His remarkable performances earned him the attention of a former pro handball player named Charlie Hillil. Needless to say, Hillil was impressed by Letteri's abilities and offered to become his coach.

"[Hillil] saw something in me, and he took me under his wing," Letteri said.

A natural talent, Letteri flourished even more with a full-time coach offering him advice. By his senior year of high school, he had already drawn interest from several colleges that had developed very strong handball programs.

In the end, though, Letteri selected Harvard, a school that, at that time, had no handball program whatsoever. In the years since making that decision, Letteri has watched several of his former rivals develop into some of the world's best players. He has monitored their progress while he has been at Harvard, and their improvement sometimes makes him wonder what might have been if he had made the same choice as them.

"It's been kind of bittersweet," Letteri said. "I know if I had went to one of the schools that had a full-time coach, I could have been right up there with them."

Still, Letteri has no regrets. When he recently met up with the coach from one of the schools he had been considering before choosing Harvard, he was asked if he had ever thought twice about his choice.

"I didn't even blink, and I told him I do it all over again," said Letteri.