Lacrosse team, two individuals earn USILA academic honors
LEXINGTON, Va. – The VMI lacrosse program and team members AJ Stamos and Luke McDonald were recognized by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) with postseason academic honors presented by Blatant Lacrosse for their accomplishments in the classroom during the 2023-24 academic year.
The team was named a USILA All-Academic team for averaging a 3.0 team GPA during the year. The Keydets registered a 3.15 Fall 2023 GPA and a 3.23 GPA for Spring 2024 to earn the distinction. The 3.23 spring term team GPA was the best in program history.
Full listing of 2024 USILA Academic Team Awards, presented by Blatant Lacrosse.
In order to earn individual USILA Scholar All-American honors, the student-athlete must hold a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA and be selected as a USILA All-American or selected to compete at the 2024 USILA Senior All-Star game that took place in late May.
“Something we preach in our program is that winning is an all-the-time thing,” said VMI head coach James Purpura. “ACES is an equation for life and I’m incredibly proud of the work our team put in this semester to achieve their academic success. They showed incredible work ethic and competed in the classroom just as they do on the lacrosse field and it’s great that the USILA has recognized them for their hard work. Graduating young men of character will always be the number one goal in the program. Being recognized as an All-American is an incredible honor but being named a Scholar All-American is another distinction on top of that and highlights the priority of winning on and off the field. I’m proud of AJ and Luke for their well-deserved accolades.”
Both Stamos and McDonald meet the requirements as both graduated from VMI last month with above a 3.0 cumulative GPA and both competed for the South team at the USILA Senior All-Star Game held at Widener University in Chester, Pennsylvania, back on May 24.
Full listing of 2024 USILA Scholar All-Americans, presented by Blatant Lacrosse.
On the field, the Keydets are coming off their most successful season in nearly 20 years by finishing with seven wins during the 2024 season.