Pat Spencer's Double Feature

Get the ball to No. 7. The most efficient— and effective—way for Greyhounds men’s lacrosse to score from 2016-19 was for the ball to go through the stick of Pat Spencer, ’19.

Head Coach Charley Toomey, ’90, saw that opportunity develop during a February 2019 game at Rutgers. But it was the finish of the play that set it apart from other similar plays—and was full of foreshadowing.

When No. 7 caught a pass from Alex Johnson, ’20, on the left side of the field, he sprinted to the goal with his stick in his left hand, drew contact from a defender, and leapt across the crease. He moved the stick to his right hand and—while in the air—shot around the Scarlet Knights goalkeeper.

That was no typical lacrosse shot. It was a basketball move, akin to Michael Jordan switching hands midair to score in the 1991 NBA Playoffs.

“It was an ‘above the rim’ play,” Toomey said.

Photo credit: Larry French

Athleticism on Display

Multiple photographers captured that moment, and the Loyola Men’s Lacrosse Instagram account received record traffic. “On a weekly basis for 15 weeks, four years in a row, Pat was capturing the minds of young lacrosse players with a creativity—and as we’ve come to know even more acutely—athleticism that nobody else has put on display before or since,” said another Loyola graduate, Terry Foy, ’07, now the CEO of Inside Lacrosse.

The stage was set. Spencer, who was already in the spotlight, was headed for a bright future—and who knew where his athleticism and adaptability would take him. Today, the former lacrosse All-American goes nose-to-nose with some of the NBA’s biggest names.

But not too long ago, getting to the NBA seemed far-fetched for Spencer. No lacrosse player had been at his level and then transitioned successfully to one of the four major professional sports. But perhaps no one had the confidence that Spencer possesses.

“Some of it might be irrational confidence,” Spencer said. “I don’t think anyone thought going from college lacrosse to the NBA would be a move anyone would make, but I’ve always had that belief in myself.”

Where the Story Starts

Back in high school at nearby Boys’ Latin School of Maryland, Spencer was a 5-foot-4, 120-pound high school student cut from teams. An undersized player at the time, Spencer still drew attention from college lacrosse. He focused on Loyola where he committed before his junior year of high school.

A growth spurt ensued, giving him almost a foot of height and 85 pounds of muscle for a 6-foot-3, 205-pound frame. Spencer became one of the most highly-rated recruits in the nation as a member of the high school Class of 2015. The basketball desire still burned, but he held solid in his commitment to the Greyhounds and Head Coach—and fellow Boys’ Latin grad—Toomey.

“I had some second thoughts, but I thought I owed it to Loyola to see it through given they were one of just a couple schools who took a chance on me,” Spencer said. “I didn’t have the size, but I always felt like I had the skill growing up. I leaned on my IQ, and that was something I could hang my hat on. I knew I could compete at a high level at Loyola.”

And he did. A game-changing player for Toomey and the Greyhounds, Spencer became the most decorated student athlete in school history.

A Legend Is Born

He finished his first regular season as Patriot League Rookie and Offensive Player of the Year—the first player to win both in conference history. It was in the postseason, however, that his legend grew.

He led Loyola to the Patriot League Championship and later to a bid Championship Weekend and the NCAA Semifinals; he finished the season with 37 goals and 52 assists, tying the school single-season record with 89 points. He picked up Second-Team All-America honors, and his star shot to the top of the lacrosse world.

He grew close to his teammates and threw himself into lacrosse.

Even though he ended the year as arguably the best player in the sport, he found himself still thinking of basketball.

“Man, I had the itch so badly. I just missed it,” Spencer said of the spring and summer of 2016. “I really thought it through that year, and I put it on the back burner. The fifth year was going to be the play, and I was locked in [to lacrosse].”

Spencer’s dedication to Loyola lacrosse for the next three years was not great news for the rest of the NCAA. His play was dominant and improved every year as he set Loyola, Patriot League, and NCAA records, took home First-Team All-America honors two years in a row, and was four-time Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year. As a finance major, he secured a spot on the Dean’s List and was a member of the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll, and Loyola honored him with the John Mohler Award as the school’s top male, senior student-athlete.

Journey to the NBA

As much as he excelled at lacrosse, Spencer was eager to take his skills and talents to basketball. After he graduated from Loyola with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance, he accepted a basketball scholarship to play for the Northwestern Wildcats while he pursued a graduate degree in communication studies.

When the pandemic derailed his plans to play for the NBA G-League, he took the year to sharpen his game and body. Then he signed with the Hamburg Towers of Germany’s Basketball Bundesliga for five games near the end of the 2021 season.

He was a professional basketball player now, but Spencer wasn’t satisfied. His goal was the NBA, and he continued to work toward getting that taste of “The League.”

Spencer played with the Washington Wizards’ and Golden State Warriors’ G-League affiliates, and on Feb. 25, 2024, the goal came to fruition. He checked in to his first NBA game during the fourth quarter of a Golden State game against the Denver Nuggets, a team then coached by another Loyola graduate, Michael Malone, ’94.

He did not score in that game, but he remained in the Warriors’ plans, and on March 20, 2024, he scored his first NBA points in a game against the Memphis Grizzlies.

“The guy’s a gamer; he’s one of the greatest lacrosse players of all time, so he’s a competitor,” said Warriors Head Coach Steve Kerr during the 2024-2025 season.

“Incredible teammate and he’s a damn good player. I mean, he just shoots it well, he passes it well, and you see the movement and the flow when he's on the floor.”

NBA Hounds Abound

Spencer is just part of a group of Greyhounds who are patrolling NBA courts. Malone was the head coach of the Nuggets for 10 years, winning the 2023 NBA Title, after leading the Sacramento Kings for two seasons. Santi Aldama, a first-round draft pick in 2021 who played for the Greyhounds from 2019-21, will start his fifth year with the Grizzlies in 2025-26.

Spencer’s younger brother, Cam, who was Aldama’s teammate at Loyola and an All-Patriot League guard from 2019-22, is also a member of the Grizzlies now after being picked in the 2024 second round.

The elder Spencer played in 39 regular-season games for Golden State in 2024-25 and eight in the playoff s. He has grinded in practice with future Hall of Famers Steph Curry, Draymond Green, and Jimmy Butler and bumped in games against NBA all-time leading scorer LeBron James.

Yet, with all of the work he’s put in, it has not fully sunk in.

“I still don’t appreciate that stuff right now. I think competitively, I am so focused on what I am doing. You’re in a game, and all you’re thinking about is winning a game or effecting the next play.”

One to Watch

Toomey sees the parallels to Spencer’s time at Loyola and journey to an NBA career in the way he plays both sports.

Former lacrosse teammates and coaches visit Spencer for games, and the lacrosse world follows the former No. 7— now No. 61 for the Warriors—closely.

“The thing that is most amazing about it is the courage to continue to set a goal and then another goal,” Foy said. “Every lacrosse fan should be proud of the fact that its biggest star for a four-year window has shown himself to be capable of competing on an even higher athletic plane.”

The journey from the Spencer driveway in Davidsonville, Maryland, to the Ridley Athletic Complex and NBA courts nationwide was not quick or easy, but Loyola played a significant part.

“Loyola is the root of who I am. I wouldn’t have gone to Loyola if not for the loyalty and family. Loyola matched exactly what I was looking for.”