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John Danowski

 
Profile
John Danowski has led the Duke men’s lacrosse team to unprecedented success and himself to the top over the Division I men’s lacrosse wins list.

Danowski was introduced as Duke’s eighth head men’s lacrosse coach on July 21, 2006 and quickly led the Blue Devils to some of the most successful lacrosse seasons in school history, which included three NCAA Championships in a five-year span.

In Danowski’s 12 years at the helm of the Blue Devils lacrosse program, he has compiled an impressive 180-55 record in leading Duke to seven ACC regular season titles and four ACC tournament titles, nine appearances in the national semifinals from 2007-14 and 2018, five in the NCAA title match and ultimately to the 2010, 2013 and 2014 national titles. The 2014 NCAA crown put Danowski, a winner of 399 career games, among a small group of nine coaches to win three national titles and among eight to capture consecutive crowns. Meanwhile, Duke’s run of eight straight NCAA semifinals rank as the second most of any program since 2000 with Syracuse. Danowski, with a 399-194 record, owns the most wins among Division I head coaches and will become just the third coach across all three divisions to record 400 career wins. He passed Dom Starsia as the winningest Division I lacrosse history in 2017, garnering his 376th win with a 13-6 victory over Jacksonville.

A winner of nearly 80 percent of his games at Duke, the individual awards Blue Devil players have garnered is equally impressive. In 11 seasons, Danowski mentored 64 All-America selections, 36 All-ACC choices, two Tewaaraton Trophy winners, a pair of USILA Attackman of the Year honorees, a USILA Defenseman of the Year, three USILA Midfielder of the Year award recipients and 21 USILA Scholar All-America picks.

While the success on the field is unsurpassed in Duke lacrosse history, the student-athletes excellence in the classroom also is unrivaled. The Blue Devils consistently lead the ACC in All-ACC Academic picks as well as players on the ACC Academic Honor Roll. In 2018, Duke had 36 players – 77 percent of the team – achieve a 3.0 grade point average for the entire academic year, while Justin Guterding was named the ACC Student-Athlete of the Year and a USILA Scholar All-American.

Duke, after winning consecutive NCAA titles in 2013 and 2014, returned to championship weekend in 2018 where it ultimately fell to Yale in national championship game.