Entering his second season as a Graduate Assistant Coach with the Piedmont men’s lacrosse program is Danny Ives, a former standout for Division II Lees-McRae College and the U-19 English Men’s National Team. Ives comes to Piedmont fresh off a successful stint as the offensive coordinator at Lees-McRae bringing collegiate experience as well as national team experience having played for his country at the 2008 Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) U19 World Lacrosse Championships.
In his first season with PC, Ives helped the Lions to a 6-8 overall record that was not short of dramatic endings in key wins throughout the year both at home and on the road. On February 22, it was the hometown fans who got the thrill as Spencer Ortis broke a 12-12 tie with powerhouse Transylvania University to score the game-winning goal with just a dozen seconds remaining on the clock in the 4th.
Later in the season, it would be the Lions faithful who followed the team on the road that saw the program’s first-ever overtime win as Piedmont overtook USA South member Methodist University 12-11 in Fayetteville. This time around, it was Taylor Carter who scored the game winner with 2:40 left in OT against the Monarchs and put Piedmont in a winning bus headed home to Demorest.
2014 was also a time of success for Lions lacrosse in the classroom as an all-time high 17 were honored on the USA South’s Academic All-Conference listing.
Serving as the attacking mind of the coaching staff, Ives helped PC to 156 total goals this past season, a new program best. The scoring total represented a 50-goal increase from the previous season as well with the Lions averaging better than 11 per contest.
Ives joined Manderano’s coaching staff at Piedmont after the Lions posted six wins in 2013, just the program’s second season of existence after beginning play with the inaugural season of 2012. Opening up the year with three straight victories, the young Lions showed promise last season and returned a pair of 20-plus goal scorers which benefited from the attacking experience of Ives as the Lions coach helped each better their individual scoring output in 2014.
Coach Ives spent the 2013 season as the Assistant Men’s Lacrosse Coach at Lees-McRae in Banner Elk, NC helping the Bobcats attack post balanced numbers with double-digit goal averages in three of four quarters over the entire season. Additionally, Danny mentored an All-Conference selection in his first season with the Division II school while also producing a pair of individual double-digit goal scorers as well.
Prior to joining the Bobcats’ staff as an assistant coach, Ives spent his collegiate playing days with Lees-McRae as well starting as an attackman in three of his four years with the Conference Carolinas member school. Leading the Bobcats in goals both as a junior and a senior, Danny was named a captain in his final season with the program, the same year in which his 27 total goals ranked him 19th in the nation for NCAA Division II.
Ives also posted national statistical rankings in several other categories during his time playing for the Bobcats as his three points per game average in 2012 put him 33rd amongst all Division II players. The England native also earned national recognition in assists per game while his 3.09 ground balls per game helped his team to a national ranking of 18th in that same category. Additionally, Ives posted a career-high seven goals against Rollins College in 2012, a mark that tied for the top of any individual performance by a Division II player during that season.
While wrapping up his collegiate playing career, Ives spent time as the men’s lacrosse representative on the Lees-McRae Student Athlete Advisory Committee. Additionally, Ives was a 6-month intern during the fall semester of 2011 in the school’s compliance office assisting in the running of the school’s CATS (Challenging Athletes to Succeed) study hall program.
Before crossing the pond to don the green and gold for Lees-McRae, Ives sported the colors of his country playing for the U-19 English Men’s National Team at the 2008 FIL U19 World Lacrosse Championships in Vancouver making an impression quickly as he scored a team-high five goals in the squad’s opening win over Japan. Finishing fourth on the team in total goals at the event, Ives also tabbed a pair of goals in a 16-2 win over Germany to land the English a spot in the semi-final and an eventual fourth place finish at the world competition, a finish which ties for the country’s best-ever showing at the event.
Ives’ coaching experience extends beyond his time with the Bobcats as he spent three years as a coach with Cheadle Lacrosse Club back home in Manchester, England introducing youth players to the elite levels of the sport at the U-14 age group. Additionally, Ives spent the summer of 2011 as a camp coach with Xcelerate, a nation-wide lacrosse camp program founded in 2003.
Danny earned his Bachelor of Science in Sport Management with a minor in Business from Lees-McRae in 2012, and has been pursuing his Master of Business Administration with the graduate school at Piedmont College while serving on Coach Manderano’s coaching staff.
