Men's Lacrosse | September 04, 2026

Celebrate the entire Class XIV at the Penn Athletics Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Dinner on Friday, September 25. Tickets are still available. Click here to register and learn more. 

On Del Giorno's Plaque: A three-time USILA All-American as a defenseman, led Penn to its second appearance in the NCAA Championships in 1977. He was a First-Team USILA All-American in 1977 and 1978, becoming the second two-time First-Team All-American in program history. A three-time First-Team All-Ivy selection and two-time Team MVP, he helped Penn win a program record 10 games in 1977, and was captain of the 1978 team. He was selected to play in the prestigious North/South Senior All-Star Game in 1978.  

By Terry Toohey

It wasn't a surprise that Don Del Giorno wound up playing lacrosse. He grew up in Nassau County on Long Island which was, and still is, a hotbed for the sport in the United States.

Approximately 25 percent of all Division I men's lacrosse players are from New York state according to a story on creasereport.com in 2025. A large portion of those lacrosse players hail from Long Island, where its teams have dominated the New York State Public High School Athletic Association state tournament, winning 68 of the 120 championships that have been crowned since 1977. Incredibly, 37 of those championship teams are from Nassau County.

"I just happened to grow up on Long Island and that's where most of the good players came from," Del Giorno said.    

He tried other sports. Del Giorno played football, basketball, baseball and wrestling but lacrosse appealed to him for one simple reason.

"It was a sport where you could run around with a stick and hit people," Del Giorno said. 

Unlike most players, though, Del Giorno didn't gravitate to the offensive side of the field where goal scorers get the most attention. He was drawn to defense. A lot of that had to do with his size and athletic ability. He was 6-0, 195-pounds and could run. That enabled him to be physical with bigger players and quick enough to stay with smaller players and use the six-foot-long stick to his advantage. 

"It was just a fun position for me to try and stop people rather than trying to score," Del Giorno said. "I was able to handle the ball a lot when I played. It was pretty satisfying to be able to stop somebody. I was pretty determined. I played a little angry. It was a personal affront if somebody beat me."

Del Giorno used his size, athleticism and his long stick to keep the opposition at bay. Few people got past Del Giorno during his time with the Red and Blue. He was the first Penn player to earn first-team All-Ivy League honors three times and was the second two-time, first-team USILA All-American in program history. He also earned third-team All-America honors as a sophomore. As a senior, Del Giorno served as the team captain and played in the USILA North-South All-Star Game with fellow captain Steve Krempa W'78, who scored the first goal in the North's 19-6 victory.

Those impressive credentials earned the 1978 Wharton School graduate a spot in the Penn Athletics Hall of Fame, Class XIV. He is the eighth member of the lacrosse program to be inducted into the Hall of Fame and the third from the 1977 team that was the first squad in program history to win 10 games in a season.

"It was a pleasant surprise," Del Giorno said of his Hall of Fame selection. "It's almost 50 years since I played at Penn and I hadn't given it a lot of thought. It's really nice to be recognized. I really appreciate it."

Del Giorno may have been surprised by his selection to the Hall of Fame but it wasn't a shock for one of his former teammates, Andy Pettit W'76. 

"I've seen and played a lot of lacrosse in my 72 years on this planet," Pettit wrote on the Penn lacrosse Instagram page about DelGiorno's selection. "Don Del Giorno was the best defenseman I ever saw. I was lucky enough to be his teammate. So I can add 'the best defenseman I ever played with!'"

Del Giorno is amazed at the growth of the sport. Today there are nearly 400 men's lacrosse programs across three NCAA divisions, including 78 in Division I, 79 in Division II, 240 in Division III, and more 50 other programs at the NAIA and junior college levels. In 1974, when Del Giorno entered Penn, there were approximately 150 men's college programs. Today, there are teams in 36 states and the District of Columbia, up from 13 in 1974.

The NCAA Tournament has grown from eight teams since its inception in 1971 to 18 in 2026.

"It just keeps growing and growing," Del Giorno said. "I lived in Las Vegas for 45 years and it eventually came out there. I helped coach a high school team out there. It's amazing how much the sport has grown."

There are even two men's pro leagues, the Premier Lacrosse League, an outdoor league that features eight teams and the National Lacrosse League, an indoor box lacrosse league with 13 teams in the U.S. and Canada.

"It's great to see guys play after they get out of college," Del Giorno said. "When I got out of college all you could do was join a club team. There were club teams on Long Island and in Maryland. It was almost like a softball league where you played with your friends after work. It's nice to see guys make a few bucks or just play the game a little longer."

The game has changed since Del Giorno's playing days. The biggest difference on the collegiate level is the 80-second shot clock. Teams have 20 seconds to cross midfield and then 60 seconds to get a shot off. 

"The game looks a little foreign to me when I watch it with all the breaks in play," Del Giorno said. 

Even though he grew up in a lacrosse hotbed, Del Giorno came to the sport late. He didn't start playing until his sophomore year at Division Avenue High School in the Levittown section of Nassau County. By the time he was a senior, Del Giorno was the anchor of a defense that led the Blue Dragons to the Nassau County championship game, its second championship game appearance in three years.

Then came the decision to pick a college. He looked at Washington & Lee in Lexington, Virginia, Princeton and SUNY-Cortland before settling on Penn at the suggestion of the late Mike Page W'77, who was a high school and college teammate of DelGiorno's.

"He lived about a half mile from me," Del Giorno said. "He said I should try it and it worked to my advantage."

At Penn, Del Giorno was a freshman in 1975 when the Quakers made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. Two years later he was the leader on defense as Penn set a program record with 10 wins and made the NCAA Tournament again. That was the best record in program history until the 1984 team went 12-2.

That year, 1977, was special for Del Giorno for another, more important reason.

"I met my wife (Cheryl) in 1977," Del Giorno said. "We got married in '79 and we're still together."

Del Giorno is retired these days. He and his wife split their time between Florida and Long Island to help care for his aging father and in-laws. The 70-year-old has been retired for some time. He was in the home building business for many years and retired 18 years ago at the ripe young age of 52. 

"I was in Las Vegas during the building boom," Del Giorno said. "I did pretty well and I was pretty happy. All that stuff they say that you'll be bored out of your mind when you retire is just rubbish."

Del Giorno has spent his retirement years traveling, fishing and camping in the western part of the U.S.

"I'm just enjoying life," he said.