CHARLESTON, SC — The Intercollegiate Men’s Lacrosse Coaches Association Board of Directors recently approved the nominations of the Hall of Fame Committee for the induction class of 2020. The IMLCA Hall of Fame was unanimously approved by both the Executive Committee and Board of Directors in 2015 with the intent to provide our association the means to honor coaches for their outstanding achievements both on and off the field who have served as great ambassadors of our sport.
Inductees for the 2020 Class include Bruce Allison (Union College, Colorado School of Mines), Ray Rostan (RIT, Ithaca College, Hampden-Sydney College), Dom Starsia (Brown University, University of Virginia), and Don Zimmerman (Johns Hopkins University, UMBC).
Allison, Starsia, and Zimmerman have been previously inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
IMLCA President, J.B. Clarke, Head Coach at Limestone University recently said: “The Class of 2020 adds four more phenomenal coaches to our Hall. These men embody what it means to be a coach as they’ve proven to be tremendous teachers, mentors, and leaders for their student-athletes. They not only served their players selflessly, they represented their institutions with distinction and were phenomenal ambassadors for our sport. It will truly be an honor to induct Coaches Allison, Rostan, Starsia, and Zimmerman into the IMLCA Hall of Fame.”
The scheduled venue and date for the 2020 IMLCA Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Reception have yet to be finalized due to the current limitations in place for COVID-19 precautions. Event details and further updates will be announced on IMLCA social media channels (@IMLCACoaches) and our website https://www.imlcacoaches.com at a later date.
More about the inductees:
Bruce Allison, a native of Penn Yan, N.Y., began his lacrosse career at Cortland where he was a three-time letterman, the Red Letter Award winner, and two-time All-American mention. Following his playing career, Allison went on to begin his 19 years of service at Union College. While at Union, he served as the lacrosse coach all 19 seasons, wrestling coach for 11 seasons, assistant football coach for 15 years, and Athletic Director his last four years. Starting in 1976, Allison became the Director of Athletics, Head lacrosse coach, and professor at the Colorado School of Mines. When Allison moved to Colorado he brought an enthusiasm for the sport of lacrosse to the region. He helped establish and became the first president of the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Foundation Chapter while also chairing the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Lacrosse League. During his career, Allison also served in many other positions such as: Chairman of the NCAA Lacrosse Rules Committee; President, Vice-President, and Treasurer for the USILA; as well as President, Vice-President, and Secretary-Treasurer of the United States Lacrosse Coaches Association. Allison was instrumental in developing the format for the first NCAA lacrosse championship and helped initiate the first College Division tournament.
Ray Rostan served at the helm of the Hampden-Sydney College’s Men’s lacrosse program for 32 seasons before his retirement in 2016. Rostan compiled a record of 302-172 with the Tigers and an overall record of 342-197, ranking him eighth all-time in coaching victories in all NCAA Divisions. Seventeen of Rostan’s teams finished the season with a top-20 national ranking, and he led the Tigers to eight NCAA Tournament appearances and four ODAC Championships. He coached 66 All-Americans, five Academic All-Americans, and has seen 13 players inducted into the Hampden-Sydney Hall of Fame. Rostan has been named the ODAC Coach of the Year five times, most recently in 2016, and was the 1998 and 1999 winner of the Francis "Babe" Kraus Award, given to the National Coach of the Year. Prior to his coaching career, Rostan was a member of the 1973 Cortland State National Championship team. He later played professionally in the National Lacrosse League for the 1974 National Lacrosse League Champion Rochester Griffins and for the Long Island Tomahawks in 1975. Rostan has also served as the Assistant Coach and Defensive Coordinator for the 2002 U.S. National Lacrosse Team, the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Committee, Chair of the USILA Men’s North-South game, and on the USILA Committee for Coaching Ethics.
Dom Starsia started his lacrosse career at Brown University, where he earned high honors such as First Team All-Ivy, All-New England, and Third Team All America. During his senior season, Starsia helped to captain Brown University’s team to the NCAA Playoffs under the tutelage of 2019 IMLCA Hall of Fame inductee, Cliff Stevenson. Following his college career, he continued playing the game at the professional level as well as starting his coaching career at Brown. Starsia was also a member of the 1978 U.S. National Team. After a successful coaching tenure at Brown University with two Ivy-League Championships under his belt, Starsia became the head coach of the University of Virginia Cavaliers in 1993. In his 24 years with the Cavaliers, the team amassed 13 NCAA semifinal appearances, six ACC Tournament Championships, four NCAA National Championship titles, and a perfect season record (2006) - the first in NCAA history. Over his 42 years of collegiate coaching, Starsia compiled a 329-118 record, gaining him the title of “Winningest Coach in Division I” history. Since his retirement from the college coaching landscape, Starsia has continued to visit, teach, and assist college and youth programs across the country. In 2019, he served as Head Coach of the Chrome, one of the six teams in the Premier Lacrosse League’s inaugural season. Coach Starsia is also known as an active educator of the game’s Native American roots by continuing to share its history and importance in today’s game.
Don Zimmerman was a standout lacrosse player early in his career. As a high school player at St. Paul’s, he was a key contributor to the championship teams in 1969, 1970, and 1971. After graduating from St. Paul’s, Don continued to play lacrosse at Randolph-Macon College. After his freshman year he transferred to Johns Hopkins University where he played lacrosse and earned All-American recognition as a junior. With finishing his playing career, Don began a career in coaching at Princeton and UNC, and in 1984 he was hired to lead the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays. Don quickly earned special distinction when he became the first lacrosse coach in NCAA history to win a national championship in his first year as a head coach. His Blue Jay teams would go on to win additional championships in 1985 and 1987. Don also served as the US Men’s National Lacrosse team’s assistant coach for the 1986 World Lacrosse Championship. After Don’s tenure at Johns Hopkins and a few years at Loyola Maryland as an assistant coach, he became the head coach at UMBC for 23 years. Zimmerman, who also serves as a color analyst for ESPN, continues to be an active force for lacrosse at both the collegiate and youth/high school level.