Duke’s Danowski selected DI lacrosse Coach of the Year

Peter Koutroumpis, Triangle Sports Network
Peter Koutroumpis, Triangle Sports Network

DURHAM, N.C. – Duke Blue Devils men’s lacrosse head coach John Danowski was selected as the Intercollegiate Men’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IMCLA) Division I Coach of the Year as announced on Friday at the organization’s annual convention held in Baltimore, Md.

For Danowski, the national coaching award was the third of his career and second while leading the Blue Devils program, and followed up a season during which he led the Blue Devils to their second NCAA Championship title during the past seven years.

After a 20-year stint (1986-2006) leading the lacrosse program at Hofstra where he won his first national coaching award in 1993, Danowski took on leadership of the Blue Devils program in 2007 and has reached significant career milestones and competitive success leading the program in Durham.

Danowski  has compiled a 111-29 record while leading Duke to six ACC regular season titles and four ACC tournament titles, seven appearances in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) semifinals, three in the national championship game, and ultimately to the 2010 and 2013 NCAA titles, beating Notre Dame and Syracuse to do so respectively.

In 2013, Danowski guided the Blue Devils to a 16-5 overall record and the national championship after his team started the year 2-4 and fell out of the national rankings for the first time since the 2004 season.

Danowski and his staff then got the team moving back in the right direction, winning nine straight games heading into the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Tournament.

After an 18-17 loss to then No. 1 North Carolina in the opening game of the ACC tournament, Duke shook off the loss and finished the season with another streak of five consecutive victories that included a decisive 16-10 decision over the Orange in the NCAA final.

Danowski is the first coach in lacrosse history to lead his team to seven consecutive championship weekend appearances in his first seven seasons at the helm, and overall for his career has compiled a 330-168 record to rank second in career victories among active coaches.

He is one of four coaches to have at least 100 wins with two different programs, while his .663 win percentage ranks seventh among active Division I coaches.