2018 RIT LACROSSE ACADEMY

Friday, July 20th, 2018

ACADEMY DIRECTORS:

RIT HEAD COACH – JAKE COON

RIT Men’s Lacrosse head coach Jake Coon has accomplished more in seven seasons than some coaches accomplish in a career. In just seven seasons at RIT Men's Lacrosse, Coon has led the Tigers to an amazing 127-17 record, seven straight conference titles and seven straight trips to the NCAA Div. III Tournament, including the Tigers first-ever appearance in the National Championship game in 2013.

On March 9, 2016 Coon became the winningest coach in program history winning his 128th game in a 12-8 win at Rensselaer.  He needed just 143 games to reach the hallowed milestone.  

Coon, the 2011 USILA and 2013 IMCLA Division III Coach of the Year, has coached 47 All-Americans, 79 All-Conference selections and six straight Conference Players of the Year.

A native of Homer, NY, Coon is a strong believer in community service. His student athletes are some of the most active in that regard on campus, regularly volunteering by mentoring young students in the Rochester community.

He came to RIT after spending five years at UMass-Amherst as an assistant coach, serving as the second assistant from 2005-06, and the first assistant from 2006 through 2009.

Coon is a 2001 graduate of Nazareth College, where he excelled on the field, helping the Golden Flyers to the 1997 NCAA Division III championship. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in social science and a minor in sports management. He was a four-time All-American, two-year captain and a two-time Division III Goalie of the Year selection.

He returned to Nazareth to coach for five years (2000-2005), helping the Golden Flyers to four NCAA Tournament berths. He worked directly with the goalies and defense including a national championship game appearance in 2004, where the Nazareth goalie Alex Civalier was named the MVP of the game despite the loss.

Coon was inducted into the Nazareth College Hall of Fame in 2009.

After graduation, he played professionally for the Rochester Knighthawks of the National Lacrosse League from 2000-2003. He played for the Rochester Rattlers of the Major League Lacrosse from 2001-2005 and the Boston Cannons from 2005-2009.

RIT ASSISTANT COACH – SHAWN WILKINS

Shawn Wilkins has completed his eighth season as an assistant coach for the RIT Men's Lacrosse program, working primarily with the offense, while also taking on more recruiting and day-to-day operations. He has been an integral part of a program that advanced to the 2013 NCAA Division III National Championship Game. In Wilkins six seasons he has helped RIT to an impressive 127-175 record and six straight NCAA Tournament appearances.

Under Wilkins' tutelage, the Tigers offense has become one of the most prolific scoring teams in all of Division III.  Last season, the Tigers tallied 344 goals, averaging 17.20 per game.  Wilkins has mentored five conference offensive players.  

Wilkins was a two-sport standout at RIT, playing midfield for RIT from 1998-2001, helping the Tigers to the semifinals in the 1999 NCAA Division III Tournament and a quarterfinals appearance in 2000. Wilkins was an All-Super Six selection in 1998 and 1999 and an All-Empire 8 selection in 2001. Wilkins is one of 14 players in RIT Lacrosse history to score 100 career goals (104), and is 16th all-time in scoring with 147 points.

After graduation, Wilkins played professionally for the Rochester Rattlers of Major League Lacrosse and the Rochester Knighthawks of the National Lacrosse League. He also played for the Italian National team in 2006 and was a member of the Canadian Jr. National team in 1996.

RIT ASSISTANT COACH – Donny Moss
Donny Moss spent the past two seasons as the assistant coach at Elmira College, earning his Master’s degree in general education in 2016.  He started with RIT in the fall of 2016.

Moss, a 2009 graduate of Adelphi University, and was an assistant coach at Churchville-Chili three seasons, before assuming the head coaching roll in 2014 leading Churchville-Chili to a third place finish in the Monroe County Division 3 in 2014. He was named the Monroe County Division 3 Coach of the Year in 2014.

In addition to coaching, Moss played six years of professional lacrosse in Major League Lacrosse (MLL).  In 2015, he played for the Rochester Rattlers and helped guide his hometown team to a first-place regular season finish and a trip to the 2014 MLL Championship game. Before playing with Rochester, Moss spent three years with the Hamilton Nationals and another two years with the Long Island Lizard. Moss was the 39^th player taken in 2009 MLL Collegiate Draft by Long Island. 
 
Prior to his professional career, Moss spent played two years at Adelphi University. Prior to that, Moss played at Herkimer County Community College, earning First Team All-American and the Region III Defensive Player of the Year honors. 

TENTATIVE  SCHEDULE: