Kyle Harrison (born March 12, 1983) is an American retired 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 from

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

. Currently, he serves as the

PLL A phase-locked loop or phase lock loop (PLL) is a control system that generates an output signal whose phase is related to the phase of an input signal. There are several different types; the simplest is an electronic circuit consisting of a v ...

Director of Player Relations and Diversity Inclusion. He had a 17-year career in professional field lacrosse and played for the United States national lacrosse team twice. As a professional lacrosse player, he is a 9-time all-star, 12-time team captain and won the 2017

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

. As a college lacrosse player, he played at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

and was a team captain on the team that went undefeated (16-0) to win the

2005 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship The 2005 NCAA Division I men's lacrosse tournament was the 35th annual Division I NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship tournament. Sixteen NCAA Division I college men's lacrosse teams met after having played their way through a regular season, and ...

. The same year, he was the 2005 Tewaaraton Men's Player of the Year Award recipient. In 2016, he was inducted into the

Athletics Hall of Fame, and the

Lacrosse Hall of Fame. Overall, he has had a illustrious career and has been a visible role model for many players, and has continued to be an ambassador for the sport of lacrosse at large. Kyle Harrison is one of the most recognizable lacrosse players of all time and widely regarded to be one of the greatest lacrosse players of all time. Harrison is also a founding member of the Black Lacrosse Alliance, which seeks "to push the culture of lacrosse forward to become more inclusive and inspire a more diverse generation of lacrosse players".

Early life

Kyle M. Harrison is the son of Miles and Wanda Harrison. He grew up in

Baltimore, MD Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore wa ...

, where he started playing lacrosse at age 3. His father, Miles Harrison, a 3rd generation legacy physician, played college lacrosse at

Morgan State University Morgan State University (Morgan State or MSU) is a public historically black research university in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the largest of Maryland's historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs). In 1867, the university, then known a ...

, the first HBCU to field a lacrosse team in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

. Kyle's grandfather was a Major in the Army. Kyle wears the number 18 as his father did during his playing years. Although his father influenced Kyle's decision to play lacrosse, he was never pressured to do so. Growing up, Kyle's favorite athlete was Michael Jordan. At an early age, Kyle enrolled in the

Friends School of Baltimore Friends School of Baltimore is a private Quaker school in Baltimore, serving students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. One of the prestigious Roland Park 5 Preparatory Schools, Friends has been described by author Judy Colbert as "a challen ...

up until his high school graduation in 2001. His two cousins, Maxxwell Davis and Marrio Davis also attended Friends School of Baltimore and continued on to play lacrosse at UMBC and McDaniel College respectively.

1998–2001: High school career

Kyle Harrison attended high school at the

, competing in the

Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association The Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association (M.I.A.A.) is a boys' sports conference for private high schools generally located in the Baltimore metropolitan area but extending to various other regions, including the state's mostly rural Easter ...

(MIAA). At the Friends School, Harrison was a standout tri-athlete playing soccer, basketball and lacrosse. In soccer, he won one MIAA title, and earned all-conference honors. In basketball, he won two MIAA basketball titles, and earned all-conference honors. In lacrosse, he won three consecutive MIAA B-Conference Championships in 1997, 1998 and 1999. He also earned all-America, all-metro, and all-state honors in lacrosse, as well. Kyle Harrison played the midfield position in lacrosse and would frequently take face-offs. In his senior year of high school, he totaled 52 points, scoring 24 goals, netting 28 assists and scooping over 100 ground balls. He was recruited to play NCAA Division 1 lacrosse on the

Johns Hopkins Blue Jays men's lacrosse The Johns Hopkins Blue Jays men's lacrosse team represents Johns Hopkins University in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college lacrosse. Since 2015, the Blue Jays have represented the Big Ten Conference. Overview The ...

team after performing well at recruiting camps the summer of his junior year of high school. Kyle Harrison attended school with best friend Benson Erwin since the second grade, with whom he won the 3 lacrosse championships. Upon graduation from the Friend's School in 2001, the two would continue on to play as teammates on the lacrosse team at

2002–2005: College career

Kyle Harrison played Division 1 men's lacrosse from 2002 to 2005 for the

team for Coach Dave Pietramala. He was a Writing Seminars major. In 2016, he was inducted into the

athletics Hall of Fame. He was a 3-time All-American, 2-time

McLaughlin Award The Lt. Donald MacLaughlin Jr. Award — also known as the "Don MacLaughlin Award" — has been given annually since 1973 by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) to the NCAA's most outstanding college lacrosse midfielder. ...

National Midfielder of the Year, and 2005

Tewaaraton Award The Tewaaraton Award is an annual award for the most outstanding American college lacrosse men's and women's players, since 2001. It is the lacrosse equivalent of football's Heisman Trophy. The award is presented by The Tewaaraton Foundation and ...

