Author: Tanner Demling

Tanner is the founder and director of Lacrosse Bucket. A native of Louisville, KY and graduate of Trinity High School Tanner has been involved in the game of lacrosse for nearly a decade. He has watched the game grow in Louisville, across the state of Kentucky, the rest of the southeast, and the rest of the country and world. Tanner is dedicated to growing the game of lacrosse to insure that the lacrosse players, coaches, and fans of tomorrow will have more to strive for then every before in the sport.

Cannons’ Nick Marrocco, Sean Quirk Launch Lacrosse Equipment & Apparel Company

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(Photos Courtesy of Boston Cannons/MLL)

Boston Cannons goalie Nick Marrocco and head coach Sean Quirk officially launched their new company, PeakPro, this week. The company, which leans on the four standards of strength, durability, consistency, and style, has announced a line of alloy, carbon, and carbon-composite shafts, which will be available soon, and a line of apparel that is currently out on their website.  Continue reading “Cannons’ Nick Marrocco, Sean Quirk Launch Lacrosse Equipment & Apparel Company” →

How Can Lacrosse Become More Diverse Among The College Coaching Ranks?

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(Photo Courtesy of Ohio Northern Atheltics)

The latest data that the NCAA has published on demographics within coaches and student-athletes was in 2019. That data says that there were 386 head men’s lacrosse coaches across all three divisions in 2019. Division I and II were each listed as having 71, while DIII had 244. Among those 386 head coaches, 96% were white, 3% were black, and 2% were listed as other. Continue reading “How Can Lacrosse Become More Diverse Among The College Coaching Ranks?” →

Chaos LC’s Deemer Class Out For Championship Series, Jason Noble Added to Roster

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(Photo Courtesy of PLL)

Just six days after each of the seven PLL clubs released their official 22-man travel rosters for the 2020 PLL Championship Series, Chaos LC has already made a change to their roster. Continue reading “Chaos LC’s Deemer Class Out For Championship Series, Jason Noble Added to Roster” →

Ohio State, Air Force Fill Assistant Coach Openings

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(Photo Courtesy of Army West Point Athletics)

Both Ohio State and Air Force filled their coaching openings at the assistant coaching positions yesterday. The Buckeyes hired former Army volunteer assistant Rick Lewis and Air Force hired former Amherst head coach Jon Thompson.  Continue reading “Ohio State, Air Force Fill Assistant Coach Openings” →

MLL Announces Rosters For 2020 Season

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(Photo Courtesy of MLL)

Major League Lacrosse (MLL) has announced the 2020 25-man rosters for all six teams ahead of the 2020 season, which will be a week-long event held in Annapolis, Md. from July 18th-26th. All rosters include a 25-man active roster and 5 reserve players. A reserve player will be activated if a member of a team’s active roster test positive for COVID-19. 

Continue reading “MLL Announces Rosters For 2020 Season” →

James Purpura Returns to VMI as Head Coach

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(Photo Courtesy of VMI Athletics)

VMI has announced the hiring of James Purpura as the program’s next head men’s lacrosse coach. This hiring comes after John Birnser left his post at VMI to take over at Culver Military Academy, Ind. 

Chris Jastrzembski was first to report the news this afternoon. 

This will be Purpura’s second stint on staff at VMI. He serves as the Keydets offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator in 2017 and 2018. During his time running the Keydets’ offense, VMI averaged 12.50 points per game in 2018 and 12.31 points per game in 2018, ranking as the 63rd best offense in DI both years. Additionally, the Keydets saw their shooting percentage improve from .216 in 2017 to .247 in 2018 under Purpura. 

“I can’t tell you how excited I am to return to VMI,” Purpura said. “I have continued to follow the program from afar and now for the opportunity to be at the helm of such a prideful program is a tremendous honor. I want to thank General Peay, Dr. Diles, and the search committee for bestowing their confidence in me to coach, teach, and mentor the Keydet lacrosse program. It’s important to me to be a part of an institution that strives for excellence in everything they do and I look forward to building a culture that’s committed to preparing our cadet-athletes for a lifestyle of winning,” Purpura said in a press release. 

Purpura returns to VMI following a two-year stint as the head coach at Arcadia, where he was named the 2019 Middle Atlantic Conference Coach of the Year and led the Knights to a 14-11 record over two seasons. Arcadia went 9-9 in 2019 and was 5-2 at the time the 2020 season was cut short due to the Coronavirus Outbreak. 

A Pittsford, N.Y. native and 2013 grad of SUNY Geneseo, Purpura got his start in coaching as an assistant at SUNY Brockport before serving as a grad assistant at Frostburg State in 2014. He served as the offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator at Queens University of Charlotte in 2016 prior to his first stint at VMI.