Men's Lacrosse

Albert Mitchell was named as the Trojans’ first men’s lacrosse head coach in school on August 5, 2019.

After a great first year, Mitchell led the Trojans to a winning record of 9-7 during his second season at the helm which included a six-game winning streak. The Trojans defeated third nationally ranked Wingate at home by a score of 14-12, which propelled Anderson to a spot in the USILA National Rankings at No.19 for the first time in program history. Under Mitchell's watch, Cam Weeks had another historic season in which he set the SAC single season record with 174 ground balls and had a faceoff percentage of 82% to set an all-time high for all three divisions of the NCAA. Peyton Jefferson, Beau Henson, and Joey Heckel also had great seasons as they were named to the All-SAC teams. Triston Schaffer was named SAC Freshman of the Year. 

Mitchell led the Black and Gold to four wins in inaugural season, including a trip to the South Atlantic Conference tournament. Anderson picked up conference victories over Mars Hill and Lincoln Memorial, and non-conference wins over Montevallo and Alabama Huntsville. Under Mitchell, freshman Cam Weeks had an historic season by earning a spot on the All-SAC First Team, while also winning SAC Freshman of the Year and AU Male Athlete of the Year. After the season, Weeks earned USILA All-Region and All-American honors.

The Trojans joined nine other South Atlantic Conference members who currently offer men’s lacrosse and with the addition of men’s lacrosse in the Electric City, the SAC will boast 11 members sponsoring the sport (UVa Wise and Carson-Newman are the exceptions), including national powerhouse Limestone, which joined the league as a full-time member in July, 2020.

Mitchell, who spent the prior two seasons at UMass Lowell as the co-recruiting coordinator, defensive coordinator and face-off coordinator, took the reins of the brand new program that is set to begin competition in the spring of 2021. The initial year has been spent recruiting student-athletes as well as preparing a schedule and gathering equipment needed to run the program.

Mitchell helped lead the River Hawks to 13 victories over the past two seasons, including tying a program high with eight wins in 2018. His defense allowed just 10.6 goals per game during the 2018 campaign, while also posting program records with 13.53 saves per game, in man-down percentage, face-off percentage and face-offs won.

Along with his other coaching responsibilities, Mitchell served as camp coordinator and worked with community service, alumni relations, team travel, budgets and academic supervision.

Prior to his time with the River Hawks, Mitchell spent two seasons at Mercer University in Macon, Ga., as offensive coordinator and face-off coach. He also served as an assistant coach at Bryant University and Assumption College prior to his time at Mercer.

"I would like to thank Dr. Whitaker, Dr. Epting and Mr. Landrith for giving me this opportunity to be the first head coach of Anderson University lacrosse," said Mitchell. “My family and I are honored to plant our roots in the Anderson community and lay a strong foundation for lacrosse in this area. The excitement for adding men’s lacrosse is evident on campus and lacrosse is a perfect sport for Anderson with the sport’s consistent growth in the region.

Mitchell was a four-year player on the St. Mary's College of Maryland men's lacrosse team from 2009 to 2013. He was captain of the team when they won the Capital Athletic Conference Championship in 2013. He was a USILA Scholar All-American in 2013 and was a two-time All-Capital Athletic Conference Team selection in 2012 and 2013.

“I’m excited to start the recruiting process for Anderson’s first class of freshmen and to get this program underway,” added Mitchell at the time. “The school’s commitment to faith, high academic standards and its’ beautiful campus make this an ideal university for student-athletes who are looking for a great college lacrosse experience.”

Mitchell graduated from St. Mary's College in 2013 with a degree in sociology. He also earned his master's degree in higher educational leadership while at Mercer. He is married to Carolyn Mitchell and they are the proud parents of Claire and Luke.