National Player of the Year.

2002: Freshman season

Kyle Harrison's first year at Hopkins was also Coach Dave Pietramala's first year as head coach. During Harrison's first year at Hopkins, he was on the first midfield line and started in all 14 games on Hopkins. He totaled 13 points on the season, scoring 9 goals and 4 assists. He was also the team's number one faceoff man, winning 120 out of 190 faceoffs, notching a win percentage of 63.2% and scooping 85 ground balls. His faceoff percentage was the sixth highest in the nation and his ground ball percentage was twelfth highest in the nation, averaging 5.07 ground balls per game. In the season-opener game against defending national champion Princeton, Harrison scored two goals in an 8–5 upset. Also, he was especially effective late in the season, winning 63 out of 87 (72.4%) faceoffs. In the two playoff games, he won 27 out of 42 (64.3%) faceoffs and grabbed 19 ground balls.

2003: Sophomore season

During Harrison's sophomore year at Hopkins, he was one of five finalists for the

, and the only sophomore amongst them. Additionally, he earned 2003 USILA Second Team All-American honors. Throughout the season, he had a 20-game point-scoring streak that extended from late in the 2002 season through the NCAA Semi-finals against Syracuse University. In the playoffs, he scored five goals and added two assists. In an 11–10 OT victory against North Carolina, he scored a career-high three goals, including the game-winner. Also, he finished the season eighth in the nation in faceoff winning percentage (62.6%), winning 109 out of 174 faceoffs, and leading the team in ground balls with 83 ground balls.

2004: Junior season

During Harrison's junior year at Hopkins, he won the

for the nation's top midfielder, was again a finalist for the

, and was a 2004 USILA First Team All-American. He reached a new career high with 33 points on the season, scoring 26 goals and 7 assists. for 33 points. Three of the goals were game-winning goals. In the playoff quarterfinals, he scored three goals and one assist against

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 ...

, and in the playoff semi-finals, he scored 2 goals against Syracuse University.

2005: Senior season

In Harrison's final season at Hopkins, he led the team as co-captain to an undefeated 16–0 perfect season, culminating with winning the 2005

NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship The NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship tournament determines the annual top men's field lacrosse team in the NCAA Division I. This tournament has determined the national champion since the inaugural 1971 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse ...

. This year he was named the

recipient, becoming the first minority to receive the award. He also won the

for the second time, and earned USILA First Team All-American honors for the second time. Throughout the 16 games that season, Harrison scored 24 goals and 20 assists, totaling 44 points. Kyle Harrison also played alongside freshman

Paul Rabil Paul Rabil (born December 14, 1985), is an American former professional lacrosse player and co-founder of the Premier Lacrosse League. He played for the Cannons Lacrosse Club and Atlas Lacrosse Club of the Premier Lacrosse League, as well as th ...

on this 2005 team, who would continue on to win the 2007

and the 2007

JHU Hall of Fame Induction

Kyle Harrison was inducted into the

Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016. Throughout his four years at Hopkins, Kyle Harrison was a 3-time USILA All-American, 2-time

National Midfielder of the Year, and 2005

National Player of the Year. More than 15 years after graduating, he remains the only Johns Hopkins player to win the Tewaaraton Award. Kyle Harrison netted a collegiate career total of 126 points, scoring 81 goals and 45 assists. As a faceoff specialist for Hopkins, Harrison ranks 3rd in school history with a 61.1% win percentage, victorious in 328 out of 537 faceoffs. Scooping a career total of 204 ground balls, he is one of just 11 players in school history with more than 300 career ground balls.

2005–2021: Professional career

2005–2009: MLL

Kyle Harrison is a 7x MLL all-star.

2005–2007: New Jersey Pride

Harrison was the first overall draft pick in the MLL for the 2005 season. He was a midfielder with the

New Jersey Pride The New Jersey Pride were a men's professional field lacrosse team in the Major League Lacrosse formerly based in Piscataway, New Jersey, United States from 2001-2008. Franchise history In 2001, the first year of the league’s existence, the Pr ...

from 2005 until the 2007 season. He played in the MLL All-Star Game in 2005 and 2006. Harrison also played for the 2006 U.S. Men's National Team in

World Lacrosse Championship The World Lacrosse Championship (WLC) is the international men's field lacrosse championship organized by World Lacrosse that occurs every four years. The WLC began before any international lacrosse organization had been formed. It started as ...

2008: Los Angeles Riptide

Harrison was traded to the Los Angeles Riptide after the 2007 season. Since joining the Riptide, Harrison has played in the 2008 MLL All-Star Game, and helped the Riptide return to the postseason as a third seed in the NB ZIP MLL Championship Weekend to play for the

Steinfeld Cup The Steinfeld Trophy was a trophy given annually to the winners of 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. Teams played anywhere ...

