Moon Township, Pa. – Robert Morris University men's lacrosse student-athletes Jimmy Perkins and Ryan Smith have been tabbed as two of 20 nominees for the Senior CLASS Award, as announced by the organization in a press release Thursday morning.
Perkins and Smith are the only two student-athletes among the 20 candidates from a 2021 independent team, and RMU is one of four schools to produce multiple candidates, joining Lehigh (2), Ohio State (3), and Syracuse (3).
RELEASE: Men's Lacrosse Candidates Announced for the 2021 Senior CLASS Award
One of two seventh-year players in NCAA Division I men's lacrosse this season, Perkins has enjoyed his return to Moon Township by compiling 14 points (9g, 5a) over the Colonials' first five games. He has produced three multi-goal efforts – highlighted by a four-goal performance at High Point on Feb. 13 – and a five-point effort (2g, 3a) at Colgate on Feb. 21, and added a career-high eight groundballs in the latter contest. The Pittsburgh, Pa. product ranks third on the team in goals, assists, points, and groundballs (13).
RELATED: RMU Men's Lacrosse Announces the Return of Jimmy Perkins
In three healthy seasons (2017-18, 2021) at RMU, Perkins has recorded 93 points (47g, 46a) in 39 contests. He is seven points shy of becoming the 17th player in program history to reach 100 points in a Colonial uniform, and has 145 points (89g, 56a) when adding in his 18 games over two seasons (2019-20) at the University of Utah. The Quaker Valley High School alumnus ranks fourth all-time at RMU in assists per game (1.18), eighth in total assists, and 10th in points per game (2.38).
Perkins originally joined the program as a walk-on in 2015, but missed his first two competitive seasons with a knee injury as a freshman and a sports hernia the following year. After helping lead the Colonials to their first NCAA Tournament in 2018, he graduated with his Bachelor's degree in business management and transferred to Utah, where he served as a 2020 captain and scored the program's first ever goal. Perkins received a Master's degree in real estate development from Utah last May, and currently carries a 3.78 cumulative grade point average while pursuing his second Master's degree in the business administration program.
In the community, Perkins is a campaign leader for the HEADstrong Foundation, which is a charitable, non-profit organization that offers financial, residential, and emotional support to families affected by cancer. Two years ago, he was part of the Give 'N Go Foundation's trip to Europe and raised both money and lacrosse equipment to give to underprivileged players in Spain, Portugal, and Denmark. Perkins also provided free lacrosse clinics to youth players in each country on the trip.
LINK: Jimmy Perkins Senior CLASS Award Profile
A fifth-year attack from Burlington, Ontario, Smith has been nearly unstoppable in his final season, ranking 13th nationally in goals (3.60) and points per game (5.80), and 24th in assists per game (2.20). He has 29 points total on 18 tallies and 11 helpers, and two days ago against Bellarmine he established a new single-game school standard for points with 11, breaking his own mark of 10 set in last year's season opener at Canisius. Smith also tied Perkins for the single-game assist record with six versus the Knights, and has recorded four hat tricks through five games in 2021.
Smith was selected with the third overall pick by the Rochester Knighthawks in the 2020 National Lacrosse League (NLL) Entry Draft, and has a professional career waiting for him following the conclusion of his RMU one. He could be at the top of the program record books before it ends, as he currently ranks second in career points (175), third in points per game (2.87), fourth in goals (112) and assists (63), fifth in goals per game (1.84) and assists per game (1.03), eighth in starts (51), and ninth in games played (61). Smith is 21 points away from breaking the all-time points record set by Trevor Moore (195; 2008-11) and 23 goals shy of topping Moore (134) in that category.
Smith completed his Bachelor's degree in marketing this past May, and currently carries a 3.67 cumulative GPA while pursuing a MBA in business analytics. He was tabbed a Scholar All-American by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) last season, and is a two-year team captain. Smith has been instrumental in helping grow the game of lacrosse at the local level and back home in Ontario, having led as a volunteer coach at Pine Richland High School and with the United Lacrosse League. He also has given his time to multiple community service projects, including the Mooncrest Neighborhood After-School Program, a painting project of Shouse Park, and a roadside clean-up of I-376.
LINK: Ryan Smith Senior CLASS Award Profile
Perkins and Smith join Kiel Matisz (2012), Sean Meagher (2014), James Rahe (2016), and Tyson Gibson (2019) as RMU student-athletes who have been nominated for the Senior CLASS Award. Matisz was later selected as a finalist.
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. To be eligible for the 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.
The 20 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists later in the season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches, and fans, who will select one candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character, and competition. The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced in conjunction with the 2021 NCAA Men's Lacrosse National Championship in May.
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