Gary Gait has been labeled the ‘Michael Jordan’ of lacrosse.

Now Gait, the Syracuse women’s lacrosse head coach, is following Jordan’s footsteps, returning to the playing field after a three-year hiatus. The Syracuse athletics department announced Wednesday that Gait will come out of retirement to play for the Rochester Knighthawks of the indoor National Lacrosse League (NLL) this year.

The 41-year-old lacrosse icon will continue to coach Syracuse, even though the NLL season conflicts with the women’s lacrosse schedule. In his first campaign as SU head coach last year, Gait steered the program to new heights. Syracuse finished with a school-record 18 wins, won the Big East conference tournament and reached the final four for the first time ever.

Now, Gait has to prepare for double duty.

‘I’m excited about the opportunity to demonstrate to our young student-athletes the effort and commitment necessary to play at the pro level,’ Gait said in a press release. ‘I expect no conflicts with my full-time position at Syracuse. In fact, most NLL players have full-time jobs.’

Still, overlap is inevitable. Rochester’s 16-game season runs from Dec. 27 to April 18. The Orange’s 2009 slate hasn’t been announced yet, but last year the women’s season persisted from Feb. 20 to May 23.

Coaching and playing simultaneously isn’t a foreign task to Gait. In nine of the 15 seasons Gait played in the NLL, Gait served as an assistant women’s lacrosse coach at Maryland. The Terrapins won seven consecutive national titles in Gait’s tenure.

Possibly the sport’s greatest influence, Gait brings a beaming resume to Rochester. He has won three NLL National Championships, three Major League Lacrosse (MLL) titles, three NCAA championships at Syracuse and was named the NLL MVP a record six times.

The last team he played for, the Colorado Mammoth, traded Gait’s rights to Rochester for forward Andrew Potter and Rochester’s first round draft picks in 2009 and 2010. Gait last played for the Mammoth in 2005.

‘The interest was sparked because the Knighthawks had an interest,’ Gait said in the Knighthawks’ press release. ‘I told my kids, and they got really excited and told me I had to play and I don’t like turning down my kids. As an athlete I am looking forward to competing again at the highest level.’

thdunne@syr.edu

Published on October 15, 2008 at 12:00 pm