SAN DIEGO — Two weeks after the final episode of "Love Island" aired on CBS last summer, show finalist Dylan Curry attended the wedding of Stony Brook men's lacrosse teammate Brody Eastwood.
And Curry, who had reached the finals of the dating reality show, was unsure how his dozen or so former college teammates in attendance at the nuptial would react to his just-completed appearance on the love-themed TV show.
"Especially in a romance type of show, I wasn't sure the reaction I was going to get from my guy friends," said Curry, a two-time All-America East selection and two-year captain while playing for the Seawolves from 2013 through 2016. "Especially on Long Island, they'll tell you how it is.
"But they were nothing but supportive. With everything we've been through in lacrosse — we've been through ups and downs in our careers — looking back, I'm kind of foolish for thinking they would think anything else, because they really are lifelong friends with a crazy bond."
Curry, who turns 26 on Feb. 3, had a fascinating journey from Long Island to Love Island, whch was filmed in a villa on the island of Fiji.
He graduated from Stony Brook in May 2016 with a bachelor's degree in health science and preapproved admission to nursing school. He instead accepted a full-time banking position with JP Morgan in Brooklyn and, within six months, was managing a 20-member team.
However, being confined to a desk did not suit Curry's personality. So he got in his car and headed west. The East Meadow, Long Island, native settled in San Diego.
"I didn't enjoy sitting in front of a computer screen. So without any plan whatsoever, I just trusted that I could outwork anyone," he said. "I said to myself, 'I'm not going to let myself fail.' I picked up and drove across the country with no plan whatsoever."
Curry supported himself by working as a door-to-door salesman for Save the Children, the international charity. He indicated that he was so persuasive in signing up sponsors for $30-a-month commitments, he holds the charity's records.
"Most sales in a week, most sales in a day, most sales in a month. I have all of those records," he said. "It was a cool experience. I can talk with anybody now."
Curry also stayed true to his lacrosse roots.
He started the boys and girls varsity lacrosse programs at Clairemont High School in San Diego, even leading the team to a win during its inaugural season — despite only eight of the 60 kids having ever previously held a lacrosse stick before joining the team. Last season, he coached five teams in total, ranging from third-graders to high school varsity. He also played the sport in a hypercompetitive California club league that crowns a state champion as well as in three-on-three games on the beach alongside the Pacific Ocean.
Curry never envisioned himself a candidate for a TV role.
Then, he was approached by a CBS recruiter, which he initially met with skepticism.
"I don't look at myself in that light to even be considered for a TV show," Curry said. "At first I was like, 'Oh, this is a scam. There's no way it's real.' But then I got an email that was officially signed by CBS. So I was like, 'All right. Let's see how this goes.'"
Dylan Curry (12) in action as a Stony Brook senior in 2016. He served as a two-year captain.
He was flown and driven multiple times from San Diego north to Los Angeles to meet with CBS bigwigs — 20 at a time in a darkened room, who peppered him with questions as a spotlight focused on him. He went through three months of interviews in total.
Five days before the show was to begin taping, Curry received a call saying he had made the cut and inviting him to depart for Fiji.
He declined.
Two days later, however, after persuasion from a CBS executive that he could be himself on the show and that his comments would not be taken out of context for dramatization purposes, he reversed course and accepted.
He told his family and roommates, but his former lacrosse teammates and others close to him had no clue until they saw him on national television.
"Actually, I didn't tell my dad," Curry said. "I just told my mom, my sister and my really close friends. No one that I went to school with, no friends from home, had any clue what was going on.
"And the second I landed in Fiji, for a total of seven or 7½ weeks, I had no contact with the outside world. I didn't know the time of day. I didn't know what day it was. I lost track. I didn't know there was an earthquake in California. I had absolutely zero clue."
The reality show's episodes aired in the United States the day after each was taped in Fiji —virtually real time.
The concept of the show was for attractive bachelors and bachelorettes to be dropped onto the island and eventually, if successful, become a couple with another contestant. Four couples formed on the show, including Curry and reality-TV-forged-mate Alex Stewart, reached the finals of the 22-episode show. America voted for the winner.
Curry and Stewart ultimately finished as the runner-up. Another couple split the $100,000 prize.
"Once you're in that situation and you're two seconds away from winning $50,000, I was disappointed I didn't win," Curry said.
Since the show's completion, Curry and Stewart have separated.
As for his Stony Brook lacrosse career, Curry suggested the work ethic instilled with the Seawolves has served him throughout the past four years. He produced 11 goals, six assists, 115 ground balls and 24 caused turnovers during his collegiate career. He moved from short-stick midfielder as a freshman, to long-stick midfielder as a junior, to defenseman as a senior in order to accommodate whatever position the team most needed him.
The college lacrosse achievement for which he is most proud, however? Being upgraded to a full scholarship for his senior year — his second season as a team captain.
"The real thing that I take away from my career with Stony Brook lacrosse," Curry said, "is just the work ethic that Division I athletes need to have in order to be successful."
