‘It was an impulse decision’: Villanova’s Luke Keating has made a seamless transition from Division III to Division I lacrosse
Keating, who starred for four years as an attacker at Franklin & Marshall, is Villanova's second-leading scorer with 33 points.
After a four-year lacrosse career with Franklin and Marshall, Luke Keating was prepared to move to Boston and begin his postgraduate life working in the business sector.
However, given his junior and senior seasons were cut short by COVID-19, Keating ultimately decided he couldn’t leave lacrosse behind just yet. He thought “why not?” and looked into using his extra year of eligibility.
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That extra year of eligibility saw him land just 70 miles from Franklin and Marshall, at Villanova, where he has emerged as a star attacker while working toward his MBA.
Uncertainty tends to come with transferring schools, and for Keating, that would be an understatement. He would be making the jump from the Centennial Conference and Division III lacrosse at Franklin and Marshall to Division I lacrosse and the Big East with Villanova.
Keating, though, didn’t arrive at Villanova short of accolades. In his time at Franklin and Marshall, the Garden City, N.Y. ,native totaled 143 goals, 106 assists, and 249 points (fourth most in school history), and was named a United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Division III First Team All-American as a senior. As a sophomore, he was a third-team All-American, racking up 100 points (the second most in a season in school history) in just 18 games.
“I met with Coach [Mike] Corrado, came up for a visit, and fell in love with the school and coaching staff,” said Keating. “I would say it was definitely an impulse decision.”
That impulse decision has proven to be a wise one, as Keating hasn’t missed a beat since arriving at Villanova. He recorded 20 total points over his first four games as a Wildcat and was named the Big East attack player of the week on March 21.
Keating won the award after setting a season-high with eight points (three goals, five assists) against Drexel. His five assists are a single-game high mark for Villanova this season.
“It’s definitely been a different experience,” said Keating, “But I think our coaches did a great job of bringing in all the transfers and teaching us the system.”
The player of the week award was no fluke, either. Keating ranks second among the Wildcats with 33 points (14 goals, 19 assists), and has produced multi-point performances in six of eight games this season. Despite what at first seemed like a big jump up to Division I, Keating has welcomed the responsibilities that come with being a key member of Villanova’s attack.
“I think it’s more about being a unit,” Keating said. “Points only come with all six of us [in attack] being on the field, so being together is how I’ve been able to excel in my position and work as a collective unit.”
And while Keating’s seamless transition may be unexpected to some, Keating credited his former coach at Franklin and Marshall, Todd Cavallaro, for believing in him and giving him the confidence to make the move to Division I.
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“Coach Cavallaro has coached at all different levels and knows a lot of other coaches around the country,” said Keating. “So he just told me that I was definitely capable of playing at the next level, so I took the opportunity.”
With the non-conference schedule in the rearview, Villanova will look to continue capitalizing on its wealth of experience — Keating is one of six graduate students on the team. But, with the team at 5-3 and having won three of its last four games, Keating said the key to success is to just keep improving week after week.
“Obviously the Big East is going to be as tough as it is every year, so we’re not going to look too far ahead and instead focus on the next opponent ahead of us.”
Villanova, which has not qualified for the NCAA Tournament since 2018, begins its Big East schedule Saturday, traveling to New York to take on 2-7 St. John’s.