| Start Date: | 07/26/24 |
| End Date: | 07/26/24 |
| Registration Opens: | 02/28/24 |
| Registration Closes: | 07/26/24 |
| Camp Fee: | $125 |
The RIT Lacrosse Academy is designed to give high school RISING JUNIOR and SENIOR lacrosse players the opportunity to get some quality coaching from the RIT staff. The focus of the academy is to work on all aspects of the game at an intense, organized collegiate level and is designed for the serious athlete. All campers will receive individual instruction on game fundamentals and sessions will include stick work, positional work, transition play, and team competition.
Be sure to sign up quickly, as 45 is the maximum number of participants for this camp. Positions are limited based on team needs.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE:
WHAT TO BRING
REQUIRED – Stick, helmet, gloves, arm guards, shoulder pads, mouth piece, cleats, sneakers, goalie chest protector
OPTIONAL – Water bottle, sun screen,
REFUND POLICY:
Full refunds will be given only to those who request them before July 21st. Any refunds requested after July 21st will require a Doctor's note. Please allow up to 2 weeks after the conclusion of the event for processing.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
For further information or questions regarding the Academy please contact:
Shawn Wilkins
Academy Staff:
The 2024 season is Jake Coon’s 15th season as the RIT men’s lacrosse head coach. During his decade-and-a-half, Coon has led the Tigers to two National Championships, 14 Conference Championships, and nine Final Four appearances.
The winningest coach in program history, Coon led RIT to 21-2 record in 2023, advancing to the NCAA Semifinal for the ninth time. Coon led the Tigers to their 11th straight Liberty League regular season and tournament title.
Honors/Accomplishments as Head Coach
Notable Games as Head Coach
Coaching Career Prior to RIT
After graduating from Nazareth in 2002, Coon spent five years at Nazareth from 2001-2005. He worked directly with the goalies and defense at Nazareth, helping guide the Golden Flyers to four NCAA Tournament appearances, including the 2004 national championship game. Following Nazareth, Coon spent four years at UMass as the defensive coordinator and worked closely with the goalies, helping guide the Minutemen to the 2006 national championship game.
Playing Career
A four-time All-American goalie at Nazareth College, the Homer, NY native is Nazareth’s only four-time All-American. He led Nazareth to a 51-10 record, helping the Golden Flyers to the NCAA Division III title in 1997. Coon earned First Team All-American and USILA Goalie of the Year honors in 1998 and 2000. He was inducted into the Nazareth Sports Hall of Fame in 2009. Coon played professionally for the Rochester Knighthawks (National Lacrosse League) from 2000-2003, and the Rochester Rattlers (2001-2005) and Boston Cannons (2005-2009) of the Major Lacrosse League. Coon was inducted into the Upstate New York chapter of the US Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2018, and will be inducted into the Rochester Lacrosse Hall of Fame in November 2021.
Personal Life
Coon resides in Honeoye Falls, NY with his wife Kara and their sons Jackson (15) and Colson (10).
Shawn Wilkins, the 2021 IMLCA Division III Assistant Coach of the Year, begins his 13th season as an assistant coach for the RIT men's lacrosse program in 2021-22, serving as RIT’s offensive coordinator. Wilkins helped lead the Tigers to a 14-0 record and the program’s first NCAA Division III national championship in 2021.
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 246 goals, finishing in the top-20 nationally averaging 17.57 goals per game, while the man-up unit was seventh in Division III, converting 56.2 percent of its chances. In his 12 seasons, Wilkins has led a potent attack that scored 3,688 goals, averaging 16.10 goals per game over that span.
Wilkins is highly involved with recruiting and the day-to-day operations of one of the most successful programs in the nation, and is an integral part of a program that has made 11 straight trips to the NCAA Tournament, and 11 conference championships. including berths in the 2013 and 2017 championship games. In 2013 he was honored by the USILA as the Assistant Coach of the Year. Wilkins, the 2013 USILA Assistant Coach of the Year, has helped RIT to an impressive 206-23 record.
Wilkins has mentored eight conference offensive players of the year, including Dawson Tait in 2021. Shaw Nally (2018) and Allister Warren (2015) each won the Fran McCall Award as the Division III Midfielder of the Year. Killen (2018) and Ryan Lee (2015 and 2017) each won the USILA Lt. J.I. (Jack) Turnbull Award as the Division III’s finest attackman, while Killen was the 2018 Iroquois Nationals Award winner recognizing Division III’s best player. Lee is the RIT all-time leader in goals (237) and points (373).
Wilkins was a two-sport (lacrosse and ice hockey) standout himself at RIT, playing midfield for the Tigers 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 21 players in RIT Lacrosse history to score 100 career goals (104), and is 24th all time in scoring with 147 points.
On the ice, Wilkins played both forward and defense, and was a key member of three NCAA Tournament teams, including the 2001 squad that advanced to the National Championship game. Wilkins graduated from the university in 2002 with a bachelor's degree in hospitality and service management with a minor in criminal justice.
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. He is on the coaching staff of the Under-19 Team Canada squad that will compete at the 2020 World Championship.
Wilkins, a 2019 inductee into the RIT Sports Hall of Fame, resides in Penfield with his wife Melissa, a former standout goalie with the RIT women’s hockey team and 2009 inductee into the RIT Sports Hall of Fame. They have a son Jace, and daughter Jordyn.
Conor Whipple begins his first season as an assistant coach at RIT. He spent five years on the Bucknell coaching staff, serving as the face-off coordinator and the offensive and recruiting coordinator in 2023.
Under Whipple’s tutelage, Bucknell had a top-20 extra-man offense, set a school record for goals in a game against Loyola and coached two offensive All-Conference players.
Whipple helped lead Bucknell to the Patriot League Tournament in 2019 and 2022, and coached Nick Crovatto to a 175 face-off wins which was a program-record.
Whipple came to Bucknell from the University of Tampa, where he was a four-time USILA All-American. Whipple graduated with Spartan records in career points (354) and assists (185); he also stood second all-time in career goals (169), games played (75) and games started (72) at the end of his illustrious career.
Whipple posted Tampa's top-four totals in single-season assists, topping out at 60 as a senior in 2017. His 99 points that season slotted him in a tie for first in Spartan history.
A three-time Sunshine State Conference Player of the Year, Whipple led Tampa to four-straight tournament titles. The Spartans appeared in the NCAA Division II tournament all four years, reaching the semifinals in 2014, 2016 and 2017.
Whipple was also a 2017 USILA Scholar All-American and three-year captain. Following his collegiate playing days, he was drafted by the Florida Launch in the 2017 Major League Lacrosse Draft.
Whipple graduated from Tampa with a degree in sports management in 2017. He later obtained his master's in entrepreneurship from his alma mater in December 2018.
Whipple is no stranger to the coaching business as his father, Rory, is the all-time winningest men's lacrosse coach at the Division II level. Whipple was coached by his father at Tampa. The elder Whipple previously held head coaching position at Florida Southern, Bryant, Hartwick and Clarkson.