Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 11/18/18
Staff Report
Defenseman/LSM Devin Gilligan, a recent West Chester East grad, has enrolled at Cabrini University and will be eligible as a freshman this spring.
Gilligan, who played club for Team ManUp and previously the Duke’s LC, had committed to Division I Michigan but asked for a release from his NLI at the end of the summer after deciding he wanted to attend a college closer to home.
“I talked to my high school coach, Jim Schorn, about places that had interest in me and the one that stood out the most was Cabrini,” said Gilligan. “He got me in contact with the coaches, although I already knew Coach (Paul) Mita (through Duke’s LC) and Coach (Ron) Garling who I was in contact with when he was at High Point.
“They had been keeping an eye on me throughout high school and they all knew me as a player already. One of the things that I really liked about Cabrini was how familiar the coaching staff and the campus were to me, I had played at Cabrini in fall leagues during my freshman and sophomore year so the field and campus was something I already knew.”
Gilligan will study Biology at Cabrini and has long been impressed with coach Steve Colfer and the Cavaliers lacrosse program, a perennial Division III power and Top 10 team.
“After talking with Coach Colfer I got a good sense of the coaching style and the type of program he ran, which I really liked,” he said. “The option to play at a school that has a good chance of making the NCAA tournament every year that is so close to home was very enticing.”
Gilligan also liked Cabrini’s size.
“The most important part though was the school itself which is very small, something that resembles high school size classes rather than large lectures,” he said “Throughout high school my preferences have changed greatly and having a smaller class environment would be more advantageous for me as well as the internship possibilities that Cabrini offers for my desired field of study, biology.
“I made my decision pretty quickly after my first meeting with the coaches, which was a quick conversation during the HEADstrong games earlier this fall, and then at my official visit with the staff I told Coach Colfer I wanted to be a part of his program come spring.”
