Winthrop lacrosse coach headed to Virginia Tech
Winthrop University confirmed Friday that its women’s lacrosse coach John Sung has taken the head job at Virginia Tech.
Sung launched the Eagles’ five-year old program in 2012, with the first season held in 2013. The Eagles have won the Big South tournament each of the last two years, earning NCAA tournament appearances both times.
“Part of me is super excited and part of me is pretty torn up at the same time,” Sung said Friday. “Coaching in the ACC, in the top conference in the country, how many opportunities is somebody gonna have to do that?”
Sung is an accomplished figure in women’s lacrosse, having successfully started programs from scratch at Adrian College, in Michigan, and Winthrop. Sung won 71 percent of his games at Division III Adrian and 68 percent of his games with the Eagles, including a 37-7 record the last two springs.
The former Oakland University lacrosse goalie is also on the NCAA’s tournament selection committee and coaches the Haudenosaunee Nation in international women’s lacrosse.
“We are very pleased to welcome coach Sung and his family to Virginia Tech,” said Hokies athletic director Whit Babcock. “Coach Sung has distinguished himself by building several lacrosse programs at various levels and quickly making them competitive and successful. We are excited that he has embraced the challenge and opportunity of leading our women’s lacrosse program which competes in the nation’s toughest conference, the ACC."
Sung takes over for Megan Burker, who moved into an administration job at Virginia Tech. The Hokies were 5-13 this season. A one-line release from Winthrop confirmed what Richmond.com first reported Friday morning.
Sung obviously won’t have much - if any - influence on the hiring of his replacement, especially after Winthrop hired a new athletic director recently. But as a very well-connected women’s college lacrosse coach, he hopes to help take care of the program he started in any way possible.
“I definitely want to make sure this team is well taken care of,” Sung said. “This team could win the conference two more years. This team is stacked.”
This story was originally published May 27, 2016 at 12:18 PM with the headline "Winthrop lacrosse coach headed to Virginia Tech."