Good morning. Here’s the latest from around the lacrosse world:
1. John Danowski, Duke and Team USA men’s coach, will coach the Blue Devils through 2023.
“Coaching at Duke University is special, and we are humbled for the opportunity to continue here,” Danowski said.
A no-brainer in our book! But we are thrilled to announce @danowski_john is signed on as a #BlueDevil through 2023!
— Duke Men's Lacrosse (@DukeMLAX) July 9, 2018
Meanwhile go lead the to Coach D! https://t.co/N1x7W7M1tY pic.twitter.com/gD2G5u1me5
Duke director of athletics Kevin White, who announced the contract extension Monday, spoke of him highly in the press release.
“Unequivocally, John Danowski is among the very best men’s lacrosse coaches in the history of the sport,” White said. “So, to have him continue his tenure here for at least another five years is phenomenal for Duke.”
Danowski is the winningest Division I coach in the sport, claiming three NCAA championships and coaching 69 All-Americans and 41 All-ACC players in his 12 years at Duke.
“In the enterprise of college athletics, there are people who are simply coaches and there are those who are true leaders – men or women who impact the young student-athletes they coach in profound ways,” White continued. “John is a once-in-a-generation leader within the men’s lacrosse landscape.”
Also at the helm of the U.S. men’s national team program, Danowski and his team touched down in Israel on Monday to compete in the 2018 FIL Men’s World Championship. Pool play begins Thursday.
2. NCAA players have flocked to Israel. Fans know of the star college players from reigning medalists Canada, USA and Iroquois, but other countries named several other former or current players to their rosters.
Just to name a few, Callum Robinson (Stevenson ’15) will play for Australia, Jean-Luc Chetner (Towson) and Max Seibald (Cornell) will compete for Israel and Dan Morris (Maryland) will suit up for the Phillippines. Plus, Christian Cuccinello (Villanova) and Nate Lewnes (UMBC) will represent Italy and Greece, respectively.
3. The Dallas Rattlers became the first team to secure a spot in MLL playoffs with a 14-9 win over the Charlotte Hounds in Week 12.
“No one felt good about losing the way we did in Denver last year,” Dallas coach Bill Warder said. “It was a pretty easy choice for every single guy to say we have unfinished business, and that’s been, from day one of the transition from western New York to Texas, finishing the business we started.”
Plus, Jeremy Sieverts and Nate Lewnes are key additions to the Bayhawks roster, Ohio snaps its losing streak with a two-goal victory over Florida and Denver’s Chris Cloutier is the player of the week.
4. The four pro leagues – MLL, NLL, UWLX and WPLL – need to continue to evolve, but they have made progress, writes US Lacrosse CEO Steve Stenersen.
“Dialogue between the NLL and MLL is promising, the coordination of men’s and women’s pro league doubleheaders is exciting, and the levels of engagement US Lacrosse has had with each of the four leagues has been refreshing.”
5. Meet Lance Basler, the general manager of all five U.S. national teams. He grew up playing lacrosse in Idaho and is now in Israel with Team USA for the 2018 FIL Men’s World Championship.