Doug Knight is an American

lacrosse Lacrosse is a contact team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game w ...

player who had a standout collegiate career at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

, where he set numerous scoring records. He was inducted into the

National Lacrosse Hall of Fame The National Lacrosse Hall of Fame and Museum, is located in Sparks, Maryland, at the USA Lacrosse headquarters. Prior to moving to its present location in 2016, the hall of fame and museum was located in Baltimore, Maryland, on the Homewood c ...

in 2017.

High school and collegiate career

A native of

Katonah, New York Katonah is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) within the town of Bedford, Westchester County, in the U.S. state of New York. The Katonah CDP had a population of 1,603 at the 2020 census. History Katonah is named for Chief Katonah, ...

, Knight attended Hackley School in Tarrytown NY through the 10th grade and then attended prep school at the

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

in Connecticut, where he excelled in lacrosse, soccer, and ice hockey and was selected as a high school lacrosse All-American. Knight played attack at the

from 1994 to 1997, where he set numerous scoring records and was named a three time

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

, as a Second Team selection in 1995 and a First Team selection in 1996 and 1997. In 1996, Knight led the nation in scoring with 56 goals and 30 assists for 86 total points. That year, the

USILA The United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association is an association of member institutions and organizations with college lacrosse programs at all levels of competition, including the three NCAA divisions and non-NCAA schools, at both the varsi ...

selected him as Player of the Year in Division I, awarding him the Lt. Raymond Enners Award. Knight was a member of two Virginia squads that advanced to the NCAA championship game, one in

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

and one in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

. Both title games ended with

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

defeating Virginia by one goal in overtime. Knight is a member of the

Hall of Fame. He was the all-time career scoring leader for the

Virginia Cavaliers The Virginia Cavaliers, also known as Wahoos or Hoos, are the athletic teams representing the University of Virginia, located in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers compete at the NCAA Division I level ( FBS for football), in the Atlantic Coast C ...

with 165 goals and 84 assists for 249 points (60 games) until that total was surpassed by Steele Stanwick in 2012. Knight's nation-leading 56 goals in 1996 was a school record for most goals in a season until broken by Xander Dickson in 2023, and was also an

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

record until that number was surpassed in 2007 by

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

attackman

Zack Greer Zack Greer (born February 12, 1986) is a Canadian professional lacrosse player who plays for the Las Vegas Desert Dogs of the National Lacrosse League. Greer attended high school at All Saints Catholic Secondary School in Whitby, and grew up playi ...

. Knight is also tied with two other Cavaliers (Garrett Billings and Butch McCleary) for having scored the most Virginia goals in a single game, with eight goals versus

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

in 1996. He holds the Virginia records for highest average goals per game in a season with 3.7 goals in 1996, most consecutive games with goals scored at 39 games, and most games in a career with goals scored at 55 games (tied with Matt Ward). In 2002, Knight was selected as one of the 50 greatest lacrosse players in ACC history when he was picked as a member of the ACC 50th Anniversary Men's Lacrosse Team. The Virginia attack unit consisting of Knight,

Michael Watson Michael Watson (born 15 March 1965) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 1991. He held the Commonwealth Boxing Council, Commonwealth middleweight title from 1989 to 1991, and challenged three times for a world titl ...

, and Tim Whiteley is regarded as among the best of all time, leading the nation in offensive output and setting several ACC records. Knight, along with Virginia teammate

, is credited with popularizing "the dive" or "the dive shot," an acrobatic move where an offensive player attacks the goal from behind the net by diving airborne through the goal crease while shooting the ball at the goal while in mid-air. The

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

subsequently banned this practice in 1998 due to safety concerns and difficulty in officiating the play.

Professional career

Upon graduation, Knight briefly played professional indoor lacrosse in the

National Lacrosse League The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league comprises 14 teams8 in the United States and 6 in Canada. The NLL is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

for the

Rochester Knighthawks The Rochester Knighthawks (also known as the K-Hawks) are an American professional box lacrosse team based in Rochester, New York, that competes in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The team plays its home games at Blue Cross Arena. The Knighth ...

and the

Baltimore Thunder The Baltimore Thunder were an American professional box lacrosse team and a member of the National Lacrosse League from 1987 until 1999. They were based in Baltimore, Maryland, and won the first then-Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League championship in ...

. He also played professional outdoor lacrosse in the

Major League Lacrosse Major League Lacrosse (MLL) was a men's field lacrosse league in the United States. The league's inaugural season was in 2001 Major League Lacrosse season, 2001. Teams played anywhere from ten to 16 games in a summertime regular season. This w ...

for the

Boston Cannons The Boston Cannons are a professional field lacrosse team based in Boston, Massachusetts, that competes in the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL). The team plays its home games at Harvard Stadium. The team competed in Major League Lacrosse (MLL) fro ...

and the

Philadelphia Barrage The Philadelphia Barrage were a professional field lacrosse team that are based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and member of Major League Lacrosse. They were the Bridgeport Barrage from 2001 to 2003 at The Ballpark at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, C ...

, where he tallied 22 goals and 16 assists in 18 games. Knight has also served as an assistant lacrosse coach at the

, St. Paul's School, Haverford School, and the University of Pennsylvania.

Statistics

University of Virginia

MLL

References

External links

LaxTips.com interview of Knight

Footage of Knight's dive shots
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Doug Living people American lacrosse players Major League Lacrosse players National Lacrosse League players People from Katonah, New York Sportspeople from Westchester County, New York Virginia Cavaliers men's lacrosse coaches Virginia Cavaliers men's lacrosse players Year of birth missing (living people) Lacrosse players from New York (state)