Chris Collins, a men’s basketball coach at Northwestern University, was skeptical when he first heard that lacrosse players were interested in major hoops.
It’s not just that Pat Spencer hasn’t competed since high school. Just a few weeks ago, he won lacrosse’s Heisman Award, the Tewa Alaton Award, capping off his one of the greatest careers in college lacrosse history.
“I thought, ‘Why would he want to give it up?'” Collins recalled thinking in the spring of 2019. Most people never leave it. ”
Spencer — 6 feet 3 inches, 205 pounds guard, golden state warriors The next month—most people don’t. Even when he broke the lacrosse record at the University of Loyola Maryland, he sneaked into every campus basketball game he could and stayed up late watching the NBA, wondering if he chose the right sport in high school. I was thinking.
Now at least Spencer won’t lose sleep at night wondering what would have happened if he had taken basketball seriously. After a graduation season under Collins at Northwestern University, a brief stint abroad and his stop in the G League, Spencer became the first ex-college in modern history to play in his NBA game in the regular season. You have a chance to become a lacrosse player.
Last month’s Summer League stats with the Wizards were modest, but he boasts an interesting combination of athleticism, court vision and physical prowess. Even though I missed it, there is a fact that I have grown so far. Giving him his Exhibit 10 contract allows the Warriors to see what he’s like when he’s around. Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson When draymond green During training camp.
The odds are that Spencer will land in Golden State’s G League affiliate next season in Santa Cruz.Warriors are 13 players on guaranteed contractsshy of their favorite numbers entering the opener. Andre IguodalaHe, who has yet to inform the team whether or not he will retire, could fill that last spot. Likely to make the regular season roster.
But if Spencer has proven anything in the last six years, it’s that he tends to shatter those around him. he loyola for lacrosse when he got into maryland he was 5 to 8 he was a high school senior 165 pounds and he only has one other Division I scholarship was. By the time Spencer left the Greyhounds, he was arguably the greatest lacrosse player of all time, a powerful and agile offensive player, set the NCAA career assists record (231) and tied for second all-time in points (380). was ranked in
Some thought Spencer was misplaced when he decided to play basketball at Northwestern University, despite being the number one pick in the first draft of the Premier Lacrosse League. Summer pick-up in Maryland His solid performance on the track did little to suggest he was ready for Big His Ten. In fact, even Collins admits he had no idea what Spencer would offer the Wildcats.
But given that Northwestern University is set to have a young roster, Collins will spend the last scholarship on a proven winner desperate to build a new legacy for himself. I knew I could do much worse than that.
Spencer was so passionate about the sport that he was able to have lunch at the Loyola Maryland gym and watch the basketball team practice. Every offseason, Greyhound’s men’s lacrosse coach, Charlie Toomey, knew that the best player would stop training lacrosse and play pick-up his basketball every day.
“He came back out of shape and I didn’t care,” Toomey said. When he was with us, he gave his all to lacrosse, and that’s all I could ask for.”
Unbeknownst to his lacrosse coaches and teammates, Spencer decided to use last year’s credentials as a basketball grad halfway through his time at Loyola Maryland University. His family was full of Hoopers. Spencer, who was also a diminutive bouncer at his Latin school for the Boys of Baltimore, had interest from Division I coaches during his senior year.
problem? Spencer had already signed a lacrosse contract with Loyola Maryland. He toyed with the idea of playing both sports for the greyhounds, but thought it wasn’t fair to Toomey.Lacrosse, his team’s biggest non-conference game, overlapped with his team’s basketball season. I was.
“I can’t say for sure what I love about basketball,” Spencer said. By the way, I’m a loyal man, and I had to show that loyalty to my coach (Toomey).”
To justify giving up all the opportunities that awaited him in professional lacrosse, Spencer had to do more than just walk through a mid-major basketball program. It was nothing. His goal is to get a scholarship, go to the senior majors, and get a contract with the NBA.
But in honor of his lacrosse team, Spencer didn’t visit another school until the summer after his senior year. So it took him only a few weeks to find a new home. With the help of former Loyola men’s basketball coach Jimmy Patsos, Spencer attracted interest from Maryland, Cincinnati, Seton his hall and more before choosing Northwestern University.
By the second week of Spencer’s practice, Collins knew he was going to be one of the Wildcats’ biggest contributors. Playing in an organized league for the first time in four years, Spencer averaged 10.4 points, 3.9 assists and 4.1 rebounds in 29.4 minutes, Northwestern’s worst 8-23 record in 20 years. .
The next two years were a blur of suitcases, tryouts and new cities. After finishing just eight games in his league at the top of Germany, Spencer was invited to work out at the Wizards’ G-League affiliate, Capital City, his go-go.
Recently, he’s been plotting after Juan Toscano-Anderson and Gary Payton II as the latest G League addition to land a guaranteed contract with the Warriors. For someone who averaged 7.5 points in Go-Go last season, that might seem a little exaggerated.
Again, Spencer is different from most people.
“I would never go against him,” said Collins. think.”
Connor Letourneau is a staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: cletourneau@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Con_Chron
