenberg School of Management double-major in business finance and sport management, with a minor in economics, Muller has exceled academically while putting together a breakout year on the field for the Minutemen.

“It’s something we all sign up for going into school,” Muller said regarding the commitment as a student-athlete. “I’m just trying to get as much as I can out of both school and lacrosse in my time here. I feel like doing all that will help me later on in my life as well as now.”

Returning from a season-ending injury suffered a year ago, Muller has recorded 13 goals and eight assists for UMass (4-8, 2-2 Colonial Athletic Association), placing him in a tie for third on the team with 21 points.

The redshirt sophomore has achieved this while maintaining a GPA above 3.4.

“As of right now I think I’m doing both things I wanted to do coming in here,” Muller said. “So I’m pretty happy about that.”

A complete student-athlete

Muller made it clear what he thought about the stereotype surrounding college student-athletes and their academic efforts.

“I think when you’re on campus, people kind of think that athletes get a kind of special treatment. It’s really not the case,” Muller said. “I think we have to work harder than a normal student really because we don’t have the time. We have to put in the effort even more to get the same output.”

He added: “You need to be good in academics because you need to show everybody else on campus you’re not just here for your sport and you realize that there’s more coming after college.”

Muller has done his part to combat the negative aura surrounding the issue in today’s higher profile sports.

This spring, he was initiated into Chi Alpha Sigma, an organization which honors varsity student-athletes with a 3.4 GPA or higher through their junior years. Muller said he was excited for the recognition and hopes to become more involved in it starting next semester.

But he also recognized the academic success of the UMass lacrosse program as a whole, noting that it boasts a graduation rate close to 95 percent during coach Greg Cannella’s 21 years at the helm.

“Right now for our lacrosse team, we’re one of the highest graduation rates on campus for an athlete,” Muller said. “We’re at 95 percent which is obviously very high compared to your average sport.”

According to Cannella, this statistic is a point of pride in his tenure, which has seen five conference titles and a 2006 NCAA Finals appearance on the field.

“We don’t sell the pro dream. We realize that we sell an education at a great institution and a great athletic experience,” said Cannella, who coached his 300th game at UMass Saturday. “I think these guys have a different focus than a lot of other athletes across America in terms of, ‘I want to leave here with a great degree and then move on into my future.’

“We’re proud of the product that we’ve been able to put out there in the past and we hope to continue to do so in the future.”

In particular, Cannella praised Muller for his commitment in both facets of a student-athlete’s responsibilities.

“He’s an excellent student and he’s really motivated to excel everywhere in life, in the classroom, on the field,” he said. “Everything he does, he does full force. He’s highly motivated to be successful and you wish you had 45 of those guys like Danny.”

A strong return

This motivation was tested on the field, however, for Muller following a tough break before the 2014 season.

Two weeks away from starting his sophomore campaign filled with rising expectations, Muller suffered an ACL tear in practice after a teammate inadvertently ran into his planted leg.

“At first, I thought it was just kind of a really bad dead leg, like I couldn’t really walk on it,” Muller said. “I just went to the sideline and laid down. I wasn’t really sure what was wrong with it.

“Then a couple weeks later I found out and I knew I was done for the season.”

The injury started a year-long recovery both physically and mentally. But by the time Muller arrived back on campus after the summer, after daily training room visits, he was back to his pre-injury shape.

Along the way, Muller received advice and comfort from teammates, including senior Andrew Sokol. Sokol suffered a similar knee injury in high school and knew what the recovery period was like.

“Being sidelined for seven or eight months, it’s tough,” Sokol said. “But you kind of have to channel that frustration or whatever you’re feeling into getting healthy and rehab and all that so you’re ready to go when you get back.”

According to Sokol, whose locker sits right next to Muller’s, this channeling was exactly what he saw from Muller.

“He was focused, he came in great shape in the fall and he was ready to go so I think he was motivated from his entire time when he was down,” Sokol added.

The result this season for Muller has been a jolt of offensive consistency that was expected last season prior to the injury. His 21 points this year are a stark increase from the six goals and one assist produced in his 2013 freshman campaign.

“I feel like I’ve definitely progressed a lot throughout that one year being hurt and even from my freshman season to now,” Muller said. “I’ve definitely improved drastically in that amount of space just communication-wise, leadership(-wise) and even just knowing what to do on the field at this point.”

Big Apple dreams

After a flurry of struggles to begin the regular season, Muller and the Minutemen have the opportunity to clinch a spot in the CAA tournament with a win in Friday’s finale against Delaware.

However, while these playoff chances still remain up in the air, Muller’s future plans beyond graduation – and lacrosse – appear to be perfectly drawn out already.

“I would just like to work in New York City in the financial district right around there,” Muller said. “When I graduate, that’ll be my plans.”

He hopes to begin this road to New York with an internship this summer that he interviewed for Friday. Next year, he plans on finding another internship at one of the city’s investment banks to further enhance his pursuit in the field of finance.

But Muller said he wouldn’t forget about the University and its lacrosse program either.

“Hopefully I can give back to this program what it gave back to me, which I think was an opportunity of a lifetime,” Muller said.

Anthony Chiusano can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @a_chiusano24.