Brian Kingsbury named Quakers’ new head men’s lacrosse coach
Wilmington College Director of Athletics Matt Croci announced this week the hiring of Brian Kingsbury as the Quakers new Head Men's Lacrosse Coach.
Kingsbury is the sixth Head Coach of the Quakers, dating back to the start of the program in 2013.
"We are thrilled to welcome Brian to the Wilmington College community and watch his leadership impact our student-athletes in a positive way," Croci said. "His background and experience sit at an elite level. I'm excited to work with him and support him moving the program forward."
Kingsbury comes to Wilmington College after three seasons as an Assistant Coach at NCAA Division I institution Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. Before Mercer, Kingsbury spent nine seasons as the Head Coach of the NCAA Division II Lynn University Fighting Knights in Boca Raton, Fla., starting the program from scratch.
He was also the Head Coach of the NCAA Division II Saint Michael's College Purple Knights in Colchester, Vt. and the Head Coach at NCAA Division III Vermont State University Castleton.
"At Wilmington, great leadership starts at the top, with Corey and Matt setting the tone through their vision and passion for the Quakers," Kingsbury said. "I'm excited for the opportunity to lead these young men both on and off the field and elevate the lacrosse program to new heights. Wilmington's student-centered approach and commitment to hands-on learning truly sets them apart, delivering a remarkable student experience."
During his three seasons at Mercer, Kingsbury worked closely with the recruiting aspect of the program, helping bring top level high school athletes to Macon. This included evaluating not only their athletic skills, but their academic achievements, social responsibility, and character strengths. Kingsbury played a crucial part in bringing the team grade point average (GPA) up from 3.1 to 3.46. Other things Kingsbury was tasked with were campus visits, tours, NCAA eligibility, student housing and more.
Kingsbury's most recent head coaching job was at Lynn University, where he guided the Fighting Knights to national rankings, a regular season conference championship, and three conference tournament semifinal appearances during his nine seasons at the helm (2014-22).
He was named the Sunshine State Conference (SSC) Coach of the Year twice and coached the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Face-Off Player of the Year in 2021. Other player accolades included five All-Americans and 40 All-SSC players. In the classroom, Kingsbury helped guide his team to the highest GPA in all of Division II twice while his team's GPA was above 3.22 in seven of his nine seasons.
During Kingsbury's one season at Saint Michael's College in 2012, he coached the Purple Knights to an 11-5 overall record, which was their most wins in program history at the time and has only been matched once. The team finished fourth in their conference and made it to the conference semifinals. They have only accomplished that feat one other time since then.
Kingsbury spent one season as the Head Coach at Vermont State University Castleton in 2011, where they finished undefeated in the conference and won their conference championship to move onto the NCAA Division III Tournament. They lost in the first round and finished the season 12-7. Kingsbury was named the Conference Coach of the Year and coached the Co-Conference Player of the Year and the Conference Rookie of the Year. Prior to his time as head coach at Castleton, Kingsbury spent two seasons as the assistant coach of the Spartans. He also earned his Master's in Education – Educational Leadership while at Castleton.
His first coaching job came at the NCAA Division I level in 2008 as a Volunteer Assistant Coach at the University of Massachusetts, where he primarily worked as a scout for the team, editing video and working on faceoff strategy.
Kingsbury played collegiate lacrosse at the University of Maryland for three seasons from 1999-2001 after spending his freshman season at Hofstra University. He graduated from Maryland in 2001 with a Bachelor of Science - Individual Studies Program, Sports Management.
Kingsbury takes over a Wilmington College program that has finished 4-13 overall the last two seasons.
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