JOHN DANOWSKI
Head Coach
Duke Blue Devils
A veteran coach entering his 26th season as a collegiate head coach in 2007, Danowski spent 21 campaigns (1986-06) at Hofstra, compiling an overall record of 192-123 (.609) with eight conference championships, eight NCAA Tournament bids and 17 final national rankings among the top 20 teams in the nation.

With an overall coaching ledger of 236-142 (.624), Danowski is one of just eight active head coaches in NCAA Division I men's lacrosse to reach the 200-win plateau.

Danowski's impact on the Duke program was immediate as the Blue Devils posted a cumulative grade point average of 3.45 in his first semester at the helm. In addition, the team provided over 500 hours of community service during the semester, continuing Danowski's philosophy of college student-athletes taking advantage of the full experience.

"The coach-player relationship lasts a lifetime - so much more than two hours every afternoon," said Danowski, the 1993 NCAA Division I National Coach of the Year who led Hofstra to eight conference championships. "It would be a disservice to the young men in the Duke program if we didn't care about their futures. To take advantage of the opportunity to teach life lessons is a goal of ours.

"I have learned the importance of adapting to the talent you have on the field," Danowski said. "You can't put a sqare peg into a round hole. I am a firm believer in taking what you have and finding the best way to be efficient with that group."

The 2006 season marked Danowski's best in a successful tenure at Hofstra as the Pride matched an NCAA single-season record with 17 victories against just two defeats. In addition, Danowski's squad captured the Colonial Athletic Association championship, finished the regular season ranked number two in the national poll and advanced to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals. The 17 wins and .895 winning percentage also set Hofstra single-season team records.

Danowski guided the Pride to East Coast Conference crowns in 1988 and 1989, and he was honored as the NCAA Division I National Coach of the Year in 1993 after leading Hofstra to the national tournament for the first time since 1978. The 1995 and 1996 seasons yielded North Atlantic Conference titles for Hofstra, and Danowski then led the Pride to America East Conference championships in 1997, 1998 and 2000.

Having directed the Pride to a record of 71-16 in regular season conference games with nine league MVPs and 90 all-conference picks, Danowski is the only lacrosse coach in Hofstra history to win an NCAA Tournament game (4-8 record) including a 2001 first round contest in which the Pride rallied from an 11-7 deficit with seven goals in the fourth quarter against Virginia en route to a 15-14 overtime win over the Cavaliers. Hofstra's first tourney win was in come-from-behind fashion as well as the Pride outscored Massachusetts 6-3 in the second half for a 9-8 victory in 1993.

The Danowski Era at Hofstra produced 34 USILA All-America selections including first team choices Brian Spallina (2000), Doug Shanahan (2001), Nicky Polanco (2002), Brett Moyer (2006) and Chris Unterstein (2006). In addition, Shanahan was named the recipient of the Tewaraaton Trophy as the nation's top player in 2001. As well, Hofstra has sent 30 players to the annual North-South All-Star Game since 1986, with Shanahan (2001) and Moyer (2006) earning game MVP honors. Former Hofstra standout Blake Miller, a member of the 1998 United States squad that captured the world title and the 2004 MLL Offensive Player of the Year, Polanco and Shanahan are currently playing for the United States squad at the International Lacrosse Federation World Championships in Ontario, Canada. Polanco is a two-time MLL Defensive Player of the Year (2004 & 2005) while Shanahan was the MVP of the 2002 ILF World Championships in Perth, Australia.

Prior to his stint at Hofstra, Danowski spent three seasons as the head coach at Long Island University-C.W. Post, helping the Pioneers to a 27-16 (.628) ledger from 1983-85. He received his start in coaching in 1982 as an assistant coach at LIU-C.W. Post in 1982.

With four conference coach of the year awards to his credit, Danowski was inducted into the Long Island Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2001. He is a three-time winner of the Joseph "Frenchy" Julien Sportsmanship Award (1988, 1989 & 1994) presented by the Metropolitan New York Officials Association and received the James Adams Sportsmanship Award from the National Intercollegiate Lacrosse Officials Association in 1994.

A 1976 graduate of Rutgers University where he earned a bachelor of science degree in Environmental Science/Education, Danowski was a four-year letterman in lacrosse and continues to hold several Scarlet Knight records. He established school single-game records for assists (13 vs. Penn State, 1973) and total points (14 vs. Penn State, 1974) and a single-season standard for assists with 54 in 1973. He currently ranks second on Rutgers' all-time list for assists (120) and is eighth in total points (177). Danowski, who helped the Scarlet Knights to NCAA Tournament appearances in 1973 and 1974, was a three-time recipient of the program's Sasser Award, an honor presented annually to the team's leader in assists. Born March 12, 1954 in Bronxville, N.Y., Danowski went on to earn a master's degree in Counseling/College Student Development from LIU-C.W. Post in 1978.

Danowski's father, Ed, was an All-America halfback on the gridiron at Fordham in 1932 and 1933 who later starred for the New York Giants in the National Football League. The elder Danowski led the NFL in passing in 1935 and 1938, earning All-NFL honors in both of those seasons, and guided the Giants to league championships in 1934 and 1938. He later served as the head football coach at his alma mater from 1946-54.

Danowski and his wife, Patricia, have two children, Kate, a former lacrosse letterwinner and 2005 graduate of Quinnipiac University, and Matt, a senior at Duke and team captain of the lacrosse program. 

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