As they prepare for Senior Day and the final regular season Dome game of their careers, the Syracuse Orange seniors got a chance for some early celebration on Tuesday night during the 2026 Premier Lacrosse League College Draft.
Joey Spallina led a group of five ’Cuse players who heard their names called to join the professional ranks of the PLL for its upcoming eighth season. Let’s take a look at the full list of Orange moving on to the pros this summer:
- Joey Spallina — 3rd overall pick (1st round, 3rd pick) to the Maryland Whipsnakes
- Michael Leo — 6th overall pick (1st round, 6th pick) to the California Redwoods
- Billy Dwan — 11th overall pick (2nd round, 3rd pick) to the Maryland Whipsnakes
- Luke Rhoa — 16th overall pick (2nd round, 8th pick) to the New York Atlas
- Dante Bowen — 30th overall pick (4th round, 6th pick) to the California Redwoods
It was quite a night for SU, who occupied three
of the first 11 selections, four in the first two rounds and five overall, which tied Maryland for most picks by one school.
There was plenty of speculation that Joey was in the mix for the first overall pick by the Utah Archers, or perhaps that Joey’s dad and California Redwoods General Manager, Joe Spallina, would trade up from his sixth spot to draft his son.
Neither of those things happened, and Joey went third overall to the Whipsnakes after Aidan Maguire and Mikey Weisshaar were taken with the first two picks. Joe was later interviewed on the broadcast and stated that not trading up to select Joey was “not for a lack of trying”, but that a potential deal was never able to materialize. He also commented that it would actually be nice to be able to watch Joey’s games just as a dad, and not have to also have his GM hat on like he would have if Joey ended up with the Redwoods.
Instead, Joey will join a player he used to look up to patrolling the sideline while his dad coached the Long Island Lizards, Rob Pannell, on attack for the Whipsnakes.
Joe and the Redwoods ended up taking Joey’s roommate, Michael Leo, with the sixth pick to join their offense as a versatile lefty scoring threat. Joe is very familiar with Leo’s game, not only from watching him play alongside Joey the past four years, but also from coaching him in his club days for Team 91 Long Island.
This is the second straight year that a pair of ‘Cuse teammates were selected in the first round of the same draft after Sammy English and Owen Hiltz were both first-rounders last year. Before that, you’d have to go back to the 2017 MLL draft when Nick Mariano and Sergio Salcido both went in the first round.
Billy Dwan was the third ‘Cuse player taken at 11th overall, and he and Joey will continue to be teammates at the next level with the Whips. You’ve got to figure that Billy’s game translates extremely well to the pro game, given his stick skills on offense and comfort moving up in transition. The smaller field and faster pace of play in the PLL are ideal for his skill set.
Luke Rhoa may have found the best situation of the bunch, getting drafted by the defending champion New York Atlas. Luke’s two-handed shooting abilities from virtually anywhere on the field should be able to be unleashed even more while playing with two of the best playmakers and distributors in the world in Jeff Teat and Connor Shellenberger. Right off the bat, it certainly feels like we’ll be seeing him stepping down into shots all summer long playing within that offense.
Dante Bowen was the surprise, perhaps somewhat, addition to the group when the Redwoods took him in the fourth round. SSDM is such an important position in the fast moving PLL, because every team needs shorties that can act as threats in transition and play both ways. Dante will give the Redwoods an athletic, physical presence on their roster. It was the second Syracuse selection of the night for Joe Spallina, and Dante joins an increasingly Orange California team that also drafted Sammy English and Carter Rice last year.
The disappointment of the night is that Finn Thomson went undrafted in the four-round, 32-pick draft. It was a bit surprising, at least in my opinion, that Finn didn’t hear his name called. He is one of the best finishers and crease navigators in the college game, after all. Hopefully he’ll get his chance to impress in-person with a tryout invite at some point this summer, though. Finn’s got way too much talent to not see the field in the PLL at some point.
Congratulations to Joey, Michael, Billy, Luke and Dante on this amazing honor!
The PLL season is starting earlier this year, with opening weekend taking place on May 8-9. Let me speak for all of Orange nation when I say, we hope you miss the first few weeks of the season with other obligations!
