Penn State Harrisburg director of athletics Rahsaan Carlton recently announced that longtime NCAA Division I head coach Tom Gravante has been named the first men's lacrosse head coach in program history.
Gravante will take charge of a Penn State Harrisburg men's lacrosse program set to begin NCAA competition in the spring of 2027. He brings with him three decades of Division I coaching experience after spending 28 years as the head coach at Mount St. Mary's and two more as an assistant at Bucknell.
Most recently, Gravante spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach at Bucknell, primarily working with the program's offense. While there, he helped guide four Bison to Patriot League All-Conference honors.
During his 28 seasons as head coach at Mount St. Mary's, Gravante led the program to unmatched success, including a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances and eight conference tournament and regular season championships. A seven-time coach of the year in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and Northeast Conference (NEC), Gravante amassed 178 victories during his time at The Mount. In 2002, he received the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Howdy Myers Man of the Year Award and twice served as head coach for the USILA North-South Senior All-Star Game. Under Gravante's guidance, Mount St. Mary's student-athletes also secured numerous individual accolades, including three all-America plaudits, three academic all-America honors and 11 conference player of the year awards.
During his standout collegiate career at Hobart, Gravante was one of the top attackers in the nation. He helped lead the Statesmen to four consecutive NCAA Division III National Championships during a sensational stretch from 1985 to 1988 and was twice named a first-team all-American for his efforts. Following a stellar senior campaign that saw him record 88 total points (66 goals, 22 assists), Gravante was named the J.I. Turnbull Outstanding Division III Player of the Year, the USILA Division III Attackman of the Year and he appeared in Sports Illustrated's "Faces In the Crowd" in June of 1988.
Gravante graduated from Hobart in 1988.
