Pat Spencer (basketball) explained

Pat Spencer
Position:Point guard / shooting guard
Height Ft:6
Height In:3
Weight Lb:205
League:NBA
Team:Golden State Warriors
Number:61
Birth Place:North Wales, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Birth Date:July 4, 1996
High School:Boys' Latin School of Maryland
(Baltimore, Maryland)
College:Northwestern (2019–2020)
Draft Year:2020
Career Start:2021
Years1:2021
Team1:Hamburg Towers
Years2:2021–2022
Team2:Capital City Go-Go
Years3:20222024
Team3:Santa Cruz Warriors
Years4:2024–present
Team4:Golden State Warriors
Years5:2024–present
Team5:→Santa Cruz Warriors
Pat Spencer
Birth Date:July 4, 1996
Position:Attack
Height Ft:6
Height In:3
Weight Lb:205
League:NCAA
Former Teams:Northwestern University
Former Pll Teams:Utah Archers (Formerly Archers LC) (Never played)
Nationality:American
Shoots:Right
Career Highlights:
Ncaa Team:Loyola University
Class:2016-2019

Patrick Andrew Spencer is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA), on a two-way contract with the Santa Cruz Warriors of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the Northwestern Wildcats and is also a former college lacrosse player for the Loyola Greyhounds.

High school career

Spencer attended Boys' Latin School of Maryland, where he lettered in both lacrosse and basketball. As a senior, he averaged 14.3 points, 8.1 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 2.3 steals per game.[1] Bob Shriver was Pat Spencer's coach at Boy's Latin. In his sophomore year he was 5 foot 6 playing on the junior varsity lacrosse team. In his junior year, he grew to 6 foot 2, 190 pounds and played on the varsity lacrosse team.[2] His hometown was Davidsonville, Maryland. In high school, he was a US Lacrosse High school All American. He earned four varsity letters for basketball and lacrosse. He also played for the Under Armour Underclass All-American team Baltimore in 2014. He scored 49 goals and had 51 assists as a senior and 30 goals and 30 assists as a junior.[3]

College career

Lacrosse

During Spencer's four years at Loyola, the team compiled a record of 49 wins and 19 losses, with the 2016 squad compiling a 14–4 record and reaching the NCAA Final Four.[4]

Spencer holds the NCAA Division I record for career assists with 231 assists, as well as the Patriot League record for career points with 380.[5] Spencer received the Lt. Raymond Enners Award as the USILA national player of the year and the Jack Turnbull Award as the nation's top attackman in 2019. Spencer also received the Tewaaraton Award, regarded as the Heisman Trophy for NCAA DI lacrosse, as a junior.[6]

As a senior on attack he also ranked No.2 on all-time points list behind Lyle Thompson.[7] He was a four-time All-American. At Loyola, his head coach was Charley Toomey. In his first two collegiate games he scored eight combined points in wins over Virginia and Johns Hopkins University. In 2016 he took league first-team honoree for rookie-of-the-year trophy. He graduated from Loyola with a Bachelor of Business Finance.[8]

In an interview hosted by Paul Carcaterra, an ESPN lacrosse game analyst and sideline reporter, Carcaterra talked to Pat Spencer about college lacrosse and his background in basketball. Paul asks, "How big of an impact has hoops had on your lacrosse career". Pat responded, "Definitely a big impact, I think any time you play another sport a lot of it translates over". Later in the video, when Paul and Pat were shooting hoops, Spencer added, "Basketball and lacrosse are very similar, in terms of facing and trying to draw a guy and find your open teammates".[9]

Basketball

Spencer used his college graduate year eligibility to play basketball at Northwestern University. He averaged 10.4 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game.[5]

Professional career

Lacrosse

Spencer was selected by the Archers as the first overall pick in the 2019 PLL collegiate draft. He did not dress nor practice with the team, opting instead to pursue a collegiate career in basketball upon graduating from Loyola.[10]

Basketball

Hamburg Towers (2021)

When the remainder of his grad season at Northwestern was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Spencer joined the Hamburg Towers in Germany, and averaged 9.2 points and 3.6 rebounds in five games.[5]

Capital City Go-Go (2021–2022)

On October 25, 2021, Spencer signed with the Capital City Go-Go of the NBA G League.[11] [12]

Golden State / Santa Cruz Warriors (2022–present)

On July 25, 2022, Spencer signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Golden State Warriors.[13]

