VESTAL, N.Y. – Bringing with him an expertise that helped develop one of the top offenses in the country, Nik Clinton joins the Binghamton men's lacrosse program as an assistant coach, Head Men's Lacrosse Coach
Kevin McKeown announced Thursday.
"We are thrilled to have Nik join our coaching staff," said McKeown. "He has a wealth of knowledge and experience that will add to our current staff. I am excited to get to work on the field with him!"
"I want to thank Coach McKeown and everyone at Binghamton University for the opportunity to join the men's lacrosse program," said Clinton. "I am ready to get to work with a great group of individuals and achieve the vision that Coach McKeown has for the team."
Clinton arrives in the Southern Tier after spending the last three seasons at Virginia Military Institute as an assistant coach, including the final two as both the offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator. While Clinton was at VMI, the Keydets became one of the top-performing offenses in all of college lacrosse. In 2025, VMI ranked second in the country in scoring offense at 14.64 goals per game and third in shot percentage at .325. The Keydets also set the school record for goals in a season (205) en route to winning a program-record 10 games, the most victories VMI had in 37 years. With Clinton's guidance, Luke Rusterucci ranked third in the country in points per game (5.29) and was chosen for the USILA Senior All-Star Game.
2025 was the culmination of three years of development with Clinton on the sidelines. In Clinton's first season in 2023, he assisted with an offense that scored its most goals in 26 years (155) and coached a faceoff unit that saw its faceoff percentage improve by 10 percent from the prior season. In 2024, after becoming offensive coordinator, Clinton helped the Keydets finish tied for 28th in the country in scoring offense at 12.20 goals per game. Rusterucci ranked 15th in the country in points per game that year at 4.53. Clinton also continued to oversee the develop of the faceoff unit, with Jack Rogers winning 53.9 percent of his faceoffs that season.
Before joining VMI, Clinton worked as a volunteer assistant at his alma mater, St. Bonaventure, from 2020-22. In 2022, he helped the Bonnies take home the MAAC regular season championship and win a program-record 11 games. During his time on the coaching staff, Clinton coached faceoffs and wing play, managed substitutions and helped an offense that led the MAAC in goals per game in 2022 at 10.73. He also helped Trent Grainger finish third in the country among freshmen in faceoff percentage that season at 52.9 percent.
Clinton, a native of Loveland, Colo., transferred to St. Bonaventure for its first season as a Division I program in 2019 after playing his first two collegiate seasons at Adams State. While at Adams State from 2016-17, Clinton scored 11 goals, recorded 16 assists, collected 23 ground balls and caused three turnovers in 25 games played with the Grizzlies.
In two seasons with St. Bonaventure, Clinton helped relaunch the program, as the attack/midfielder scored one goal, recording two assists and collecting four ground balls in 16 games played. For his work with the St. Bonaventure Department of Athletics, Clinton received the Brian Moretti Service Award in 2020. Clinton ultimately graduated from St. Bonaventure in 2020 with a bachelor's degree in sports studies with an emphasis in sport management, along with a minor in business administration.
Clinton joins Binghamton after the Bearcats returned to the America East Men's Lacrosse Championship in 2025, their third appearance in the last four seasons. Binghamton previously qualified for the conference tournament in 2022 and 2023.
Station 45 American Chop House is the presenting sponsor of Bearcats Men's Lacrosse.
