Duke and Men's Lacrosse >> Biography of Kevin Cassese

Biography of Kevin Cassese

Kevin Cassese, 25, is a 2003 graduate of Duke who returned to his alma mater in July 2005 as an assistant coach of the men's lacrosse team.

A native of the Port Jefferson Station, N.Y., Cassese spent the 2004 season as an assistant men's lacrosse coach at Stony Brook University in New York.

Cassese (pronounced Kah-cease) also plays professional lacrosse for the Rochester Rattlers in the Major League Lacrosse (MLL).

While a student at Duke, Cassese led the men's lacrosse team to three NCAA Tournament berths and a pair of ACC championships. A two-time team captain and three-time All-ACC choice, he earned All-America honors three times, including first-team citations in both 2002 and 2003.

Cassese was a two-time finalist for the Tewaaraton Trophy, which is awarded to the top American college lacrosse player. He was also the ACC Player of the Year in 2001 and received the Lt. Donald McLaughlin, Jr. Award as the nation’s top midfielder in 2002. He concluded his career with 80 goals and 38 assists.

In the summer of 2002, he helped the United States win the gold medal at the International Lacrosse Federation world championships and was named to the ACC’s 50th Anniversary Team.

A year later, Cassese was selected second overall by Rochester in the MLL draft. He was chosen for the 2005 MLL All-Star Game. In the summer of 2005, he was named to the United States team that will play in the 2006 International Lacrosse Federation world championships in London, Ontario, Canada.

Cassese earned a bachelor's degree in sociology from Duke. He was named a USILA Scholar All-America, was named to the ACC Academic Honor Roll and received the ACC’s Weaver-James-Corrigan Honorary Award for outstanding athletic and academic achievement. Following graduation, he served as a brand marketing associate for Brine, Inc., and founded Cassese Sports Enterprises, Inc.

He is engaged to be married to Katie Granson ’03, a former Duke tennis player, on Dec. 2.

A high-resolution photo of Cassese is available here.