ITHACA, N.Y. – After spending the past two seasons on the sideline as a volunteer assistant, former men's lacrosse great Connor Buczek '15 has been promoted to a full-time assistant on the Big Red staff. He will serve as the assistant offensive coordinator and his duties will include coordinating the extra-man offense, working with the goalies, and running the substitution box during games.
 
"Connor is a proven leader with an incomparable work ethic," said interim head coach Peter Milliman.  He knows what it takes to be successful at Cornell is dedicated to helping our players become better athletes and better young men.  He has always had a profound impact on our team and we are extremely lucky to be able to keep him in Ithaca."
 
As a volunteer over the past two seasons, Buczek was primarily responsible for coaching goalies and running the substitution box during games.  During that time, Buczek, a recipient of a prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, was a student in Cornell's Johnson Graduate School of Management. One of the best business school's in the country, he was in rare company, as one of just two individuals, and the only one from Cornell, to be admitted directly from undergraduate studies.

The second overall selection in the 2015 Major League Lacrosse Collegiate Draft, Buczek is a midfielder for the Florida Launch and was selected to participate in the 2016 MLL All-Star Game. He also spent the past season playing for the NLL's Toronto Rock.

A three-time All-American at Cornell, including consecutive first team honors over his final two seasons, Buczek graduated as the top scoring midfielder in Big Red history with 155 points. He also graduated ranked in the top 20 in Cornell history among all players for goals (ninth - 106), points (13th - 155), and assists (18th - 49).The 2014 Ivy League Player of the Year, he was a three-time unanimous first-team All-Ivy selection, becoming just the ninth player in Cornell history, and the 33d player in the history of the Ivy League, to be named to the top team three times in their career. A two-time Tewaaraton Trophy nominee, he finished his senior season ranked first on the team in goals (40), second overall in points (54) and third overall in assists (14). In 2015, Buczek also became the first midfielder in Cornell history to score 40 goals in a season, and is just the seventh midfielder in the history of the Ivy League to record both 40 goals in a single season and 100 goals in a career.

Buczek was selected as the 2015 Senior CLASS Award winner in men's lacrosse. To be eligible for the national award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.

A well-respected member of the Big Red community, Buczek was also named the recipient of Cornell's Ronald P. Lynch Senior Spirit Award, given to senior student-athlete whose leadership on and off the field models the ideals of the Big Red athletics department. 

A tremendous student in the classroom, Buczek was also named a CoSIDA Academic All-District selection and a USILA Scholar-Athlete.