. The Riptide fell in the semi-final round to the

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 ...

2009: Denver Outlaws

In 2009, Kyle Harrison played for the Denver Outlaws.

2010–2014: LXM Pro Tour

LXM Pro Tour was founded in late 2009. Kyle Harrison was one of the co-founders with former college All-Americans and professional players Scott Hochstadt, Craig Hochstadt, Xander Ritz and Max Ritz. In 2014, LXM Pro and MLL announced a partnership.

2014–2018: MLL

2014–2018: Ohio Machine

In 2014, Kyle Harrison was named the

Ohio Machine The Ohio Machine were a Major League Lacrosse (MLL) professional men's field lacrosse team based in Obetz, Ohio. They first played in the 2012 MLL season and continued through the 2018 season. On August 19, 2017, the Machine won their first ch ...

season

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

. Kyle Harrison led the Ohio Machine to a

in 2017.

2019–2021: PLL

2019–2021:
Redwoods Lacrosse Club The Redwoods Lacrosse Club is a professional men's field lacrosse team in Premier Lacrosse League (PLL). The Redwoods are one of the six founding members of the PLL for the 2019 season. Notable players include Matt Kavanagh, Myles Jones, Sergio ...

From 2019 to 2021, Harrison was a captain on the

Redwoods Lacrosse Club The Redwoods Lacrosse Club is a professional men's field lacrosse team in Premier Lacrosse League (PLL). The Redwoods are one of the six founding members of the PLL for the 2019 season. Notable players include Matt Kavanagh, Myles Jones, Sergio ...

of the

Premier Lacrosse League Premier Lacrosse League (PLL) is an American professional field lacrosse league, composed of 8 teams. The league's inaugural season debuted on June 1, 2019, and included a 14-week tour-based schedule taking place in 12 major-market cities. The le ...

. In 2019 and 2021, he was awarded the PLL Brendan Looney Leadership Award. The award was not awarded during 2020. He is also the PLL Director of Player Relations and Diversity Inclusion. He was selected as a 2019 PLL All-Star and a 2021 PLL All-Star.

2006, 2014: World Lacrosse Championship

Kyle Harrison was a midfielder on the 2006 United States national lacrosse team. The team reached the final round of the

2006 World Lacrosse Championship 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

, but lost to Canada. Kyle Harrison was a defensive midfielder on the 2014 United States national lacrosse team. The team reached the final round of the 2014 World Lacrosse Championship, but lost to Canada.

Retirement

In 2021, prior to the season beginning, Harrison announced his retirement, stating that the 2021 season would be his last.

Sponsorship

Most notably, Kyle Harrison has had a contract with STX for his K18 equipment line that has been adopted as the official gear by many college programs. Harrison first inked this deal right out of college 2005, and that partnership has remained intact to date. This partnership marks the longest-running contract partnership in lacrosse history. Also, right of out of college, Kyle Harrison had a

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

sponsorship manufacturing various sportswear and lacrosse apparel. Additionally, in 2013,

Beats Electronics Beats Electronics LLC (also known as Beats by Dr. Dre, or simply Beats by Dre) is an American consumer audio products manufacturer headquartered in Culver City, California. The company was founded by music producer Dr. Dre and record company exec ...

had personalized custom headphones designed for a select few of celebrities,

LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. (; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is widely considered one of the greatest p ...

Wayne Rooney Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is the manager of Major League Soccer club D.C. United in the United States. He spent much of his playing career as a forward while ...

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...

, Kobe Bryant,

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

and Kyle Harrison. Kyle Harrison's personalized headphones had writing in Hopkins blue of the K18 logo, 16–0 (the 2005 lacrosse team undefeated record), 'Finish Strong', 'LXM PRO', and '2005' on it.

Statistics

PLL

MLL

NCAA

High school

Awards

PLL: *2x Brendan Looney Leadership Award *2x All Star MLL: *7x All Star *2017 MLL Championship *2014 Ohio Machine Team

NCAA: *2016 Johns Hopkins University Athletics Hall of Fame Inductee * 2005 Tewaaraton Award *2005 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship *2005 Undefeated Season (16-0) *2x

(2005, 2004)newjerseypride.com: Team
/ref> *3x Top 5 Tewaaraton Finalist (2004, 2003)
/ref> *2003 2nd-Team All-American Other: *Baltimore Hall of Fame Induction (2016)

Personal life

Kyle Harrison has two children, Brooke and Smith, with his wife Meredith.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Kyle 1983 births Living people Major League Lacrosse players American lacrosse players Lacrosse players from Baltimore Johns Hopkins Blue Jays men's lacrosse players Premier Lacrosse League players