2026 Inductee Billy Gavan

As we begin 2026 we are recognizing each of our Hall of Famers with short bios put together by some of our esteemed alumni and spearheaded by fellow Hall of Famer Kurt Kuhn.  Today we recognize Billy Gavan.

Billy Gavan played at the collegiate level for five years, one year at The West Point Preparatory School and four years at Virginia Tech as a starting Defenseman. Billy was a cadet in the Corps of Cadets throughout his time at Virginia Tech and, after graduating, was commissioned into the United States Army.

After leaving Virginia Tech, Billy continued to support the VT lacrosse alumni in many ways. Early on, he wrote articles about VT’s games and posted them on the VT Men’s Lacrosse website for several seasons. Later, he became more involved in alumni support operations, gathering years of alumni data, including accepting over 35 years of VT men’s lacrosse history from Coach Joel Nachlas after Coach Nachlas retired. As custodian of such information, Billy continues to archive an extensive collection of VT lacrosse documents, including seasonal game stat information; team awards; and a multitude of articles, periodicals, and photographs in an attempt to preserve the history and legacy of Virginia Tech lacrosse. Because of his background and support of Virginia Tech lacrosse, Billy was requested to represent his era as a member of the Lacrosse Hall of Fame Selection Committee and has been a member since its inception.

Over the decades, Billy regularly returned to play in Alumni vs VT team lacrosse games when he was not deployed overseas, including the Alumni’s 2nd Victory Game in 2010. In addition, he presented alumni awards at multiple post-game team and alumni awards events.

Billy has coached and played lacrosse at multiple levels in many states for over 30 years. As part of this, Billy coached lacrosse for his children’s teams, including branching out to coaching girl’s lacrosse. He continues to coach in the Raleigh, NC area, promoting the sport to the newest generations of players (and parents).