On October 24, 2022, Spencer joined the Santa Cruz Warriors training camp roster.[14]

On November 29, 2023, Spencer rejoined Santa Cruz[15] and on February 22, 2024, he signed a two-way contract with Golden State.[16] On February 25, Spencer made his NBA debut against the Denver Nuggets.[17]

Statistics

NBA

Regular season

|-| style="text-align:left;"|| style="text-align:left;"| Golden State| 6 || 0 || 4.3 || .500 || .000 || — || .7 || .8 || .0 || .0 || .7|- class="sortbottom"| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career| 6 || 0 || 4.3 || .500 || .000 || — || .7 || .8 || .0 || .0 || .7

College

|-| style="text-align:left;"|2019–20| style="text-align:left;"|Northwestern| 31 || 29 || 29.4 || .436 || .235 || .815 || 4.1 || 3.9 || .8 || .2 || 10.4

Loyola University Lacrosse

    
Season GP G A Pts PPG
2016 18 37 52 89 4.94
2017 16 28 55 83 5.19
2018 17 35 59 94 5.53
2019 17 49 65 114 (a) 6.71
Totals 61 111 231 (b) 380 (c) 5.18

See main article: Division I men's lacrosse records.

(a) 8th in Division I single-season points

(b) 1st in Division I career assists

(c) 4th in Division I career points

Personal life

Spencer's younger brother, Cam, played college basketball for the Loyola Greyhounds, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, and the UConn Huskies with whom he won the 2024 national championship. He was drafted with the 53rd pick of the 2024 NBA draft by the Detroit Pistons before his rights were traded to the Memphis Grizzlies.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Northwestern basketball lands an unusual transfer – the nation's top lacrosse player, Pat Spencer . Teddy. Greenstein. June 13, 2019 . October 2, 2022 . Chicago Tribune.
  2. Web site: Pat Spencer: How a Late Bloomer Became an Evergreen Sensation . 2022-12-19 . www.usalaxmagazine.com . en.
  3. Web site: Pat Spencer - Men's Lacrosse . 2022-12-19 . Loyola University Maryland Athletics . en.
  4. Web site: North Carolina Ousts Men's Lacrosse From NCAA Semifinals . May 28, 2016 . Loyola .
  5. News: Former Loyola Maryland lacrosse star Pat Spencer one step closer to realizing NBA dream after invite to Wizards G League training camp. The Baltimore Sun. Edward. Lee. October 28, 2021. October 2, 2022.
  6. Web site: Pat Spencer Takes Home Tewaaraton in Third Year as Finalist. USA Lacrosse Magazine. Matt. DaSilva. May 30, 2019. October 2, 2022.
  7. Web site: Pat Spencer Takes Home Tewaaraton in Third Year as Finalist . 2022-12-19 . www.usalaxmagazine.com . en.
  8. Web site: Loyola Maryland's Pat Spencer Receives 2019 Tewaaraton Award . 2022-12-19 . patriotleague.org . May 30, 2019 . en.
  9. Paul Carcaterra RELAXIN with Loyola All-American Pat Spencer . en . 2022-12-19.
  10. Web site: Why Pat Spencer, one of the best lacrosse players in the country, chose to play basketball at Northwestern . Adam . Rittenberg . ESPN.com . March 5, 2020 . March 5, 2020.
  11. Web site: GO-GO ANNOUNCE TRAINING CAMP ROSTER. NBA.com. October 25, 2021. June 26, 2022.
  12. Web site: Chase. Hughes. Lacrosse legend chasing NBA dream with Wizards' affiliate. NBC Sports. October 27, 2021. October 2, 2022 .
  13. News: Zach. Zafran. An all-time great lacrosse player will be in Warriors camp. SFGate. July 25, 2022. October 2, 2022.
  14. Web site: Santa Cruz Warriors Announce 2022 Training Camp Roster. NBA.com. October 24, 2022. October 24, 2022.
  15. Web site: 2023-2024 Santa Cruz Warriors Transaction History. RealGM.com. December 3, 2023.
  16. Web site: Warriors Sign Guard Pat Spencer to Two-Way Contract. NBA.com. February 22, 2024. February 22, 2024.
  17. Web site: Pat Spencer Enjoyed NBA Debut But Has Much Bigger Goals: "It’s Just The First Step In The Journey" . glennclarkradio.com . 7 March 2024.