William Benz Bitter (born June 10, 1988) is an American former professional

lacrosse Lacrosse is a 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 was extensiv ...

player for the Charlotte Hounds and

Denver Outlaws The Denver Outlaws were a Major League Lacrosse professional men's field lacrosse team based in Denver, Colorado, United States. They began playing in the MLL in 2006 as an expansion team. Since joining the league, the Outlaws have played in the ...

of the outdoor

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. Teams played anywhere from ten to 16 games in a summertime regular season. This was followed by a four-team playoff ...

from 2011-2013. Bitter was also drafted by

Buffalo Bandits The Buffalo Bandits are a professional box lacrosse Box lacrosse, also known as boxla, box, or indoor lacrosse, is an indoor version of lacrosse played mostly in North America. The game originated in Canada in the 1930s, where it is more po ...

of the indoor

National Lacrosse League The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a men's professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The NLL currently has fifteen teams: ten in the United States and five in Canada. The N ...

. Bitter played college lacrosse for the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...

Personal

The son of Ward and Nancy Bitter, Bitter is one of 6 kids who all played lacrosse at the college level. His father, Ward Bitter II, is in the Boston College Hall of Fame for being an All-American lacrosse player at Boston College.

Lacrosse career

Bitter accepted a scholarship to the

, where he was given the Jay Gallagher Award (given to the most valuable freshman on the North Carolina lacrosse team) his freshman year and named All-ACC 3 times. He was named 1st team All-American his sophomore and junior year and 2nd team All-American his senior year. His junior year, he was named Player of the Year in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Bitter was drafted by the

3rd overall in the 2011 MLL Collegiate Draft. He was traded to the Charlotte Hounds in a 2012 league expansion deal. In 2011, he was also selected in the 4th round of the

draft by the

. Bitter was the 33rd pick overall. He was also taken in the 6th round of the North American Lacrosse League rookie entry draft with the last pick (Round 6, pick 30) by the Jacksonville Bullies. He chose to only play in the outdoor league of Major League Lacrosse. He signed an endorsement deal with Cascade Maverik Lacrosse in 2011.

Statistics

University of North Carolina

References

External links

Tar Heels lacrosse
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bitter, Billy 1988 births Living people Lacrosse players from New York (state) North Carolina Tar Heels men's lacrosse players People from Manhasset, New York Buffalo Bandits players Deerfield Academy alumni