Feb. 10, 2016
Senior University of Notre Dame men’s lacrosse player Matt Landis, named the top defensive player in the country in 2015, has received the Weaver-James-Corrigan Award representing an honorary postgraduate scholarship from the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The 6-2, 195-pound defenseman from Pelham, New York (Pelham Memorial High School), is a finance major in the Mendoza College of Business.
Landis received the William C. Schmeisser Award from the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association as the outstanding defensive player in Division I as a junior in 2015. He was a 2015 USILA first-team All-American, the 2015 ACC Defensive Player of the Year and a 2015 first-team All-ACC selection.
A two-time selection as ACC Defensive Player of the Week in 2015, Landis was named the Lacrosse Magazine Player of the Week last May after holding Albany star Lyle Thompson to a single goal and four assists in a 14-10 Notre Dame NCAA Championship quarterfinal win over the Great Danes in 2015.
He also was a 2015 ACC All-Academic Men’s Lacrosse Team selection.
Landis led Notre Dame to a 12-3 record as junior in 2015, including the ACC regular-season title, the number one overall seed in the NCAA Championship and a berth in NCAA Championship weekend. He paced Notre Dame to a 12-6 record as a sophomore in 2014, including the ACC Tournament crown and an NCAA Championship title game appearance.
He heads into his third season as a starter on defense for Notre Dame in 2016.
Last month Landis was a first-round pick (third overall selection and first defenseman picked) in the 2016 Major League Lacrosse Collegiate Draft by the Florida Launch.
The ACC announced today a list of 43 student-athletes who have been selected for the 2016 Weaver-James-Corrigan Award. Landis is one of an additional nine student-athletes who do not expect to begn graduate school immediately and who plan to pursue professional careers in their chosen sports and were named honorary recipients.
The student-athletes will be honored at the annual Cone Health ACC Postgraduate Luncheon hosted by the Nat Greene Kiwanis Club and presented by ESPN on April 13 at the Sheraton Four Seasons Hotel Imperial Ballroom in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The Weaver-James-Corrigan Award is named in honor of the late Jim Weaver and Bob James, as well as Gene Corrigan, the first three ACC commissioners.
The league’s first commissioner, James H. Weaver, served the conference from 1954-70 after a stint as director of athletics at Wake Forest University. His early leadership and uncompromising integrity are largely responsible for the excellent reputation enjoyed by the ACC today.
Robert C. James, a former University of Maryland football player, was named commissioner in 1971 and served in that capacity for 16 years. During his tenure, the league continued to grow in stature and became recognized as a national leader in athletics and academics, winning 23 national championships and maintaining standards of excellence in the classroom.
Eugene F. Corrigan (father of current Notre Dame men’s lacrosse coach Kevin Corrigan) assumed his role as the third full-time commissioner on Sept. 1, 1987, and served until August 1997. During Corrigan’s tenure, ACC schools captured 30 NCAA championships and two national football titles.
Prior to 1994, the Weaver-James postgraduate scholarships were awarded as separate honors. The Jim Weaver Award, which originated in 1970, recognized exceptional achievement on the playing field and in the classroom, while the Bob James Award, established in 1987, also honored outstanding student-athletes.