Isaiah Davis-Allen Named MLL’s David Huntley Man of the Year

Congrats to Isaiah Davis-Allen for winning the MLL’s David Huntley Man of the Year Award!

When he isn’t suiting up for the Wings in the NLL, IDA is the captain of the Chesapeake Bayhawks in the MLL. In addition to leading the Bayhawks on the field, he led the charge for change this summer, calling upon all lacrosse fans to help make the sport more inclusive. Isaiah has been working tirelessly to grow the sport of lacrosse for years. He has served as a coach for Nation United Lacrosse, an organization that strives to support participation in lacrosse across ethnic, socioeconomic, and geographic boundaries, for the last three years.

The award is named in honor of David Huntley, a former Major League Lacrosse (MLL) coach, and it recognizes the individual who has best demonstrated outstanding sportsmanship, professionalism, and service to their community. It is one of the highest honors a lacrosse player can receive.Huntley grew up in Toronto, Ontario, before being recruited to play at Johns Hopkins. He helped lead the Blue Jays to consecutive NCAA Championship wins in 1978 and 1979 and was a three-time All-American. In 1979 he won the McLaughlin Award, recognizing the top midfielder in the country. (An award MLL legends such as Gary Gait, Ryan Powell, Max Seibald, Kevin Crowley, C.J. Costabile, and 2020 David Huntley Man of the Year finalist, Zach Goodrich, have received.) Huntley also played internationally and was a member of Team Canada’s gold medal-winning 1978 World Lacrosse Championship team.

Huntley began his storied career as a professional lacrosse coach in the inaugural season of the Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League (a predecessor of the National Lacrosse League) in 1987 when he served as the Philadelphia Wings general manager and coach. In an assistant capacity, Huntley also coached the Bayhawks, Team Canada, Loyola College in Maryland, and Calvert Hall College. As a head coach, Huntley lead NLL’s Philadelphia Wings from 2008-2010, MLL’s Toronto Nationals from 2009-2010, and MLL’s Atlanta Blaze from 2016-2017.

Huntley passed away in 2017, in 2018 Major League Lacrosse established this award in his honor. Last year’s recipient was Nick Marrocco of the Boston Cannons. Isaiah Davis-Allen is the third recipient of this award.