PHILADELPHIA - The University of Pennsylvania's Head Coach of Men's Lacrosse, Mike Murphy, has announced the hiring of Judd Lattimore to his staff. Lattimore will be the Quakers' top assistant and replaces Jason Archbell, who left the Quakers to become head coach at Bowdoin College.
This marks a return to Penn for Lattimore, who was an assistant coach with Penn for the 2006 season under previous head coach Brian Voelker. The Quakers went 10-4 that season and advanced to the NCAA Championship first round.
"I am very excited to welcome Coach Lattimore back to Penn," said Murphy, who will enter his fourth season running the Quaker program in 2013. "His offensive mind and his demonstrated recruiting ability will have immediate and positive impacts on our program. Judd will be a great role model for our players and an excellent representative of our program and the University of Pennsylvania. His passion for lacrosse and his competitive nature will be contagious as well. I very much look forward to working with him."
"I am honored and humbled to join Coach Murphy and once again be a part of the Penn Lacrosse family," said Lattimore. "Penn has terrific alumni support and great people in its athletic department. The team is extremely talented with big wins over top teams last year. It is exciting to work at one of the top Universities in the world, and coach the future leaders of tomorrow. Penn is a special place to be, and I am glad to be back."
Lattimore comes back to Penn after spending the last year at the University of Michigan, where he joined the staff as John Paul's top assistant for the Wolverines' first year as a varsity program. Previously he spent 10 years as an assistant coach at the NCAA level, and his squads have compiled a record of 107-47. He has reached the NCAA Division I Tournament with four different teams and has coached in a pair of Division II NCAA Tournament national title games.
In his only season on the sidelines for the Maize and Blue, Lattimore served as the squad's offensive coordinator and led one of the most efficient offensive units in the country. The Wolverines compiled a shooting percentage of 31.4 percent, which ranked No. 10 nationally and was No. 2 in the ECAC. In addition, Lattimore was responsible for the team's ride unit, which allowed only a 79-percent success rate, which ranked second in the NCAA.
A 2001 graduate of the University of North Carolina, Lattimore coached at his alma mater in 2007 and 2008, helping the Tar Heels reach the NCAA Tournament each season.
In addition to his stint at Penn, Lattimore also reached the NCAA Championship during a one-year stint at Delaware, in 2005. With Limestone College (2003-04) he reached consecutive national championship games. In 2004, Lattimore's offensive unit scored 19.3 goals per game, the highest figure in any division of lacrosse, and the team scored a school-record 314 goals. He began his collegiate coaching career at SUNY-Geneseo in 2002.
A native of Auburn, N.Y., Lattimore was a two-year starter at UNC. He earned his bachelor's degree in interpersonal and organizational communication.