Willie Grieco Spurned Division I Opportunities to Stay at Wingate

Willie Grieco’s trophy case does not have much room left. He’s a first-team All-SAC and first-team All-American attackman. He ranked second in the nation in assists and points per game last year.

But there’s a sliver of space in his hypothetical cabinet. Grieco returned to Wingate for a fifth year in pursuit of a national championship and perhaps a national player of the year nod.

He earned a spot on the Tewaaraton Award Watch List after a first-round of additions on Thursday and is performing like one of Division II’s shining stars with 11 goals and 20 assists.

Bulldogs coach Tim Boyle’s office has a window overlooking Graham Gill Field. A fifth-year starter, Grieco is a fixture out there, sometimes with his dog as a sparring partner and ball fetcher.

“He’s on the field all the time,” Boyle said. “I get up, stretch my legs, look out the window, and there’s Willie.”

Last year during testing, Grieco finished second on the team in the 10-yard sprint, second in pro agility drills, top five in the squat and top seven in the bench press.

“He’s the guy that pushes himself in the weight room a bit more,” Boyle said. “He is always striving to be the best that he can be. It’s a quality we want in all of our guys.”

Grieco graduated with a degree in finance and currently boasts 4.0 GPA in Wingate’s MBA program, according to Boyle. He spends his days training and takes classes at night. With his lacrosse skills and academic record, several Division I teams expressed interest in adding Grieco as a graduate transfer, including at least one Top 20 program.

He wanted to win with Wingate.

“He felt the loyalty,” Boyle said. “He wanted to accomplish something here as a group. As a team. That shows what kind of kid he is.”

The NCAA limits contact between coaches and players in the offseason. The players themselves organize most activities. Grieco led the effort at Wingate, putting seniors in charge of training pods segmented by class. He developed a point system for conditioning, weights and wall ball, with players sharing training video and information.

Known for his speed and dodging with his head up, Grieco always looks to feed. And his passes (217 assists in 58 career games) come with remarkable precision.

“He’s got really fast feet.  He doesn’t start out looking like he’s super speedy, but he gets going quick.  Strong change of direction and body control,” Boyle said. “We pushed him to become more of a scorer because he was more of a feeder. He loved the assist. He’s worked on that part of his game to become a big scorer for us. He’s fun to watch and fluid.”

With 345 career points, Grieco is within reach of 400, a milestone only a handful of players in NCAA lacrosse history have ever done. At the Division II level, Rick Gilbert from Hobart’s time in DII is the all-time leading scorer with 444 points.

As a team, Wingate will be motivated by a one-goal loss to UIndy that bounced the Bulldogs from the NCAA tournament. The window with Grieco is closing; Wingate’s first national championship game appearance also is within reach.

“The last play of the UIndy game, Danny [Riley] is coming off a seal inside for us, with a fake flip behind. Willie hits Danny right on the stick. Ball hit the pipe, but it’s emblematic of what he can do,” Boyle said. “When he touches the ball, you know something electric can happen.”