Tom Gravante has been named Penn State Harrisburg's first men's lacrosse head coach.
MIDDLETOWN, Pa. — Longtime NCAA Division I head coach Tom Gravante has been named Penn State Harrisburg’s first men's lacrosse head coach, Director of Athletics Rahsaan Carlton announced.
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 University and two more as an assistant at Bucknell University.
"We could not be more excited to bring on Coach Gravante as our first men's lacrosse head coach," Carlton said. "You'd be hard pressed to find someone as dedicated to the game of lacrosse than he's been the last 30 years. His overall experience, along with his passion for preparing young men for life beyond graduation, is the perfect combination to lay the foundation for our newest program."
Most recently, Gravante spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach at Bucknell, primarily working with the program's offense.
"I am incredibly excited and grateful to accept the head coach position of the new Division III program at Penn State Harrisburg," he said. "I am honored to join the Penn State family with the guidance and support of Rahsaan Carlton, and I want to extend my sincere gratitude to him and the search committee for their trust, vision and unwavering support throughout the process."
During his 28 seasons as head coach at Mount St. Mary's, Gravante led the program to 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 Mount St. Mary’s. In 2002, he received the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Howdy Myers Man of the Year Award and he twice served as head coach for the USILA North-South Senior All-Star Game. Under Gravante's guidance, Mount St. Mary's student-athletes secured numerous individual accolades, including three all-America honors, three academic all-America honors and 11 conference Player of the Year awards.
"The opportunity to launch and represent a new Division III program under the Penn State family is beyond exciting," Gravante said. "It's a chance to build a competitive program from the ground up, rooted with integrity, hard work and passionate commitment to the young men who choose Penn State University for their student-athlete experience. I look forward to working with the current faculty, administration and staff to help my assistants and I build a competitive and respected men's lacrosse program at Penn State Harrisburg."
During his collegiate career at Hobart College, Gravante was one of the top attackers in the nation. He helped lead the team to four consecutive NCAA Division III national championships from 1985 to 1988 and was twice named a first-team all-American. Following his senior campaign, Gravante was named the J.I. Turnbull Outstanding Division III Player of the Year and the USILA Division III Attackman of the Year.
"With over 30 years of coaching coupled with my college and professional playing experience, I've learned that success in the classroom and on the field is earned through employing discipline, commitment and accountability in your daily life," he said. "It will be my philosophy to lead by example and guide our young men to employ these characteristics and become outstanding student-athletes and leaders, as we begin to develop and sustain a team culture for the program. Upon graduation, I want our young men to be ready for the next journey of life, which is the professional world."
