The California Redwoods hold two of the top three picks in the PLL draft. One team held those picks five other times, here's how it went.

The PLL Draft date is set for May 7th. While all signs to CJ Kirst going first overall to the Philadelphia Waterdogs, things are up in the air after that. The California Redwoods own the second and third picks in the draft. It’s an opportunity to rebuild one side of the ball in the four minutes it takes to make two selections. Elite players at multiple positions will be available. At attack, the Woods can consider Sam King, Chris Kavanagh, or Coulter Mackesy. At midfield, Sam English and Andrew McAdorey will be available. Poles like Ben Wayer will be there. Even a goalie like Emmet Carroll or the rapidly rising Logan McNaney could be considered. So what’s the move going to be for new GM Joe Spallina?

The scenario has precedent. Since 2001, there have been five other instances of a team owning two of the top three picks in the draft. While the two most recent probably deserve some asterisks and considerations, the first three tell you a lot about just how big an impact you can have on your roster. California, if nothing else, can feel comfortable by seeing Hall of Fame level talent taken in the past in these spots. 

Here’s how it went the other five times in pro field lacrosse history has had two of the first three picks in the draft:

2002. Boston Cannons selected Steve Dusseau and Conor Gill with picks two and three. 

Dusseau is something of a trailblazer. He didn’t play all that long ago (depending on how old you are), graduating from Georgetown in 2002. In that era, we were still mostly operating under the model of “all the good players come from Baltimore and New York” with some outliers in Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Dusseau is from Ohio. He went to Georgetown and was a two time All American, and won the Enners Award as the Most Outstanding Player, and was a Tewaaraton Finalist. He lost the Tewaaraton to Mike Powell.. His pro career was short, he played just five seasons, four of them with Boston. But made the All Star game in 2003, and made the playoffs in each of his first three seasons.  

Conor Gill was a prolific scorer and one of the best attackmen to ever play the game. He was a three time All American at UVA, and won a title with UVA in 1999. He was named NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player as a freshman. He won MLL Rookie of the Year, set an MLL single season assist record, was a league MVP, and led the league in assists for three straight seasons. He only played seven seasons, but in that time amassed 345 points, averaging four points per game. Among the other top 25 scorers ever, the only others to average 4+ points per game are Rob Pannell, Casey Powell, Ryan Powell, Mark Millon, and Jordan Wolf. His name should appear in Hall of Fame conversations at some point soon. 

2008. New Jersey Pride selected Matt Danowski and Mike Leveille with picks two and three

Any time you can draft the two most recent Tewaaraton winners, you have to do it. So New Jersey did. Sort of. They ultimately traded Leveille to Chicago on draft day for Stephen Peyser and two more draft choices they used on Danny Brennan and Alex Hewit.. 

Danowski’s 2007 season is one of the most prolific, and decorated, ever. He won the Tewaaraton, won the Enners award, and won the Turnbull (best attackman in the nation) for the second time. He had 96 points. He broke the career points record in 2008 and won his second Enners award. As a pro, Danowski played 12 seasons and was an All Star seven times; every year from 2008 through 2014. He had four straight 40 point seasons from 2010 to 2013, and finished his career with 420 career points which currently ranks 12th all time. His 33 two point goals ranked 3rd all time, tied with Max Siebald. 

Mike Leveille won the Tewaaraton at Syracuse following a prolific senior year. He was named the NCAA Championship Most Outstanding Player, and he amassed 83 points on 49 goals and 34 assists. His pro career was short. He only played four seasons, three full with the Chicago Machine and then a brief few games with Rochester in 2013. In those three seasons with Chicago, he averaged 38 points per year. As a rookie he had a perfectly balanced 18 goals and 18 assists. His worst shooting percentage as a pro was 36% as a rookie. Leveille also played for Team USA in 2010, winning a gold medal at World Championships. 

2015. Florida Launch selected Lyle Thompson and Connor Buczek with picks one and two.

This is recent enough that there probably aren’t too many history lessons needed here. Lyle Thompson won the Tewaaraton, Enners, and Turnbull Awards in 2014 and 2015. He set the career points record at 400 his senior year.  Florida took Lyle after they drafted Miles a year earlier. Lyle played for Florida for two years and then was dealt to Chesapeake. He won the MVP and the MLL Championship in 2019. In the PLL, he won Attackman of the Year in 2022 and was first team All Pro twice. He’s also won an NLL title and an NLL MVP, and been first team All World both indoors and outdoors. Listing Thompsons accolades on and off the field/floor could go on for days, but odds are anyone who knows lacrosse knows Lyle is a transformative and unique player. 

Buczek went second. He graduated from Cornell as the highest scoring midfielder in program history. He was a three time all American.  Buczek was an all star four times in his career, every year from 2016 to 2019. He is tied for 11th all time in two point goals. He won a gold medal outdoors with Team USA at the U19 World Championships, and won a bronze medal with Team USA in 2019 at the World Indoor Championships. He’s also the second highest scoring player in Florida Launch franchise history. He retired after seven seasons despite still being a productive and high level player. He took the head coaching job at his alma mater, and the demands of that position balanced with a pro lacrosse career isn’t something people do for long. As a coach, he’s been named Ivy League Coach of the Year twice. 

2020 MLL. New York selected TD Ierlan and Colin Burke with picks one and three. 

You need an asterisk the size of the sun for this one. 2020 was a year where both the MLL and PLL existed, and both had drafts, competing for the same pool of players. MLL teams took the approach of using early picks to draft players they were sure would either join the team or return to school, but not play for the PLL. By and large, that’s what most of the highly drafted players did. And it’s how things went for these two players. TD Ierlan returned to school and played at Denver, and was then taken in the PLL draft a year later. Colin Burke made history as the first Utah Ute to sign a pro lacrosse contract. He played for the Lizards in the 2020 bubble season, but was not added to a PLL roster following the merger a year later. 

2023. New York Atlas selected Gavin Adler and Brett Makar with picks one and three.

Jury is a bit out here, but the returns so far have been promising.

Adler won the Schmeisser Award at Cornell, and was a first team All American twice. Adler was named a PLL First Team All Pro last year, and was a finalist for Defender of the Year. He handles matchups of all sorts, whether it’s big dodgers who try to play physically or small change of direction players. Most of the year, offenses resorted to slamming picks into him to try and change matchups or just be physical with him, but Adler handles that type of play well. His game as a cover defender makes him one of the best defenders in the league.

Makar was the first player ever to win Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year in back to back seasons. He wore the #1 jersey at Maryland, the first defender to do it since 1993. As a pro he’s been an All Star once but otherwise hasn’t garnered a ton of accolades yet. Don’t let that deceive you. He’s an every week starter for the Atlas, and a key piece of one of the best young pole groups in the league.