Drew University Athletics

Many know him as one of the best defenders to ever play the game of lacrosse at Drew University. Others know him as a multifaceted talent with skills spanning the worlds of athletics, literature, and finance. His closest friends, teammates, and family simply know him as "T-Roy." Yet there was nothing simple about his lacrosse career as a Ranger.
 
Torommia Sanders, Jr. C'01 has the history and hardware to back up a claim placing him in the upper echelon of defenders at Drew, if not the entire Mid-Atlantic region. Following 62 games played in Blue & Green over four seasons, and right before his graduation in 2001, T-Roy was named an All-American Honorable Mention by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association. At the time, that honor had been bestowed to a Drew men's lacrosse player just three other times in program history, and he was the first defender to become an All-American at Drew.
 
"He was the most physically imposing player that we've ever had at Drew in men's lacrosse," said his head coach, Tom Leanos, who has coached over 300 Rangers during his 32 years at the helm. "To me, he was a Division I athlete that wanted to play at a small college. He was a tenacious one-on-one defender, he was a team player, and all of our opponents knew who he was."
 
He was impossible to ignore, and even harder for opposing teams to plan around. There's not much in a coaching playbook to combat pure athletic power and sheer will to be the best. Sanders picked up 336 ground balls in his career, a mark that still ranked fourth in the Rangers' record book at the time of his induction. Primarily a shutdown defender, T-Roy wasn't shy about inching up the field for some offense from time to time. He scored seven goals and passed out three assists, while also winning 154 faceoffs for the Rangers.
 
There were varying dimensions to T-Roy the Athlete, heading into his collegiate career. He was an All-State First Team lacrosse player and All-American wrestler at St. Benedict Prep High School in Newark, and relied heavily on an impressive physical stature to find success. Sanders credits Leanos for refining that raw talent into a more technical skillset when he suited up for college lacrosse. Four years later, T-Roy became the first defenseman in Drew history to make four consecutive All-Conference Teams, a feat that has only been duplicated once to this day.
 
"Coach Leanos gave me the opportunity to grow as a young man and as a player," Sanders says. "He was tough on me from time to time, and I appreciated every second of it."
 
The team, meanwhile, appreciated T-Roy's contributions on the field. During his four years in Madison, the Rangers compiled a 40-22 overall record, including a 21-8 mark in conference play. Leanos' Rangers won three straight ECAC Championships from 1998 – 2000 with Sanders serving as the stopper on the defensive end.