Skip to main content

Ralph Willis

Hall of Fame

|

Inducted 1982

College

Princeton University

Ralph "Bo" Willis was an excellent feeder, shooter and dodger as an attackman. He played a vital role on three MSA championship teams while at Gilman School from 1947-1949 and on three Ivy League championship teams and two national championship teams while at Princeton from 1950 to 1953. Willis earned All-Maryland honors at Gilman for three years in lacrosse, as well as All-Maryland recognition in football and basketball. He also received the Ensign C. Markland Kelly, Jr. Award in 1949 as the outstanding player in the MSA.

Willis earned All-American honors three times while enrolled at Princeton, and he received the John Higginbottom Lacrosse Trophy in 1953 for his "outstanding play, distinguished sportsmanship, and gentlemanly influence." Willis capped off his collegiate career with three goals for the North in the 1953 North/South All-Star Game. Following a brief playing and coaching career with the Mt. Washington Lacrosse Club, Willis continued his service to the game as a director of the Lacrosse Foundation and a member of the All-American Selection Committee. Bo Willis passed away in 2008.