Debates about the greatest player ever are part of every sport. Lacrosse is no different. Names like Gary Gait, Mikey Powell, and Jim Brown will — and should — always be mentioned. They changed the game, inspired generations, and set standards that still matter today.
But if we’re asking a slightly different question — who was the most complete, dominant men’s lacrosse player relative to the modern game — the answer becomes clearer.
It’s Pat Spencer.
Dominance in the Modern Era
Pat Spencer wasn’t just great. He was overwhelming.
A four-time All-American and Tewaaraton winner, Spencer dominated at a time when the player pool was deeper, faster, and more athletic than ever before. Spencer drew every team’s best on-ball defenseman his entire career, and candidly, he was never surrounded by much talent at Loyola vs. the talent levels that other elite attackman had around them such as Jared Bernhardt (UMD 2021), Lyle Thompson (Albany 2015), Michael Sowers (Duke 2021), and CJ Kirst (Cornell 2025).
Not once in Pat Spencer’s college lacrosse career did he get properly muted by an opposing defenseman. Why? It wasn’t possible.
A Skill Set Without Holes
What separated Spencer wasn’t one elite trait such as the speed of Bernhardt, the quickness of Sowers, the vision of Shellenberger / Pat Kavanaugh, the physicality of O’Neill, or the creativity of the great Lyle Thompson — it was the absence of weakness.
Defensemen couldn’t sit on his strong hand. They couldn’t overplay his dodges. Slides came early — and he punished them. Slides came late — and he scored. He was elite in the ride, the clear, off the ground, off-ball, and on-ball. He was simply the best player on the field for four years straight no matter what field he was on.
The Ultimate Proof of Athletic Translation
Here’s where the argument becomes impossible to ignore.
After finishing one of the greatest lacrosse careers ever, Spencer stepped away from the sport and used a 5th year of eligibility to play D1 basketball at Northwestern. After spending some time playing professional basketball in Europe and climbing the ranks of the NBA G-League, Spencer found his way on to the Golden State Warriors where he gets significant time today.
That kind of crossover isn’t normal, and it’s not coincidence. It’s evidence of elite athleticism, spatial awareness, and competitive intelligence that transcends sports.
Respecting the Legends
None of this diminishes what the Gaits or the Powells of the world meant to lacrosse. They were pioneers. They pushed boundaries in eras when the game needed creativity and flair to grow, but the game they dominated is not the game being played today.
The modern men’s game is more competitive and full of bigger, faster, stronger athletes. The youth lacrosse landscape has become much more broad and competitive, meaning the talent pool coming to the college game is much stronger.
Pat Spencer didn’t just survive that environment — he owned it.
Who Else?
I hope that you dive down a YouTube rabbit hole on some of these names…
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- Connor Shellenberger – Freshman year NCAA tournament performance was out of this world. He is a UVA legend and one of the best all-around quarterback, X-attackman in the history of the game.
- Michael Sowers – If COVID didn’t happen, Sowers may have broken the single season points record at Princeton in 2020 after putting up 47 points in five games. Yes, you read that correctly. He is basically Steve Nash or Allen Iverson, but with a lacrosse stick.
- Brennan O’Neill – Probably the most hyped high school player ever who didn’t disappoint at Duke. He is a physical specimen with silky smooth hands and serious creativity.
- CJ Kirst – Hard to argue against CJ in a GOAT conversation given the fact that he broke the scoring record in four seasons while everyone else in that conversation used COVID eligibility to get there. Easy guy to root for, a Tewaaraton winner, and a national champion (who scored five goals in the championship with a broken hand).
- Lyle Thompson – In my opinion, he is the most influential lacrosse player of all time. Some of my fondest memories include watching him, Myles, and Ty (the “Thompson Trio” from Albany) score crazy goals and then go try to mimic them in my backyard. Lyle is also the second player of all time to win two Tewaaraton awards (other is Mikey Powell).
- Jared Bernhardt – In 2021, Jared Bernhardt had probably the single most “unguardable” campaigns of all time. He looked at the best defenseman in the country, JT Giles Harris from Duke, and ran circles around him in the NCAA semifinals. He also went on to play D2 football where he was the best player in the country and quarterback of an undefeated national championship team. Shortly after, he played for the Atlanta Falcons.
- Rob Pannell – Ever heard of the question mark dodge? Nobody did it as good as this guy. Rob Pannell is probably the most pure version of an “X-Attackman” that the game has seen, and his senior campaign at Cornell (and time dominating the MLL) exemplify that.
- Tom Schreiber – Tommy Schreiber is the undisputed best passing midfielder of all time and a household name in the sport. His dad is a legend of a coach up in Strong Island, and if you watch Tom play, it is obvious that he grew up with a dad as a coach. Very two handed, can beat you from all release points, and a great all around player.
- Liam Entenmann – Probably some personal bias on this one, but he is a two time national champion and was, by far, the best goalie in the country both of those years. The 2024 Notre Dame team is probably a top 5 team of all time, and Liam was the best player on that team.
- Chris Gray – For a small period of time, Chris Gray was the all-time points leader. After starting his career at Boston, he transferred to UNC and absolutely dominated from there as a dynamic scorer despite being undersized.
- Jeff Teat – Unfortunately, COVID ended Jeff Teat’s college career early, but he broke the PLL single season scoring record by like 20 points and is consistently a top 5 player in the NLL. If any lacrosse player could be a wizard, it’d be Mr. Teater.
Other Honorable Mentions
- Gary Gait (duh)
- Paul Rabil
- Mikey Powell
- Steele Stanwick
- John Grant Jr
- Matt Danowski
- Ned Crotty
- Max Seibald
Not necessary GOATs, but other Guys You NEED to watch film on:
- Mac O’Keefe
- Connor Fields
- Matt Gibson
- Ryder Garnsey (high school highlight tape is the coolest ever made)
- Anybody with the last name Kavanaugh
- Matt Rambo
- Dylan Molloy
- Chazz Woodson
- Michael Ernhardt
Why This Matters for Development
At NextRep, we hope that training with a wide variety of elite players on our platform will yield complete players – Players who can think, adapt, compete, and execute regardless of circumstance. Pat Spencer represents the ceiling of that idea.
We always preach that the biggest fans are often the best players, so please, please go look up all these names above on YouTube. Trust me, if your child plays lacrosse, you will not be able to keep them out of your backyard after watching these legends.